Newsletter - December 2020

This month’s newsletter has been guest written by Paul

Well once again it’s been a return to football followed by a break, hopefully just a short one for Christmas (fingers crossed) I hope you have all enjoyed the games no matter the results. I for one look forward to training and games as it’s the only social interaction we are allowed to do at the minute.  

What’s happened since the last newsletter?

Our under 16 team has finally got the reward for the performances they have been putting in and are now on a unbeaten run, myself and Alan went and watched the latest game against Formby JSC and after a tight game Adam Baladi nodded in a last minute winner. I have to admit I got caught up in the moment and jumped up and celebrated. It’s a testament to Neil and Andy’s coaching as the boys never gave up and played good football from the first minute to the last.

Craig’s under 15’s also got their first point on the board, they produced a second half fight back after being a couple of goals down and nearly managed to nick it but it wasn’t to be. Special mention to the new keeper who played great and Josh for popping up with the equaliser.

Ben’s under 10’s are still unbeaten, we might have to start calling Ben the Southport Ancelotti!! All the other teams have been playing well and getting some good results.

We have some other exciting news to share… the club is growing! We have just started up another under 7’s team who will hopefully be playing their first matches in January. They will be managed by Chris Mooney who runs our under 13’s team so he will be busy all day Sunday now and that takes a lot of commitment. Thanks for your efforts Chris

Kit update

We have finally got all the jackets and I have to say despite the delays they look great. I think the teams now look the part. I have even seen some of players wearing them to school so that’s shows they have gone down well. Big big thanks to Ben for sorting this thankless task out, it’s been a bit of a nightmare to sort with supplier issues and covid but he stuck to his vision and its paid off.

Community update

A few of the younger children helped post SAJFC Christmas cards to all the residents of Ferryside Lane to thank them for the support they have shown us since we started playing there.

We also handed out cards to dog walkers along with a small glass of port and a mince pie to encourage healthy dialogue between both users of the field. I think it was a success as we had donations totalling £35 towards the club funds. It wasn’t our intention to collect money but it was greatly appreciated. Thank you to Cheryl who asked to dog walkers to come along so we could speak face to face.

Food bank donations are still coming in and we know of a couple of worthy families to help this Christmas but if you know of anyone that would benefit please get in touch with your manager 

Winter training

Now this has started it’s costing us nearly £1000 a month so we really need to make sure subs are paid promptly please.

Reflection on the past year

Clearly coming from where we were with the old club we have made massive strides in terms of money in the bank and a new club identity. Myself, Ben and Alan were kind of thrown in at the deep end and didn’t realise how much time and effort goes on behind the scenes to enable the 125 children to be able to play football every weekend. We would like to thank all the managers and parents for placing trust in us to deliver a football club the kids hopefully feel proud to play for. We as a collective have achieved so much already and long may that continue.

I’d just like to clear something up, you may have seen some of the younger teams in an orange top, these were bought as the smaller kits were faulty when first delivered so to enable the teams effected to start the season we had to do an emergency purchase. Some of these costs were helped by a sponsor for one team, however these weren’t intended to be an official away kit and just ended up being an unnecessary cost to the club. We will be looking to purchase an away kit for all teams once we have got through a couple of months’ worth of winter training so we know where we stand financially. If you have any concerns about anything you feel is unfair in terms of kit or equipment please come and speak to one of us. Paul and Alan run the under 9 teams and Ben runs the under 10’s we are more than happy to discuss. This club is to be ran fairly for all its members and not just favouring certain teams as in the previous guise.

I’m sorry it’s a long newsletter and I’m sure you will welcome Alan back next month. Happy Christmas and see you in what I hope to be a better new year.

If you have anything you would like to add to the next newsletter please get in touch with Alan on alanmccoombe05@gmail.com or mullan342@gmail.com