Welcome to the latest edition of the SAJFC news

Firstly, we will start with the incredible growth we are experiencing. At the start of the season, we had 142 registered players and now we have 170 with more joining soon! We must be the fastest growing club in Southport and that is down to not only the volunteer coaches but the word of mouth from the parents. We get enquiries almost every other day through the website or Facebook page so we must be doing something right! Clearly, that growth means we could do with some extra help so if you can spare some time please let us know, it might be as simple as helping set up or put away the goals on match days or getting involved with the committee, every little helps after all!

Continuing with the growth theme, we are delighted to welcome two new teams that are in the process of being set up and entered into the league in January. Firstly, it’s our new Under 9 Blacks sponsored by Divinity Hair and coached by Chris Lloyd and secondly the www.dctuk.com sponsored under 7 blacks who are being coached by our existing under 7 manager Scott and ran on matchdays by Jay Barton. Good luck to all involved and I hope you enjoy your football journey with us.

Christmas party update

Tickets are now with the coaches, the first allocation is for the people who requested them on the Spond post but we do have some spares left so please get in touch if you want to attend. Please look after your ticket as that can be redeemed for food in the rugby club!

On the night there will be a DJ, party games, raffle and a visit from Santa who will hand out selection boxes for the younger children. We have had some generous raffle prizes donated so far which amongst others includes

5 x £20 vouchers for game from L Billington
Lego Avengers set from D Laird
Champagne from C Mott
Whiskey from K Allan
Mega Sweet box from S Taylor
Primark vouchers from C Williams
Nike footballs from SAJFC
SAJFC branded woolly hats (some will be on sale)

It promises to be a great night but please follow the latest government advice regarding coronavirus to keep everyone safe for Christmas.

A massive thank you to our under 7 sponsor Ian Rylands for his help moving the storage container on Ferryside, it proved to be a logistical nightmare for the container company but Ian came up with a solution and brought a digger over to lift it up into position, Thanks again Ian!

How are the teams doing?

Next up is a few thoughts from some of our coaches on how the season is going so far

Scott from the under 7 reds

What an amazing and exciting few months it has been for the newest members of the Southport Athletic JFC family the U7’s.

The U7’s have taken to league games like a duck to water and have put on some very impressive displays despite their young years. Even in the face of adversity they play with a smile, and the love of the game, everything we have tried to promote at this level!!

The togetherness and family values of the team and club has been a massive factor in our success with parents chipping in to help bring each other to training and matches!!

With that said we are now delighted to announce a further U7’s team (Team Black) that will be starting their own league journey with us come January!

Chris from the u8 whites

U8 white have shown improvement every game they have played so far, the lads always give 100% effort and I'm sure the results will come soon.

Stephen and Chris from the under 9 teams

The u9 group has gone from strength to strength, with a new team of players growing to such numbers that we've got a second team joining the league in the New Year.

We organised, hosted, and won (!) the inaugural Biograd Cup in against teams from across the region, and raised more than £750 for the Sefton Afghan Appeal - so the boys went to meet the Mayor of Sefton to present her with a big cheque.

On the field, the u9 Reds are improving every week, with some great performances and good results, and are looking forward to a derby match against the u9 Blacks in the New Year

Alan from the under 10 Reds

Under 10 reds got off to a good start with two close draws and couple of defeats by one goal however last few games have been disappointing with heavy defeats which have deflated the lads but we have been unable to get as much training time in over the winter which would help us.

Paul from the under 10 Blacks

we have continued where we left off last season enjoying some great results and getting some wins against teams from the higher part of the league which is who we want to be testing ourselves against week in week out now. We know it will be a learning curve for our team but one we are looking forward too.

Ben from the under 11’s

great start to the season playing 9 aside football and the 2 new lads have settled in well with the team. The team have grown in confidence and are playing some really nice football. After the teams undefeated league run last year we are hoping for the same this year and a trophy to top it off

Shaun and Matthew from the under 12 reds

This season we’ve been having some highs and lows, importantly more highs. We are really seeing the boys developing into some good, strong footballers and the team uniting around each other. This is the last season at 9V9 for us, so getting used to passing and making use of space has been important. Big thank you for the parents who turn up and watch each week despite the weather it does really help keep the boys motoring. Southport athletic JFC U12‘s reds are really looking forward to getting some more wins under their belts. Game on!

Also thank you to Simply Gifts for our personalised water bottles

Neil from the under 18’s

Have had an excellent start to the season which sees us sitting 2nd in the league a point from top with a game in hand. We have showed great team spirit and a never say die attitude displayed in the last 2 games where we have come from behind in the last 10 minutes to snatch a victory and a draw. If we show the same attitude in the 2nd half of the season we won’t be a million miles away from silverware 🤞🤞

As you can see the coaches are all positive and looking forward to the rest of the season. We have tried to create a family feel to this community club but if you have any concerns or ideas on how to develop us further please get in touch.

Our lovely sponsors

Lastly, we need to thank our sponsors who through their generous support our vision of being able to provide a football club every member can be proud to be a part of.

Premier Roofing, Ribble Cycles, T&R Bespoke, MJ Taylor roofing, LPB Panel Products, Just Wings, Mr Casey’s, Ian Rylands, Southport Gate Company, Dr Hennessy, Servoca, BB Electrical, Silverstone Heating, Tobin Roofing, MJ Roofing, Richard King Haulage, Project M and our three new sponsors DCTUK, Cleartech Communications and Divinity Hair Southport.

Thank you from everyone involved at Southport Athletic.

Contact us through the facebook page or at southportathleticjfc@gmail.com

Newsletter - November 21