Countdown to chaos

At the weekend I read about a local council who had not prepared all of the fields due to be used by local Sunday Leagues for the opening games of their season.

Looking back one year my local Sunday League was in the same position. That was nothing to do with the annual switch from cricket to football seen on many council owned fields which is the bane of their lives for many fixture secretaries. For all of the political rhetoric about the creation of a sporting legacy in the wake of the London Olympics, local councils in many areas do not appear to have the necessary funding to organise themselves for the start of the football season. It's not as if the date varies that much from year to year. Many Sunday Leagues kick off in the last two weeks of August and run, weather permitting, to mid May.

Even worse is that some who have the available land on which to develop facilities to avoid the cricket/football share, choose not to do so. Too frequently playing fields are sold off as building land. The proceeds provide a much needed boost to local and central government coffers meanwhile the media decry the lack of home grown talent available to the national team manager.

So what's the answer? I found out when I recently visited a new club at the weekend. It's not in fashionable town, it is just off a major motorway, yet this complex appears to have been grown quietly and the local community are rightly proud. A new clubhouse sits at the centre of the site which houses (from my wander around), a rugby field, a football field, a cricket field, 5 a side/hockey courts and extensive parking.

It benefits from a chairman who is a local businessman with a willingness to invest his own funds and a supporter base who are passionate about their sport. I overheard a typical remark just after kick-off which made me smile. One supporter turned to another and said,"So this is about six levels before the Football League, is it? .... That's nowt that...". it typified the early season confidence of a supporter whose team are doing well.

The team were subject to a smash and grab act by a more experienced team at their level on Saturday. Until then it had been three wins from three. Looking at their line up, it won't take much more work to begin that string of wins again.

Now why can't my local council and others follow the lead given by this club and involve more local businessmen? As usual though, the fuss will all be forgotten by 12:15 on Sunday when the first round of Sunday League games have been completed, the first cautions issued and (unfortunately) players dismissed. Then we crash through league games, league/district/county cup games at a rapid pace.

Hopefully, teams will stick through to the end of the season, unlike last year when 2 gave up by Christmas. Such actions and team success in cups make for a difficult life for a league fixture secretary. It's one of the reasons I'm retiring at the end of the season.

Let the chaos begin ...