In our second season the Amateur Football Combination has continued to develop well.   Some administrative hiccups have been ironed out and many of the initial teething troubles have been overcome.

The statistics are impressive by any standard – this year the competition provided football for 91 Clubs and 338 teams organised into 34 divisions.  In a typical week with a full league programme more than 4000 people take part in AFC matches.  Monitoring and co-ordinating fixtures throughout the season is the task of the Divisional Match Secretaries and the Fixtures Committee chaired this season by John Maskell.  Successful completion of the league programme is testimony to their efforts.

The weather was kind this year with very few matches being postponed and many teams completed their games comfortably before the end of season deadline.  This resulted in some Clubs finding themselves without competitive fixtures as early as March.  Nevertheless our fixture planning must inevitably be influenced by the weather and we have to allow for the likelihood that matches will be lost during the season.

For the second year running Old Meadonians won the Premier Division and congratulations to them on their splendid double as they also won the AFA Senior Cup for the second time in three years.  They can genuinely claim to be the strongest club in the AFA. 

The Constitution Committee chaired by Bob Coates reviewed the league structure during the season with a view to extending regionalisation into the lower senior divisions.  Clubs were consulted on a number of possible changes and the new constitution to be presented at the AGM reflects Clubs’ wishes.

Two Clubs have decided to leave the AFC for pastures new.  Old Wilsonians have applied to the Southern Amateur League and Old Rutlishians will be playing Surrey Intermediate football next season.  Several Clubs have expressed an interest in joining us and three will be proposed for membership at the AGM including Old Parmiterians FC who have resigned from the Southern Amateur League.

An important step forward has been development of a new identity and logo which is based on the colours of the founding competitions (blue and red).  An example of the logo is already displayed on the website (www.amateurfootballcombination.com) and it will be used on letter headings, the handbook, league ties and anything else associated with the competition from now on.

The website is great strength and advert for the competition.  Danny McConnell has worked tirelessly to develop it and has used his experience as a Club Secretary to include information and facilities which should be most helpful to Club and League Officers alike.  It is now a very useful channel of communication and is popular with both players and administrators.  To date the site has recorded a staggering 1.3 million ‘hits’.

One worrying feature this season is the growing number of complaints we are receiving from referees about poor treatment by Clubs.  These have ranged from lack of post match hospitality to instances of verbal and even physical abuse.  Our Referees Committee chaired by Bart O’Toole works very hard to attract referees to the competition.  It is most important that referees feel welcome and are well treated whenever they visit our Clubs.  The League Council expects Clubs to take immediate steps to deal with any players guilty of abusing referees.  Those who fail to do so and become serial offenders will need to consider playing their football elsewhere in future.

On a  more positive note, AFC chairman Jim Buttress has led negotiations with the Non League Paper over coverage for our competition which resulted in a full page spread towards the end of the season.  The Representative game against the Yorkshire Old Boys League was featured together with a photo and a roundup from key matches around the league (courtesy of Danny McConnell).  This was another great advert for the AFC and something we will be building on for 2004/05 with the aim of having weekly coverage.

Now that we have a new identity we also need a new sense of direction and Jim is working with the Development Committee to put in place a 5 year plan.  Important features of the plan will include the development of youth football and ways in which we can work with the FA, the AFA and others to help combat the decline in 11-a-side football in London. 

To run a competition the size of the AFC requires good communication.  At Club level this means good administration which is why the League Council penalises Club administrative failures with fines.  Some Club standards have been very poor and three Clubs – Egbertian, Old Suttonians and Ravenscroft Old Boys have each paid over £300 in fines.  Others have worked hard to support the League Council with excellent administration and three Clubs deserve particular congratulations for avoiding any fines since the AFC was founded – Old Kingsburians, Old Thorntonians and Old Whitgiftians.

Another significant area of development has been monitoring of discipline.  While it is the responsibility of the AFA to apply formal FA disciplinary procedures, the League Council has a separate responsibility to consider overall standards of discipline and behaviour within the AFC.  There has been considerable discussion during the year about how we can best do this without treading on the toes of the AFA.  The proposed solution is to establish a new office of Discipline Secretary who will monitor disciplinary standards and a new Discipline Committee to set standards, establish procedures and consider cases involving Clubs or individuals whose standards do not match AFC expectations.

Sadly we have lost three of our Vice Presidents since the last AGM.  Ken Fletcher served the Old Boys League for many year and Dave McCarthy and Ron Zackerwich were long time servants of the Southern Olympian League.  They will be missed.

The lifetime contributions to grass roots football of two of our Vice Presidents were recognised by The Football Association during the season.  Eddie Myers and Trevor Syms both received FA ’50 Year’ awards acknowledging 50 years of involvement with football administration.  Congratulations to both of them on their remarkable records and well deserved medals.

The AGM on 25th June will mark the end of the term of office of the AFC’s first President – Brian Watts.  Brian’s sound judgement and supportive style have made him an impressive ambassador for the competition over the past two years.

The Representative team played 8 matches during the season under the management of Stewart Minors.  The climax to the team’s season was the match against Yorkshire Old Boys played in Leeds.  A spectacular goal from Old Meadonian Jack Costello earned us a draw and kept the Jack Hildersley trophy in London.  Assistant manager John O'Brien came on as a substitute to mark his 100th Representative appearance (including OBFL appearances), only the second player to achieve the feat after Ignatians' team-mate Dave O'Grady.

Our inaugural Dinner and presentation of trophies took place last October at the Brewery in Chiswell Street.  The event was very well supported by Clubs and a very enjoyable evening.  The Dinner Committee are already well advanced with plans for this years Dinner which will be at the same venue.

We have inherited a wide variety of trophies from our two founding competitions and a review of the trophies is currently in progress.  In order for the review to take place the date for the return of trophies was brought forward and set as 31st May.  All Clubs holding trophies presented at the Dinner should by now have returned them.

In closing I should like to thank all of the League Officers for their work throughout the season on behalf of our member Clubs.