Peter Mills MBE (January 2012) - Congratulations to Peter Mills of Dorkinians, who was awarded the Medal of the British Empire (MBE) in the New Year's Honours List for his services to the local community, Dorking Scouts and Dorkinians.

Outstanding Subscriptions (January 2012) - Subscriptions remain outstanding from the following clubs:-

Old Uxonians, Somerville Old Boys, Standard Chartered Bank.

The clubs have now been fined £50 each, and face suspension if they are not paid within seven days. If they have any questions, please contact the League Treasurer, Alan Robinson.

AFA Refereeing Course (December 2011) - The AFA have a limited number of places available on a basic referees course being run in partnership with The Middlesex FA.  The course is being held at Bedfont Sports Club, Hatton Road, Bedfont, Middlesex, TW14 9QS and starts on Thursday 12th January.  It continues over a series of midweek evening and Saturday morning sessions and the examinations will be held on Saturday 4th February.

To book on the course, please visit http://eventspace.thefa.com/amateur-fa/120112 or contact John Monk at the AFA.

David Demeza Remembered (December 2011) - It's with deep regret we have to report that David Demeza passed away peacefully at home on 8th December.

David was a loved husband, father and grandfather, and a stalwart of the Old Boys League, and following the merger, the Amateur Football Combination, serving as a Club Representative from Sinjuns for many years, before chairing the Discipline and Appeals Committees and continuing to serve as a Vice President. The Amateur Football Combination logo was produced by David and his daughter.

David played for Sinjuns for almost half a century, from the time he left school, until his final retirement aged 62, though he actually retired twice. The first was age 61, but early in the following season he was prevailed upon to "help out" once more, and continued to "help out" for the rest of the season, although his boots and kit never went home, as he hadn't admitted he was still playing (behaviour more common to fifty years before!). At the end of the year, when asked "is it out of your system now" the second, and final playing retirement came into being!

The funeral will be held on Wednesday 21st December, 3.45pm at Croydon Cemetary/Crematorium, Mitcham Road, Croydon, CR9 3AT and afterwards at Croham Hurst Golf Club, Croham Road, South Croydon, CR2 7HJ. Family flowers only, donations can be made to St Christopher's Hospice, c/o Rowland Brothers, Purley, CR8 2AA. 

Wandgas - Charter Standard Community Award (December 2011) - Congratulations to Wandgas, who have recently been awarded Charter Standard Community status, which was presented to them at a recent Chelsea match. Click here for more details.

AFC over Christmas (December 2011) - Note that 17th December and 7th January will be normal weekends for fixtures - however, there won't be games on 24th nor 31st December.

Club Referees (November 2011) - Having consulted with both the Amateur Football Alliance and the Football Association, we've been asked to advise clubs that under no circumstances should clubs be appointing referees under the age of 18 to open-aged (i.e. Amateur Football Combination) matches. 

Although FA Rules provide for referees 16 and over to officiate in open-aged games, these should only be appointed by the league, who will ensure that any such referees have completed the Basic Referee Training Course, and in consultation with County FA's are confident that a referee is sufficiently experienced to handle an adult game.

Clubs should not be appointing a referee in these circumstances - if the league is unable to appoint a referee, clubs must ensure the referee for the game is 18 or over. If a club needs any clarification on this matter, please contact Jackie Newing (AFA County Welfare Officer) or Danny McConnell (AFC League Welfare Officer).

Bob Coates Away (November 2011) - Bob Coates will be away from 21st to 25th November, 28th November to 2nd December and 5th to 9th December. In his absence please contact Jamie Brunton with fixtures queries, and Chad Chaudhuri/Alex Grayburn with refereeing queries.

AFC vs Cambridge University (November 2011) - The AFC drew 1-1 with Cambridge University, on Wednesday 30th November, a 7.30pm KO at Dulwich Hamlet F.C., Champion Hill Stadium, Edgar Kail Way, Dog Kennel Hill, London, SE22 8BD. 

Squad:- Ciaran Prendergast, Brendan O'Brien, Joe Fox, Sean Flaherty (Albanian), Matt O'Sullivan (Old Ignatian), Matt Tully, Ed Glover, Peter Eguae (Old Meadonians), Aaron D'Silva, Glen Farley (Old Minchendenians), Roman Pechhacker, Dan Lettington, David Stevens (Old Parmiterians), Nick Woodward (Old Suttonians).

The officials will be Chad Chaudhuri, John Hayes and John Harkin.  

AFC Rules - Maximum Three Substitutes (November 2011) - Clubs and referees are reminded that AFC Rules only allow for three substitutes to be named for a game, and all three may be used. A club cannot name more than three substitutes.

AFC Club Ratings (October 2011) - The first set of club ratings for the new season have been released. Click here for details.

AFC Representative Team vs London Legal League (Oct 2011) - The squad has been announced for the first Representative match of the season, on Wednesday 19^th October against the London Legal League. The match will be a 7.30pm KO at Dulwich Hamlet F.C., Champion Hill Stadium, Edgar Kail Way, Dog Kennel Hill, London, SE22 8BD. All support will be welcome.  

Match Day Squad:- Stuart Henry, Ciaran Prendergast, Joe Fox, Brendan O'Brien (Albanian), Matt O'Sullivan (Old Ignatians), Dan Lettington, Ben Olushola, David Stevens (Old Parmiterians), Nick Woodward, Danny Smith (Old Suttonians), Peter Eguae, Ed Glover (Old Meadonians), Steve Byford, Simon Carrasco, Pete Chapman (UCL Academicals).

Reserves:- Roman Pechhacker (Old Parmiterians), Danny Smith, Andy Parlett (Old Suttonians), Sean Flaherty, Rory Prendergast (Albanian), Innis Pirrie (UCL Academicals), Connor O'Grady, Brendan Brien (Old Ignatians), Tom Ovington (HAC), Thomas Hughes, Matt Edmonds (Kings Old Boys), Ashley Bertram, Joe Marshall (Heathrow Seniors), Nat Greywoode, Richard Small (Old Woodhouseians).

The officials will be Geoff Blackmore, David Lewis and David Williams.

Prams and Bicycles (Oct 2011) - The FA's Superfan has once again been reporting on sundry AFA and LOB Cup matches, this time featuring our own London Welsh and Old Minchendenians. Click here for details.

Phone Call Courtesy (Oct 2011) - Can we ask clubs to ensure that phone calls to referees or officers to confirm games (or anything else) are made between 9am and 9pm.

Player Registration Deadline (Sep 2011) - As of Thursday 29th September we've got 4436 players registered with the league, and almost 50% of team sheets for the season have already been loaded, with Kurtice Herbert of Old Danes the top scorer, Daryl Leigh of Somerville Old Boys top assister and Norman MacDonald of Old Sedcopians top penalty saver.

For those clubs who have not yet complied, we're setting a deadline of Friday 14th October to have players registered, and your team sheets on the system, otherwise we're going to be looking at the various sanctions available (fines, points deductions for playing unregistered players or even withholding of fixtures).

It's very straightforward (as the majority of clubs have shown) and full details can be found on the Player Registration page.

AFC Representative Team - Get Involved (Sep 2011) - Bill Blackwell has taken over as Representative Team Manager for season 2011-12 and we’re keen to continue the good work with the Representative Team. We want to build a squad of talented, committed players with regular availability and a good team ethic, and we’re keen to get the best players involved from the whole league, regardless of which club they’re from. If your club have any players they feel are worthy of nomination to the team, then please contact Fred Nuckey with their details (name, position, email address and mobile number).

Our first match is on Wednesday 19^th October against the London Legal League but the venue is yet to be confirmed. All support will be welcome.  

The officials will be Geoff Blackmore, David Lewis and David Williams.

Alex Grayburn Away (Sep 2011) - Alex Grayburn will be away from 27th September to 4th October. In his absence please contact either Chad Chaudhuri (from 27th September to 30th September) or Bob Coates (1st October to 4th October).

League Match Secretary Changes (Sep 2011) - Clubs are asked to note that Fred Nuckey will now be League Match Secretary for all North divisions (1 North to 10 North) and Jamie Brunton will be League Match Secretary for all West divisions (1 West to 3 West). Click here for full details.

SMS Result Reporting This Season (Sep 2011) - Scorelines continue to be reported by SMS text message this season, and this now includes all games, including county cup fixtures. Note that the requirement to include the word RESULT at the start of text messages has been removed, though messages which start with RESULT will still be processed.

Please note that the results of penalty shootouts for cup games should be reported on the SMS text message AFTER the full-time scoreline, i.e. 2-2 5-4 reports that the match finished 2-2, and the home team won 5-4 on penalties.

Click here for full details.

Player Registration for 2011-12 (Sep 2011) - We've updated the page on Player Registration for season 2011-12. All clubs must register their players within 48 hours of games being played, and team sheets must be logged with the league via Full-Time. Click here for full details.

AFC Handbooks (Sep 2011) - AFC Handbooks have gone out on Friday 16th September and Monday 19th September, to all Club Secretaries, Referees and League Officers. If you have not received them by Monday 26th September, please contact Danny McConnell.

AFC Constitution for 2011-12 (Sep 2011) - At the Special General Meeting held on 9th September 2011, the Constitution for 2011-12 was confirmed.

Match-Based Discipline (Sep 2011) - We've added a page to the AFC website with details of Match-Based Discipline, including various downloads to assist clubs. Click here for details.

Match Day Reminders (Sep 2011) - Can we remind clubs and referees of the following points for match days:-

Members Services User Guides (Sep 2011) - The Football Association have produced user guides for Members Services, for Clubs, Leagues, Referees and Coaches. Click here for more details.

FA Handbook and Match-Based Suspension Guides (Sep 2011) - Downloads are available for the 2011-12 FA Handbook and Match Based Suspension Guides.

New Club Officers Evening (September 2011) - It was summer, it was late in the evening, you were drunk. The next morning you woke up with a nagging feeling of doom, something bad had happened. £200 for cigarettes? No! The police, no! Worse! You'd agreed to become Club Secretary or Fixture Secretary.

You tried to escape, even attended the AGM in the hope someone else would offer. They didn't (attend or offer). You tried pleading insanity, but it's football - that's never been a barrier!

There is hope out there.

On Tuesday 27th September, the AFC will hold its "New Club Officers Evening", aimed at providing an introduction to running an AFC club (including how to avoid fines!) for all new club officers (though more experienced ones are equally welcome). It's optional, and informal, and the idea is for some of the more experienced administrators to pass on their wisdom to the new guys (Fletcher and Godber in "Porridge" may be a perfect parallel!).

We'll aim to be in the bar by 9pm, if not before!

Click here for more details.

AFC Special General Meeting moved to 9th September (Sep 2011) - In view of the Bulgaria vs England European Championship qualifier being played on Friday 2nd September (who'd have expected that!) we've decided to move the Special General Meeting to Friday 9th September, 6.30pm start at London Welsh, 157-163 Gray's Inn Road, WC1X 8UE. This meeting is mandatory for all clubs, and we'll cover both Match Based Suspensions, and Player Registration for season 2011-12, both of which will be key changes for all of our clubs. The Constitution for season 2011-12 will also be confirmed at the meeting.

Full details of the meeting will be sent out in late August.

Friday is the only day London Welsh is available (and we need a room big enough to hold 200 people) and it also means we avoid training nights for clubs, though we appreciate it's somewhat tight for the start of the season, and that will be taken into account.

Respect Leagues DIY Kit (Sep 2011) - The Football Association have produced a DIY Kit of good practice for Respect Leagues which references a number of areas of Amateur Football Combination good practice. Click here for details.

Spirit of Football & Respect 2011-12 (Sep 2011) - The Spirit of Football Newsletter for 2011-12 is now available. Click here for details.

This is our third season as a RESPECT league, so we'd like to remind clubs of the following:-

As everyone is aware, one of the key elements of the RESPECT programme is that team captains have a good working relationship with the referee/match officials – seeking to work them during the game to maintain good behaviour and discipline, and accepting a degree of responsibility for the behaviour of their team-mates.

The key points:-

For more details on the responsibilities of captains, and our expectations of them, please click here.

Whilst the majority of teams and captains have been supportive of the programme, we are aware that a number have failed to do so, and in the most extreme cases, as clubs are aware, sides have been withdrawn from the league during the season.

We hope clubs have drawn particular attention to the captain’s role, and the need to ensure that clubs have appointed people who both understand their responsibilities and are prepared to adopt them, with a willingness to work with the match officials, and have the strength to control their team-mates, and ensure that their players conduct themselves appropriately on the pitch.

We’re aware that it’s not easy to find volunteers nowadays, but clubs should endeavour to ensure that those elected are prepared to support the campaign, and ensure that they will uphold the club’s reputation.

If clubs have any questions, please feel free to contact Rob Gibbs (Tel: 020 8866 2033).

Updated Marking of Referees for 2011-12 (Aug 2011) - The Football Association have released updated guidance on marking of referees, which includes the requirement that any mark of 60 or below, now requires written reasons for the low mark (previously this was 50 or below).