Matches Tue 20 Jan

[E&E Rich]

I think four, Chris, plus two others that have been filled by rearrangements.

 

Two of those were Eversley related, but my point is that we all managed back in the day and many leagues had 22 then.

 

Of course this leads to the argument about whether the CCL is too big with 22 and whether it should be 20 but that's a different subject for another forum thread.

[thevoiceofreason]

I can't say I've ever been convinced by county/senior/ whatever they decide to call them cups. The romantic notion of them is often far removed from the reality and serve only to cause fixture congestion and take up dates which could be used for league games,

 

OK, if you get to play someone you don't usually meet, that might nudge you from slumber, but you'll be more likely to see weakened sides playing in games some would rather not.

 

Some might say is the only chance some will ever get to involved in winning anything, but does that really mean much to many of the clubs who enter teams into the competitions?

 

Fewer competitions, more chance of finishing the season on time and less of having to field four teams in seven days.

 

Just an opinion, of course.

[Lazy Sod]

An opportunity for County FAs to make some money and for the match officials to charge over the odds. Ask anyone who was at the Berks & Bucks last season and they will all say the official attendance was way lower than the actual number who turned up.

[Smudge]

Match Officials charging over the Odds,always thought Referees and Assistants did County Cup Finals for Free.It is an honour to be selected,surely.Do Clubs charge the County FA's for the use of their Ground? Or maybe they give it free of charge for the honour of being selected.

[Chris Clapham]

If someone gave me the choice of finishing top 6 or reaching/winning a county or league cup final I would take the latter all day.

I can understand the Premier League club's stance re domestic cups because there is increasing prize money depending how high you finish in the leagues.

Reaching our league cup final a couple of years ago was the catalyst for us avoiding a relegation place; it kept our season, and players, going.

However, I don't doubt that the SSC needs "jazzing up" a bit; perhaps the final could be held at a football league ground for a start?

[Beano_ATMFC]

There is no chance of County Cup matches going back to Saturdays; many Leagues (especially at Steps 2-4) resent the fact that they take precedence - if the Leagues had to give up Saturdays to accommodate them too, all hell would break loose! I think that's fair enough - there needs to be a balance where fixtures are concerned.

 

Finals are not necessarily massive money-spinners for County FAs either - clubs charge for ground hire, catering and (if required) stewarding, plus they keep all the income from the bar and tea bar so, if anything, staging a Final is good for the club selected.

 

Staging a Final at a Football League ground requires two things:

 

1) The co-operation of the relevant Football League club(s)

2) A very, very large budget for ground hire, stewards, etc

 

Item 1 is quite often the most difficult part. For historical reasons, all the professional clubs in Surrey and Middlesex are actually parent-affiliated to London FA so might not have much to do with their "local" County FA. I remember approaching a Football League club a full year in advance to propose playing the Middlesex Senior Men's, Senior Women's and one Youth Finals in a "Festival of Football" where all the games would be on the same day. I never got the courtesy of a reply.

 

To be fair to the club concerned, that wouldn't happen now, but they have also suggested to me that they would almost always decline a request to hire their ground, in case it was needed for play-offs or similar and I would imagine most other League clubs in this part of the world think in a similar way.

Edited January 22, 2015 by Beano_ATMFC

[Footy Mad]

An opportunity for County FAs to make some money and for the match officials to charge over the odds. Ask anyone who was at the Berks & Bucks last season and they will all say the official attendance was way lower than the actual number who turned up.

 

Match officials get a set fee for these games (less than CCL fees) and I don't believe that they get any fee for the final ... it is an honour for them

[Smudge]

Footy,have you never had the honour of a Final?

[Windsor_Sec]

I can't speak for other county association cup rules but just to clear up a few points regarding Berks & Bucks [a] The match officials get a set fee [no travelling expenses] and the total cost is £24 more than we pay out for a CCL fixture, The rules state that these fees apply to all rounds so I'm assuming this means they do get paid for officiating in the final, [c] The competition rules state that the host club [For a Final] receive 10% of the gate receipts but I know that we charged a set fee for hosting the Senior Cup Final last season and Chesham charged a set fee for hosting the Senior Trophy Final which we won. 

If you take out these fees plus the match officials, boardroom catering, etc.,etc.,you can see the county won't be making a great deal of profit unless you get crowds in excess of 500 !

 

We at Windsor were proud to win the Senior Trophy last season and are hoping to do it again this season with a bit of luck but winning whatever league you play in has surely always got to be any clubs' main priority, is that not why we play 42 games a season ?

 

My only gripe with our Senior Trophy is that the Final is played on a Tuesday evening in April which doesn't seem right to me given that Step 5 clubs aren't going to be involved in playoffs so why not play it on May Bank Holiday Monday or Easter Monday when you have a chance of a bigger attendance ?  

[Mewcenary]

No match fee for officials on the Surrey cup finals.  Honour and the medal!  Oh, and a training t-shirt.  Full kit on the more senior finals which is a nice touch too.  If you're really lucky, there are even some sandwiches left by the time you get to the boardroom

[Chris Clapham]

Thursday Result

Met Police Res 6-0 Ash United

[pearcey no.1]

If someone gave me the choice of finishing top 6 or reaching/winning a county or league cup final I would take the latter all day.

I can understand the Premier League club's stance re domestic cups because there is increasing prize money depending how high you finish in the leagues.

Reaching our league cup final a couple of years ago was the catalyst for us avoiding a relegation place; it kept our season, and players, going.

However, I don't doubt that the SSC needs "jazzing up" a bit; perhaps the final could be held at a football league ground for a start?

 

Silverware always looks better on your cv as opposed to "I finished 5th".who doesn't want to win a trophy???

[Footy Mad]

Footy,have you never had the honour of a Final?

Just the one since I moved to Surrey ... don't remember being offered a fee but would have declined if I had. It is an honour to officiate in a final.

 

Have run lines on both the Surrey Senior Cup and the Surrey Premier Cup in the last week ... for this I received £30 and £27 respectively. Believe this is less

than assistants get in the CCL