Tuesday 14th February

[Karen Browne]

Tuesday 14^th February – Kick Off 7.45pm unless stated

PREMIER DIVISION

Biggleswade United v London Tigers

Edgware Town v St Margaretsbury

Leighton Town v Wembley

Leverstock Green v Berkhamsted (Kick Off 7.30pm)

Sun Sports v Tring Athletic

 

DUDLEY LATHAM MEMORIAL (Premier Division) CUP Quarter Final

Hoddesdon Town v Hertford Town

(Back Up Date: Thursday 16^th February)

 

MIDDLESEX PREMIER CUP Semi Finals

Hillingdon Borough v Harefield United

Rayners Lane v Broadfields United

 

DIVISION ONE

Ampthill Town v Hadley Wood & Wingate

Baldock Town v Kensington Borough

Bedford v Risborough Rangers

Buckingham Athletic v Hatfield Town (Kick Off 7.30pm)

Codicote v Brimsdown

Harpenden Town v Southall

Langford v Winslow United

 

OXFORDSHIRE SENIOR CUP Quarter Final

Thame Rangers v North Leigh (Kick Off 7.30pm)

 

U25 DEVELOPMENT DIVISION

Oxhey Jets Development v Colney Heath Development (Kick Off 7.30pm)

St Margaretsbury Development v Wodson Park Development

[Dailydose]

Bedford Risborough midweek is a joke.

1 hour 10 mins on route planner, excluding rush hour traffic.

Looks like I'll have to look for something more local to Aylesbury this week.

Manager and players must be fuming.

[OD's]

Buckingham v Hatfield the same and a 7.30pm KO.

[OD's]

Still think the clubs missed a trick last season, by not re-arranging their own fixtures that get postponed.

Clubs then have no reasons to gripe. And makes Karen's job a lot easier.

[patemondo]

I totally agree with you OD’s on clubs taking responsibility for postponements. It works perfectly well at Step 4 and I believe a couple of step 5 leagues. This would certainly take some of the burden of the fixture secretary.

However I also believe it is about time the SSML got a grip over fixtures. I am not sure this is a paid position but in my view it certainly should be as it such a critical job and I imagine takes hours of Karen’s time. The league though need to assist the Fixture Secretary with it or change how it is being done. Examples:

Clubs playing alternately home and away. This isn’t happening. Clubs are getting a host of home or away games. If you take Stotfold as an example. I recollect we had our first 8 games away and we now have 11 of our last 13 at home!

Clubs playing long distances midweek.

It should hardly ever happen. Get all the teams on a mileage grid and select the longest 8 games. Play them Saturdays from Aug into the middle of October with reverse fixtures March and April. The first 3 months are more effected by FA Vase and Cup games.

Play more league games midweek and leave the league cup games until later.

Teams in the UCL league have played 32 plus league games already. I am not sure why we try and get all league cup games in up to the SF by Christmas. In fact why split the Challenge Trophy into 2 regions to cut down on travelling.

Play midweek games against teams closest to you except perhaps the local one IF clubs want to play that at Christmas and Easter. If clubs don’t want to play Xmas week they shouldn’t have too.

[Karen Browne]

I totally agree with you OD’s on clubs taking responsibility for postponements. It works perfectly well at Step 4 and I believe a couple of step 5 leagues. This would certainly take some of the burden of the fixture secretary.

However I also believe it is about time the SSML got a grip over fixtures. I am not sure this is a paid position but in my view it certainly should be as it such a critical job and I imagine takes hours of Karen’s time. The league though need to assist the Fixture Secretary with it or change how it is being done. Examples:

Clubs playing alternately home and away. This isn’t happening. Clubs are getting a host of home or away games. If you take Stotfold as an example. I recollect we had our first 8 games away and we now have 11 of our last 13 at home!

Clubs playing long distances midweek.

It should hardly ever happen. Get all the teams on a mileage grid and select the longest 8 games. Play them Saturdays from Aug into the middle of October with reverse fixtures March and April. The first 3 months are more effected by FA Vase and Cup games.

Play more league games midweek and leave the league cup games until later.

Teams in the UCL league have played 32 plus league games already. I am not sure why we try and get all league cup games in up to the SF by Christmas. In fact why split the Challenge Trophy into 2 regions to cut down on travelling.

Play midweek games against teams closest to you except perhaps the local one IF clubs want to play that at Christmas and Easter. If clubs don’t want to play Xmas week they shouldn’t have too.

 

To answer points raised.

Firstly Buckingham Athletic v Hatfield Town and Bedford v Risborough Rangers - Both these games were postponed from their Saturday dates (Sat 5 Nov and Sat 11 Feb respectively) due to County Cup fixtures taking preference.

 

The position is paid by an honorarium which has to be declared to the taxman however I have never accepted this due to my unemployment because it causes me problems with my benefits.

 

As I said at both the Premier and Division One half yearly meetings I will be ditching using Full Time to generate fixtures as this has no concept of distances) and will be going back to the time consuming old fashioned way next season of having two sets of clubs per division in order to ensure alternating fixtures. Of course this will not be fool-proof due to clubs having grounds unavailable due to cricket and ground sharing with clubs at a higher step.

 

Next season there are 38 Saturday's so Premier Division clubs would only have need for four midweek fixtures. With Christmas and New Year on a Monday there will no bank holiday fixtures during the festive period.

 

With only four midweek games I plan on having one a month for first four months thus enabling me to have one midweek a month set aside for League Challenge Trophy and one midweek per month set aside for Divisional Cups (should clubs wish these competitions to continue)

 

I have tried to get as many long journeys on Saturdays and whilst March and April is likely to be unaffected Aug to Oct as mentioned is hit by clubs progressing in FA Cup, FA Vase (Premier Division) and FA Vase and County Cups (Division One).

 

I did want to get as many league games played by Christmas by not issuing any games for Jan and Feb (when we normally face the worst weather conditions), Jan and Feb would have been filled with games postponed due to FA and County competitions.

This was rejected by the SSML Management Committee because I was told clubs must have Saturday football wherever possible.

[OD's]

Would the league allow Sunday football. We had a game on a Sunday this season and it was a great success. FA Vase stage games on Sunday's when ground shares clash. Only talking about 2 or 3 a season. It all helps

Edited February 13, 2017 by OD's

[Karen Browne]

If the two clubs agreed I would have no issues, likewise Friday nights

[OD's]

Maybe that's an idea to introduce. With our game, we received the fixtures and saw we had a game on a Sunday. No one blinked an eye, just got on with it.

[Karen Browne]

Tuesday 14^th February

PREMIER DIVISION

0-0 Biggleswade United v London Tigers

1-1 Edgware Town v St Margaretsbury

1-3 Leighton Town v Wembley

2-2 Leverstock Green v Berkhamsted

1-0 Sun Sports v Tring Athletic

 

DUDLEY LATHAM MEMORIAL (Premier Division) CUP Quarter Final

1-0 Hoddesdon Town v Hertford Town

 

DIVISION ONE

2-2 Ampthill Town v Hadley Wood & Wingate

3-3 Baldock Town v Kensington Borough

1-2 Bedford v Risborough Rangers

3-2 Buckingham Athletic v Hatfield Town

1-3 Codicote v Brimsdown

2-4 Harpenden Town v Southall

5-0 Langford v Winslow United

 

MIDDLESEX PREMIER CUP Semi Finals

2-2 Hillingdon Borough v Harefield United (Hillingdon Borough won 6-5 on penalties)

1-4 Rayners Lane v Broadfields United

 

OXFORDSHIRE SENIOR CUP Quarter Final

1-2 Thame Rangers v North Leigh

 

U25 DEVELOPMENT DIVISION

2-0 Oxhey Jets Development v Colney Heath Development

3-1 St Margaretsbury Development v Wodson Park Development

[FCChairman]

I see on Twitter certain clubs/managers slagging off officials again. If you are in the top 3 of the Prem do you just get away with it? Poor show.

[OD's]

Don't you just hate it.

 

Its a cup game, managers change their teams.

 

Team loses, then states wholesale changes was the reason, but it was their decision !!

 

Are they saying players picked are not good enough.

[patrick]

I see on Twitter certain clubs/managers slagging off officials again. If you are in the top 3 of the Prem do you just get away with it? Poor show.

1 club   1 manager , perhaps  the referee  wasnt influenced   by  the  strategicaly placed  connections howling   for  every   decision.

[patemondo]

 

Certainly in my experience Managers appear to be following premier clubs.

This is a combination of all or part of the following:

Giving youth players experience.

Playing fringe first team squad players

Resting players due to key league or FA Cup/Vase games

Injuries and suspensions

 

When it works out then Managers can say we have a great squad that bodes well for this and other seasons.

If it doesn't they can say it was great experience for the lads but shows they aren't ready yet or the competition was not one of our targets etc

In short they can have their cake and eat it.

 

I can only speak from personal experience but we play mostly the U25's or 18's (previously) in the Premier and Challenge Cup plus the Hinchingbrooke & NBCC. It has meant some heavy defeats in some cases always we did quite well against London Colney, (who we play every year in one or the other league competitions). I fully support and encourage them to do so although I did advise not too when we played Peterborough Sports earlier in the Hinchingbrooke. An 8 nil hammering didn't teach the boys too much that night.

[Monkey8]

Job Done ?

[Karen Browne]

Re: Twitter

 

Club Secretaries were sent following yesterday

 

 6.2. After a meaningful discussion on referees’ appointments and welfare, the committee’s attention was called to another incident involving comments on social media. Clubs are reminded that they will be held responsible for what they post on the web.

[Dailydose]

The standard of refs is poor though.

[OD's]

Noticed last week Oxhey Jets had a major gripe about the ref v Berko on twitter.

[Jonno]

Re: Twitter

 

Club Secretaries were sent following yesterday

 

6.2. After a meaningful discussion on referees’ appointments and welfare, the committee’s attention was called to another incident involving comments on social media. Clubs are reminded that they will be held responsible for what they post on the web.

Be interesting to see how they go about proving who is who, either on twitter or on here. Most go by an alias.

[FCChairman]

The Hertford manager doesn't