Football Club 2019/2020 End of Season Report
Posted: Monday 13th July 2020
The Club had another very successful season, with 11 junior teams starting at Under 7’s all the way up to Under 16’s, with two teams at Under 10’s, plus two senior teams. The junior teams played in a variety of leagues; Witney and District Youth, Milton Keynes and Midland Junior Premier League.
The senior team played in the Oxfordshire Senior League One and the Reserves in the Banbury Lord Jersey League. The senior team was in second place in their league when it was suspended and then cancelled all together, due to the Covid-19 Pandemic.
The vast majority of players in the junior section continue to be children from Middleton Cheney with some from surrounding villages and Banbury.
All of our junior coaches are CRC checked, as well as holding first aid and safeguarding children qualifications. They also hold a minimum of an FA level 1 coaching qualification.
In 2019, the Club introduced a new on-line system for the collection of match fees as part of our updated website and this has been received very positively by parents. As a result, it has been rolled out and expanded to include the 2020/2021 player registrations.
The Club recently paid over £3000 for maintenance work to the playing field and this was originally funded by the collection of registration fees and subs from the players, as well as a number of successful fundraising events across the year.
However, the Club successfully applied for some funding from the Football Foundation and received a grant of £5000. Therefore as we have more money than first expected, we will be spending another £2000 on pitch maintenance. The Football Club very much appreciates all the advice which Andy Mayo has provided to the Club on the pitch maintenance.
The Club also successfully applied for a £500 from the FA to help pay for hand sanitisers and masks etc which enabled the Club to get the grass roots training up and running again.
The tournament scheduled for 5 July 2020 unfortunately had to be cancelled and it is now planned to be held on Sunday 4 July 2021. As the Club’s biggest fundraiser, this was obviously disappointing for everyone that the event was cancelled. The Club thanks the Cricket Club for allowing the event to go ahead during their season.
The Football Club, along with Cricket Club and Tennis Club, also fully support the proposal for a new community pavilion and sports pitches in the village. The Club has outgrown the current site and this is an exciting opportunity for the village to have a facility it can be proud of and will serve the community for many years to come.
It was a shame for all involved with the Football Club that the season came to such an abrupt end due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, but we hope everyone is staying safe and we are all looking forward to the start of another successful season. Next season we will have 12 junior teams, one more than last season, ranging from under 7’s to under 18’s, plus 2 senior teams so we are looking forward to an announcement from the FA about a date when the new season can start.