 We want to introduce you to an exciting new opportunity to raise money for your Club and to invite you to sign up to a new initiative called 'My Club Wins' (MCW). So, what is My Club Wins? My Club Wins (MCW) is an online Society Lottery for grassroots community sports clubs. Launched by Sport Support CIC in 2023. it comes without cost or risk to Clubs. MCW is an online monthly draw which enables lottery players to win national prizes whilst clubs and players can win donated and sponsored prizes. Tickets are £5 a month and no less than 50 per cent of funds raised are donated back to your Club. We believe this is one of the highest percentage returns of any UK lottery. MCW offers Clubs an easy, modern, and sustainable way of raising funds at a time when many of our Clubs are facing difficult challenges. MCW has no set up charges, is risk free and operates entirely online. It is paperless, cashless and requires minimal administration. MCW was created and has been launched by sports enthusiasts and is run by Sports Support a not-for-profit Community Interest Company (CIC) set up to raise funds specifically for recreational sport. The AFC have agreed to partner with Sports Support, who already have an arrangement with the Club Cricket Charity. The website is live (see below) and if you want to know more then check out 'How it Works' and 'Got a Question' on the Home Page. Both the AFC and Sports Support believe that social media is going to be an important tool in spreading the word about this, particularly X(Twitter), WhatsApp groups, Tik Tock, and Instagram. We need clubs to appoint 'champions' to recruit people to play the game across your community, but you'll need to have a minimum of 25 lottery players signed up to participate. To get your Club involved you simply go to the red 'Club Sign Up' icon, answer a few questions and you're in. In summary, there are several good reasons why Clubs should participate: -
To Find out more Click on the link: www.myclubwins.co.uk
What are you waiting for? Sign-up NOW! Regards, Martin C Armstrong Chair Amateur Football Combination
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 We are excited to announce that the AFC has partnered with adidas to “Pay Players subs for the Return of Football” following the long lock down. Through this partnership, adidas are providing the AFC with a Donation to pay for AFC players match fees for Saturday 3 April, and all of those funds will be transferred to our member clubs. How will this work for clubs As a league we have been working on this partnership with adidas over the last few days and the final stage in the agreement will see adidas transfer the funds to the league on Tuesday 6th April, and, as soon as possible after this we will be transferring funds to clubs as quickly as we can. To enable us to transfer funds, a form will be sent out over the weekend to for you to fill in with your club’s bank details. Ideally, we would want to pay funds in to bank accounts in the club’s name. Each team will be provided with an amount based on AFC sub and squad size calculations After a long lay-off this is the perfect pick me up for the Restart of Football. Finally, on behalf of the AFC and all our clubs, I would like to say a huge thank you to adidas for choosing us to work with on this fantastic initiative. Dear Clubs, We wrote to you all last week to advise of the league Secretary, Ian Andrew’s resignation, effective 30/9/20. In that communication we asked for volunteers to step forward to assume a couple of roles that Ian had undertaken voluntarily, namely Fines Secretary and League Match Secretary North. To date we have had no communication from any club to help with these vacancies. This is surprising, from northern clubs, who may see disruption to their fixtures in the event that the League Match Secretary role is unfulfilled. Accordingly, we would urge club officers and members to consider putting themselves forward for these vacancies and doing so promptly. If the positions are not filled by new volunteers it is likely that the league will incur cost to administer the work arising that will in turn inevitably push up club fees and charges. Please contact Neill Johnstone at [email protected] to register your interest. Best wishes, John Maskell Chairman AFC 
Dear Clubs/Referees,
I am writing to advise you that our long standing secretary, Ian Andrews, has decided to step down from his many active roles and has formally provided to me a letter of resignation, effective 30th September 2020. In addition to standing down from his paid administration role as secretary of the league, Ian is also standing down from his voluntary roles as northern league match secretary, registration and fines secretary. Ian has served diligently in these roles for almost a decade and I’m sure you will join me in thanking him for all his hard work and dedication over these years. As you would expect, the league executive is moving forward with plans to find a successor to Ian in both his paid and voluntary roles. In this regard, I would ask you to recommend or put forward details of any individual who you know, who may be looking for a part time, paid administration role and who has appropriate football administration skills and experience, and essentially, knowledge of Whole Game System and Full Time. Please send the candidate details at the earliest opportunity to our league executive member, Neill Johnstone who is overseeing this process [email protected] In addition, we are seeking new volunteers to come forward to assist in the running of the league and to fulfil the voluntary roles being vacated by Ian. This is your league so please do consider giving up some spare time to assist in its running or ask that your club colleagues consider doing so. Again, please let Neill Johnstone know of any willing volunteer. Best wishes, John Maskell Chairman Amateur Football Combination It is with much adness that I have to advise that Tony Betts - Wood Green OB Match Secretary passed away after a short battle with cancer on Thursday 2nd July , at the age of 76. Tony had been with the club since 1960 and received his FA 50 year medallion some five years ago.
He had been suffering from cancer of the oesophagus since diagnosis last November. He leaves Carol , his wife , Abigail , his daughter and Roy , his stepson. The thoughts of all members of the AFC from its Executive Committee to the players are with Keith, his brother and Club Secretary at these very difficult times. Tony was a great chap and loved his club and grassroots football. Indeed when I was match Secretary at Latymer OB in the 70's he was already a renowned name in what was then the Old Boys League. Tony you were a true gent and will be greatly missed by all. Ian Andrews AFC Secretary This years AGM will be a virtual meeting using Microsoft Teams. Agenda attached and will be held on Thursday 25th June 2020 @ 7.00pm prompt (meeting open from 6.45pm. afc_agm_agenda_2020.pdf
It is expected that all clubs will be represented for the entire meeting. One attendee per club please. It is not permissible for any club to offer apologies for non attendance, as you have had three weeks notice to ensure a representative of your club dials into the meeting and contributes to the whole meeting. Please read the attachments as you will be asked to vote on their acceptance at the AGM although it is our intention to deal with all points as quickly as possible. If anyone has a point to make before the meeting then please email me. It should be noted that for this season the AFC have reduced Club and Team subscriptions from £50 & £56 respectively to just £25 each. Statement by the Jason Kilby (CEO of the Amateur Football Alliance) and fully endorsed by everyone within the Amateur Football Combination from it's Executive Committee to the clubs and players.
Black Lives Matter. We stand with everyone fighting against racism, especially within football. We can never do enough, we can always do more. We never turn a blind eye to discrimination, we call it out, we try to educate or sanction (or both). We do not agree that the method of removing the statue of a slave trader matters more than removing what it symbolises. We don’t always agree that the sanctions in football handed out against incidents of racism is enough, we will continue to push to improve. We want more diversity on our Board, on our Council, among our staff, in our football teams. Until racism is eradicated, we will fight against it. We commit to being an anti-racist organisation. We commit to equality for all. We commit to using our influence to fight racism. If you can help us, we will listen. We can be contacted on 020 8733 2613 or [email protected] Following The FA’s announcement with regards to the enforced conclusion of the 2019/20 season, for all grassroots football, the FA advised that two options were available on how each grass roots league concluded season 2019/20. It has to be made absolutely clear that these two options were the only two that Leagues were able to consider.
Option 1. Competitions are brought to an immediate end with all results for 19/20 expunged (i.e. without promotion or relegation occurring or trophies being awarded). Option 2. League positions and promotions and relegation are resolved by a points per game calculation (no trophies are awarded ). All AFC Clubs were asked to vote on these two options the final vote is as follows :- Option 1 - 35 Votes Option 2 - 32 Votes Abstain - 2 Votes Didn't Reply - 4 Clubs A 2/3rds overall majority, was not secured. As Option 1 was the favoured option by AFC Executive & Fixture Committee Members and actually did gain most club votes, that is the option selected. It should be noted that the AFC will now void the 2019/20 season with no automatic promotion and relegation. As in every season the Fixtures Committee will prepare a Draft Constitution for 2020/21 once we have more encouraging news that football can actually start again, without fear of further disruption. The Fixtures Committee will look at all teams whose playing record in the current season that suggests they should play in either a higher or lower division in the 2020/21 season and will look to promote/relegate those teams where possible. Also the two clubs that had already actually won their division, Fitzwilliam OB & Old Pegasonians, will be moved up a division as their playing record warrants. It should be noted that all clubs will have ample opportunity to suggests changes to the draft constitution before it is voted on at the AGM (whenever and however that takes place). Finally it is the intention of the AFC to play all nine 2019 LOB Cup Finals when we have the all clear to start playing again. As we progress over the coming months we hope that the football family in the AFC will come together to support our communities and provide them with something to look forward to, as hopefully we can start planning for and looking forward to season 20/21, when, with all being well, we will have seen the back of this horrible virus and are all able to watch and participate within the grassroots game with our friends and families once again. On behalf of all AFC Committees we would like to take this opportunity to send our best wishes, not only to those involved in the grassroots game, but to all who may have experienced this virus. Please stay safe and continue to follow the government guidance and precautions put in place to control its spread Regards Ian Andrews AFC Secretary Dear All,
I trust that you have, or will have, seen the statement, highlighted in red below, made in the past hour from the FA. Due to this we have no alternative but to postpone all future 2019-2020 league games, within the AFC, with immediate effect. All eight LOB Cup Finals are also postponed and will be re-arranged and played in accordance with applicable Government Guidelines . We are in unprecedented times , the like of which we have never seen, nor wish ever to see again. The season is immediately suspended, but the likelihood, has to be that we will not be able to restart the season, in the remaining weeks of March & April. A considered and reasoned decision on what we do, as regards, promotion, relegation, possibly restarting the season in September, declaring the season null and void and playing the Cup Finals at a later date, will all be considered in the weeks to come, when we will have more information and the Fixtures Committee will be able to propose a structured plan. It is recognised that whatever decisions are made will upset some and please others, but as always the Fixtures Committee will consider all options available. The awards evening, scheduled for Friday May 29th will now have to be cancelled. Finally can I personally thank all Club Officers, Fixtures Committee Members, Emergency Exec Members and the players themselves, for supporting myself and the AFC in the past weeks as the Covid19 pandemic gathered pace at such an alarming rate. The AFC will return, so please, please, stay healthy , take the NHS and Government advice seriously and once we have more news it will be sent to all. FA Announcement: Please read below Following the Government’s announcement today, for people to avoid social contact and gatherings where possible, we are now advising that all grassroots football in England is postponed for the foreseeable future. Throughout this period, we have taken Government advice with the priority being the health and wellbeing of all. We will continue to work closely with the grassroots game during this time. We are in regular communication with the Government and the situation within English football at all levels remains under regular review. Further updates will follow as needed. Regards to you all Ian Andrews AFC Secretary 07845.389916 (m) 01480.535505 (h) In the few AFA finals played before the FA suspended all Grass Roots Football www.amateur-fa.com/news/2020/mar/17/grassroots-football-suspended due to the Covid-19 virus we had two successes in finals . First off the blocks was Old Parmiterians VIII who defeated Broomfield 4th 6-1 in the Senior Novets Final played at Old Wokingians on 7th March. A video of the match highlights iss available on you tube www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGfdxsR3nFk&t=359s&pbjreload=10
On Saturday 14th Shene OG 3rd xi defeated Norseman 4th xi 4-2 aet in a thrilling final played at Old Meadonians and match report is attached minor_cup_final_match_report.docx So two AFA Finals, two AFC clubs win on two AFC grounds - at last the league seem to be getting the recognition it so fully deserves. Ian Andrews AFC Secretary |
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