Chairman’s Report – 2007/2008

Seasons fly by even faster these days. Here we are at the end of the 2007/8 season which, it seems, had only just started! The standard of football played in all age groups continues at the highest level and is a joy to watch and be part of.

We at Garforth Villa provide the opportunity for approximately 300 boys and girls to participate in football throughout the season. Yet again it has been undertaken by a group of committed people who collectively are known as the Management Committee.

Our prime concern is the provision of the opportunity for boys and girls to play football in an enjoyable and safe environment. In that, and many other respects, our club is regarded as an example of how a junior football club should be organised.

My thanks go to all members of our management for the work they have put in throughout the year to ensure that things ran as smoothly as possible. I make no apology for mentioning certain members who have continued to work tirelessly for this club and its members, as they have for many years, namely Mark Barry who unfortunately had to stand down as Secretary half way through the season due to work commitments and many many thanks to Ian Dunkley for taking over the position and Ian has done a very successful job as Mark was a hard act to follow. Thanks to Carl Bosworth my Deputy Chairman who was always in the background when I needed him and at times I did. Thanks to Tracy Marie Richardson our Child Protection Welfare Officer for keeping us on track with the rights and wrongs and what we can and can’t do regarding the welfare of our players (a mine field with the potential to blow up at any time). Our new Treasurer, Steve Marsh, has taken over the purse strings and has settled well into keeping our finances on track.

Andy Baron continues to spend much of his time keeping our website up to date and ensuring that everyone connected with the club has access to up-to-the-minute news. Thanks also to Ian Dunkley, Andy Baron and John Morley in their role as gala Co-ordinators, they have done a brilliant job organising matches, venues, programmes, trophies etc. 

Lee Taylor also had a difficult job this year as pitch co-ordinator, mainly due to the acute shortage of pitches available on a Sunday. My thanks go to our sponsors for the money and support they have put into Garforth Villa throughout the year and long may they keep supporting our children.

 My thanks also to other volunteers, whether they were parents, friends, coaches, referees, assistant referees or “just” spectators who are doing this all to give nearly 300 kids the chance to play organised football. Now that the thanks are out of the way I can talk about how successful the season 2005/06 has been for the whole of Garforth Villa.

Our kindergarten has once again produced us with a large number of players for the future development and successes of Garforth Villa, we must remember that they are the new blood to our already successful club and I wish them all the best in 2006/07.

Our under 7’s and 8’s have competed in friendly matches and carried on the good name of Garforth Villa. Our two under 9’s teams have competed in the Saturday Selby league and Sunday Garforth league, both have done well in their own rights with Tracy’s team developing and improving as the season went on and Ian’s’ team winning their league. Our under 10’s had two sections one in the Saturday Selby league managed by Kevin Hill in his first season as manager and one in the Sunday Garforth league, again both competed to high level but unfortunately didn’t manage to win a league title but Lee Taylor’s team (Garforth league) won the Yorkshire Cup.

Our under 11’s managed by Mark Barry and Tony Eaglen won the Garforth league after a pre-season which looked as though the team wouldn’t get off the ground after a mad exodus of players caused by parents who thought they knew better. Obviously the final league table told the truth. Our under 12’s age group had a little success by winning the supplementary cup in the Sunday league but should have won or finished second in the 1^st division of the Garforth league and the Saturday team also managed by Carl Bosworth and Steve Marsh didn’t finish where they wanted to.

In the under 13’s we also have two teams in different leagues, one in the Charles Rice Sunday league managed by Mel Zimechkie and Chris Keenan, I know both were disappointed with the final league placing, but better luck next season. Our other under 13’s managed by me and assisted by Jock Jaques won the Garforth league division one and also had the honour of winning the Millennium Cup Final at Elland Road, which is a first for Garforth Villa on both counts.

Our under 14’s managed for the first time by Glynn Tuck had a reasonable season as far as to say that season got off the ground, as pre-season we had a change of manager and Glynn along with Dave have done an exceptional job to keep the boys going and I know next season will be a lot easier for them all. In the under 15’s section, again we have two teams one played in the Leeds FA league managed this season by Mick Wood and the other team played in the Charles Rice league managed by our resident DJ Mark Oddy. Mick’s’ team struggled for numbers this season due to injuries and loosing players to professional clubs and Mark had a reasonable season but probably didn’t do as well as Mark he wanted.

Our girls section has three teams, our under 10’s were very successful in finishing second in the league and managing to reach the final of the cup, well done to Tim Hope who again is in his first season as manager and coach. Our under 11’s finished mid table following promotion last year and our under 14’s ladies finished 7^th in the league after we had to merge both teams into one due to lack of players, hopefully next season will be an improvement but just keep on turning up and play football ladies

My sincere apologies if I have forgotten to mention or thank anyone who deserved to be thanked.

At this point I would also like to measure our successful club in a different way than winning trophies, Garforth Villa once again have produced players for professional clubs, season 2007/8 will see two of our players play for Leeds United one for Sheffield United and one for Huddersfield Town. No other junior football club have produced as many players for professional clubs over the last 8 seasons. We have now developed 16 players for various professional clubs and we are collectively proud of it.

Finally, sincere thanks to my wife and two sons for the support and assistance they have given me in undertaking my duties for Garforth Villa players, parents and management committee.

Good luck next season and I am looking forward to seeing all your smiling faces again in 2008/2009 and please remember we are all volunteers which means you are not here to take abuse from parents, guardians and other members of families.

Dave Coates

Chairman

Men’s Dinner

The 2nd annual Sportsman’s dinner was again a fantastic success. Garforth Villa would like to thanks every one who contributed to making the evening such an enjoyable evening.