Chairman’s Report 2010-2011
Annual General Meeting 19.07.2011

I would like to thank all the new officers, Tom Harding, Grace Marsland, Barry Taylor, Dean Burkett and Mark Betson for all the sterling work they have delivered. Special thanks as well to Steve Gower for the advice as the voice of experience in Catholic United club affairs and to Darren Allen for his stoic determination in the face of institutional apathy with regard to all matters Charter Standard.

This past year has first and foremost been one marked by unparalleled success in the club’s history.

Success both on the pitch and off it as well.

As a junior football club silverware is not neccessarily our only measure of achievement but it is a key component. I can quite confidently say that the club are currently going through its “golden age” in terms of footballing prowess. Three of our teams enjoyed league and cup success last year - the elusive double, congratulations to Steve Morgan, Mark Froud and the Under 12As. Tom Harding supplied the icing with his 12Bs County Cup triumph, another Catholic first. Moreover both Dean Burkett and Darren Allen achieved notable promotions from their respective divisions as well.


Since 2007 Catholic have been the dominant team in the SEEMSL. Division One champions four out of a possible six times.

In the Southend District, the trophy haul of ten titles and seven cup triumphs in the last decade are an outstanding tribute to the football talent in the jersey and the coaches on the touchlines.


In terms of football prowess we have yet another Catholic United club  first. Two teams from the club in the Premier League. That alone is remarkable, perhaps more so in that they were both very competitive, successful and both composed of a high percentage of new signings. Incredibly the Under 12s had a memorable three teams in the District Cup’s last eight and two in the County Cup quarter finals as well. A and B met each other in the  District semi final. The club fielded 26 teams in 2010 and the plans are to put out 25 this year. The Under 9s have gone from one to three teams, the Under 10s have increased by a team as well. Rudi tells me that we’ll have three Under 7 teams going forward.


Without doubt the stand-out performance off the pitch was the gaining of the FA’s Charter Standard Community Club award, one of only 23 organisations in Essex to achieve that particular benchmark. Many thanks to Darren Allen for being the lead in that process, which may I remind all is an ongoing programme.

The 2010 tournament was our most profitable if not best supported. But we have had some great feedback on the general composition of the event with clubs like Dagenham this season sending multiple teams. This season’s tournament is heading towards a near sell-out with entries from Hertfordshire, Kent and Sussex.

We have continued with some success following last year’s decision to retain Mark Hunter as our development coach albeit on a different fiscal premise. Our new intake no longer just comes from maybe three or four feeder schools but a much wider and diverse catchment. Ongoing he has delivered both a popular and reliable service.

Indeed, in terms of catchment the youth teams have boys playing in significant numbers from Canvey, Basildon, Shoebury, Billericay and even Poplar and Dagenham.
 
I think we have improved communication by a large degree this year. We have introduced a weekly email newsletter which is opened by around 50% of our members whom we have an address for. After a lot of dithering we have commissioned a new website to be built which we anticipate will further increase our profile. The website will be launched before the new season. We have had more regular committee meetings and I have personally dealt with a number of issues all within 24 hours.We sent out a tournament promotional brochure to over 110 club secretaries followed up by a regular monthly email letter and have seen our tournament include entries from Gravesend, Dartford, Brighton and Barnet.


Unfortunately  we do have few looming problems on the immediate horizon.

Our relationship with the senior club has been tarnished by some of our Under 18’s negative experiences and the new policy of the seniors recruiting directly from Seevic. They also have a novice chairman, Chris Knight who I am due to have informal discussions with in the near future. Those issues amongst others will be on the agenda.


We have lost our Under 18 team anyway, some to open age football, some to other distractions. But perhaps more significantly also lost our Under 14As who have migrated over to the EJA via Concord and our only girls team as well. I have spoken to Ian Bent at County regarding the Eastern Junior Alliance and he said was a bone of contention for a number of clubs but could offer no immidiate solution. We will have to continue to explore alternatives or we face a continual leeching of our best talent . From 2010-2011 the EJA have had an Under 13 division which has considerably expanded this season. The threat is now one year closer. The loss of Ike’s girl side which has been running for three years will impact on our Community Club status unless we address the problem very quickly. Girl’s football is a key constituent of our 5 year Community Club strategy  and we must pay urgent attention to find an improved approach to what has in effect been a neglected section of the organisation.


This year we will form the Football Development Group, refocus the role of Director of Football and look for a constant incremental improvement in all our teams. I am a strong believer in prioritising footballing achievement at every level, in fact, above all else, when it comes to Catholic United.

Although we as a club considered the trials a success we did have a number of dissenters and I propose a drawing up of a club policy on our conduct, primarily to avoid any direct confrontation when making player movement decisions on the day of the trial while all parents and players are still in attendance. I suggest we involve Darren and Mark as Welfare Officials along with the Football Development Group.

We raised subs after a 12 month freeze and unless we find a very affluent benefactor feel that a percentage rise will be inevitable year on year.

The change to FA policy regarding 9v9 football will obviously impact us in a number of ways from 2012. We will no doubt have to invest in new portable youth goals. This will also affect the composition of our tournament and even this season, the normally oversubscribed  Under 11 section has been affected by reduced demand because of the new 9v9 format.

The club have recognised the hard work done by our volunteer coaches who are the mainstay of Catholic. By subsidising kit, trying to appeal to  the wider Catholic United constituency to get more involved with the club we are seeking ways that will allow the coaches to focus on the football.


An interesting first year nonetheless.

Russell Hobbs