News

Club news and upcoming events

Newsletter - July 2008

Thank you for attending the trial days, I hope everyone enjoyed the sessions. I wanted to let people know what’s happening as we move towards the new season.

Amongst the age groups attending the trials, it is hoped the club will run teams at U9, U10, U11 and U12 level next season; that is from CURRENT school years 3 to 6. There may be scope to run an U8 team (CURRENT year 2), but last week the F.A. banned league football below the U9 age group. We await a decision from the Northumberland Mini Soccer League as to their plans for this age group, but we may be in a position to arrange some friendlies if we have enough players.

We could do with more players for next seasons U10 & U11 teams (CURRENT school years 4 & 5), so please put the word around and invite interested players along to training.

We haven’t finalised fully who will take responsibility for each age group – we’ll be sitting down over the next few days to work things out, but certainly Jon Smith and I will continue with the U12s and Keith Gascoigne at U11. We have people pencilled in for U9s and U10s whilst another person is interested in getting involved at U8 level.

Training

Training will recommence at the Common on Saturday 26th July (10.00 – 11.30) and Saturdays thereafter. This will give players the chance to get some practice and coaching in time for the season starting in early September. We may arrange some friendlies for the various age groups – holidays permitting – but it is important for the new teams at U9 and U10 to learn about playing competitive football, whilst the U11s need to get to grips with the move to 11-a-side football.

Club Membership

In the ‘Club Documents’ section of the website is a club membership form for the coming season. All players who would like to play or just train with the club are required to become members and I hope new children will be happy to join the club. Club membership runs from the 1st September, but the annual fee covers the cost of running the club (equipment, insurance, pitch hire etc) whilst all club members will receive a trophy at the club’s annual presentation evening. Please complete and return the forms to your child’s coach at training in time for the 1st September.

League Registration

Players who play for the club need to be registered with their respective leagues. The leagues will provide forms to the coaches which will require completion and supporting documentation in terms of birth certificates / passports. Your assistance will be greatly appreciated as this is a busy and awkward time for coaches to get players registered given it coincides with school summer holidays and the like. U12 players will not require the supporting documentation unless they are new to the club.

Further Information

The club has its own website (www.morpethtownjuniors.com) and this will be continually updated with information at the various age groups. Please use this as a reference point re news and information, whilst it contains contact details for coaches should you need them.

Other useful points of information are the following websites :

www.thenabc.co.uk – website of the league which runs football for the U11s up to U17s (11-a-side football)

www.thenmsl.co.uk – website of the Northumberland Mini Soccer League which runs football for U8 – U10s. This is mini-soccer, 7-a-side football

Proposed Merger with FC Morpeth

Just a few words on this subject to clarify the current situation. As you may have heard, initial discussions have taken place with Morpeth’s other junior football club about merging the two clubs. THIS WILL NOT TAKE PLACE BEFORE THE START OF THE COMING SEASON, as respective teams had to be registered with leagues by the end of June.

However, whilst the two clubs will operate their own teams during the coming season, there appears a will on both sides to merge the clubs. There are a number of administrative and financial issues to discuss and resolve (and it requires the approval of Northumberland F.A.), but the motivation is the desire to strengthen junior football in Morpeth, whilst having a single club in the town opens up many funding opportunities to develop the club.

We’ll keep you posted, but in the short term, we’ll focus on the teams we are running and look forward to a successful season/

Any queries, feel free to get in touch.

Paul Barwick
07799 836384