**Breaking news** Denis Cudahy will Referee the first game on pitch 2 Vintage Celtic versus Denton Wednesday. Denis’s team Nash Bees have a late start. Gratitude to Denis for stepping up to the plate. I’ve also approached Vintage Celtic with an offer for Brian Coll to Referee at least one game if he is willing and able so to do. Both Brian and Denis are qualified and badged Manchester County F.A. Referees. Failing this I’ll Referee three – Alan Richards.
_________________
Some of you will know already that one of our Referees, Alan Graham has been admitted into hospital and will obviously be missing from our final round of fixtures. Alan Graham is uppermost in our thoughts but I have had to think about contingency plans for Wednesday.
Possible replacement Referee Keith Burrows is otherwise engaged. I looked at playing games in pairs, instead of trios but this leaves teams idle for too long. This would have involved Nash Amblers, Nash Bees, Denton Wednesday, and Tameside Striders playing games against each other on a different day, unless we played well into the afternoon.. Unsatisfactory. We could have shortened games to say ten minutes instead of twenty. Again unsatisfactory.
——–
So the simplest solution is for myself to withdraw from Tameside Striders squad and Referee the games on pitch two in Alan Graham’s place. With one change – switching the 11.30 fixture Bolton Arena v. Nash Bees to Pitch One, and bringing Burnley W.F. v. Tameside Striders to pitch Two. This would mean that none of the fixtures on pitch two have a realistic bearing on the destination of the Championship or a likely involvement in the outcome of the ‘fair play’ trophy element. I am familiar with the requirements and standards of the league across the last six months.
I have limited experience as a Referee in ‘competitive’ walking football, especially the three touch format. However, I am badged and accredited by the Manchester County F.A. Let me make it clear I would rather play, or occupy myself in other ways than Refereeing. However, presented with this situation I cannot see any sensible alternative. If you can, then please add your thoughts below.
Fixtures on Pitch Two would be:
VINTAGE CELTIC V. DENTON WEDNESDAY
VINTAGE CELTIC V. TAMESIDE STRIDERS
BURNLEY W.F. V. TAMESIDE STRIDERS
TAMESIDE STRIDERS V. DENTON WEDNESDAY
In closing I repeat our concern for our good friend Alan Graham and sincerely hope his recovery is smooth and swift and he is back with us all soon. Thank you – Alan Richards
______________________________________
It’s looking good folks!
TROPHIES from left to right:
- Second place (no RUNNERS up here):
- CHAMPIONS – overall winners
- The ‘Ken Richards’ Cup – fair play winners on points
.
___________________________
9th. March ++ League leaders the Nash Amblers were in action in the other, larger local league last Thursday. The Over 60’s squad is different by nature to their FPL line up as from the outset the four teams from the Nash and D.W.F.G. were selected from pooled pots on a mixed ability basis. Anyway, the Amblers have been runners ‘walkers-up’ in the GMWFL (Heywood) three seasons out of four as Founder members and playing in Division One. last Autumn saw declining fortunes however.
You can read what kind of start they got off to this time on our ‘sister’ website tamestriders.
Here’s a handy link < link >
Meanwhile Tameside Striders Over 65’s and Over 70’s await the commencement of their own leagues and if you’re interested in their progress please checkout the details on tamestriders – ta.
_______________________
If you’re on Facebook please join our group https://www.facebook.com/groups/1894061463965027/
The story so far…https://youtu.be/Jzwwh-0cwxc
As the league prepares to enter the final straight and an end is in sight we will soon be organising trophies for the winners. There will also be a Cup for the team with the most Fair Play points. This will be returnable, and in the event of a tie we’ll have a decision to make. It may be shared.
Just a reminder that the combined match won points and fair play points are what count in deciding the outright winners of the league in terms of playing performance. If totals are tied the teams with the most FP points will be ascendant. If that doesn’t produce a clear winner we will look at goal difference, failing that it will be head to head results between the teams tied at the top.
The outright winners will also receive up to nine medals, but this won’t apply to the winners of the ‘Ken Richards Cup’ for fair play and sportsmanship. Alan Richards will be funding this trophy personally, in memory of his late father, who was a lifelong ‘good sport’ who’s football team Hollyhey F.C. in the 1950’s only ever won the Sportsmanship Award – but won it almost every year !
These trophies will be presented about a three quarters of an hour after the final games in April have finished. This will take place at the ground. Thanks to Keith Fowler and his colleagues from Stalybridge for offering an alternative venue but we feel it would not be practical for teams such as Bolton Arena and Burnley WF to decamp a few miles in the ‘wrong’ direction for them, for a presentation. We will ask the Curzon club if the ‘Nash Bar’ can be made available for what should be an enjoyable hour or so of socialising and after seven months of this competition there should be much to talk about. We’ll have more news of this soon.
If Stalybridge / Vintage Celtic wanted to come up with a different event over the summer ( July best perhaps ) – perhaps a festival or Cup competition at Bower Fold or something similar , then I’m sure we would do our utmost to support it.
See you soon…
- – – – – – –
Our regular pitch 2 Referee Alan Graham is on the road to recovery and will be officiating in the GMWFL at Heywood this week. All being well he will be back with us for the March 27th. penultimate round of fixtures. I’d like to express grateful thanks to Keith Burrows for his work in the last round Feb 27th.
- – – – – – – – –
22/2/19 ~ THE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION HAVE LAUNCHED A NEW SURVEY INTO THE ATTITUDES and ASPIRATIONS OF WALKING FOOTBALLERS HAVE A LOOK ~ click the link =https://interviewer.djsresearch.com/scripts/Dubinterviewer.dll/Page?Quest=5628&QW1915=108932&Resp=454663629&redirected=1&device=PC&plugin=SILVERLIGHT&html5=CANVAS,AUDIO,AUDIO_OGG,AUDIO_MP3,AUDIO_WAV,AUDIO_M4A,VIDEO,VIDEO_OGG,VIDEO_WEBM,VIDEO_H264,LOCALSTORAGE,WEBWORKERS,OFFLINEAPP,GEOLOCATION,INPUT_SEARCH,INPUT_NUMBER,INPUT_RANGE,INPUT_COLOR,INPUT_TEL,INPUT_URL,INPUT_EMAIL,INPUT_DATE,INPUT_MONTH,INPUT_WEEK,INPUT_TIME,INPUT_DATETIME-LOCAL,PLACEHOLDER,AUTOFOCUS,HISTORY
- – – – – – – –
Fair Play League taking flack from flak knows where checkout the comments, add one yourself ? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kw-2h0d4DUE
Weather looks set fair for next week – optimistically believing !
Wednesday didn’t want him, so Striders stepped up to the plate in their search for goals. Story on the Tameside Striders page from the menu above.
– – – – – – –
The FPL management committee were consulted today after an isolated off the ball incident last Wednesday was reported over the weekend. The incident had been caught on camera and at the time the Referee had not seen it , and therefore no action was taken. The matter was brought to our attention by a player who was not involved in the game in question.
The committee consists of Alan Richards, and our three regular Referees Alan Graham, Garry Pearce and Mark Bradshaw
The team concerned was the Nash Amblers and their management team fully understand and support the actions of the committee in deducting the fair play point awarded by the match Referee. The table has been amended. This is an end to the matter. Except to say photographic evidence will be utilised where needed. There were three cameras in action last week.
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________
The conversation opened up around the attitudes of minority of players attending the Fair Play League. From the outset it was stressed that this is a ‘semi-competitive’ league and NOT for an ultra ‘win at all costs’ trophy hunting mentality who frankly, are not welcome. Nor is it our intention to tolerate continual verbal asides, be it what cricketers call ‘sledging’ and some people within regular football might refer to as ‘banter’. There is a line that can be crossed verbally, I’m sure most of us realise this. So, if you don’t recognise this within YOUR team fine, but if you do please try to put an end to it. Otherwise our Referee’s will.
This is WALKING FOOTBALL – a later life bonus.
The allocation of fair play points should be considered the exception rather the norm. These may prove vital in the final analysis. Keep on playing the game in the right spirit – winning is not everything. Gathering the odd FP point as you go. The F.P.L. will NOT become just another competition where winning assumes more importance than having an enjoyable and satisfying time on the pitch. Win, lose or draw.
- – – –
Alan Richards : on behalf of the F.P.L. management committee
___________________________________________
Good to see NINETEEN discretionary fair play points awarded by our three regular Referees last time. The 21st. century tri-colour coded micro-dot system served us well with no smudges and provided a definitive record of the FP point allocation. Thanks to all the Ref’s for embracing modern technology 🙂
February 6th. 4-00pm: Update…
the weather was indeed kind today with no rain and even some sunshine early doors. Towards noon the cloud increased and the temperature dropped but no complaints for this re-arranged extra February session.
With twelve games played sixteen goals were scored.
Everyone seemed to enjoy the day and there were some surprise results. Denton Wednesday, bottom of the league this morning surprised the leaders Nash Bees and beat them one-nil.
By my reckoning our Referees awarded 19 discretionary ‘fair play’ points and more importantly NONE were deducted. No cards of any colour were shown. The Nash Bees and Burnley garnered four F.P. points on the day. Tameside Striders just one. Bolton Arena were the winners results wise winning three of their four games and drawing the other one. They are now in positive fair play point territory with 101.
The table will be published tomorrow after a triple check. A more extensive report will appear later today. Losing one reading glasses doesn’t help – I’m off to Specsavers tomorrow !
Thanks to all who took part today. Please feel free to email your goalscorers details , impressions of the day and any concerns to Alan at alartic@googlemail.com or admin@curzonfairplayleaguewalking.football
Major thanks to our Referees Mark, Garry and Alan and to Reality Osuoaha for the photographic assistance. There’s hundreds of photo’s and a couple of hours video to sort through over the coming week or two. Watch this space – watch this website – Alan Richards. (report now up – seek and ye shall find) 🙂
________________________________________________
What a difference a week makes !
Introducing NETCAM <shoot>
- – – – – – –
Check the fixture list please…
VIDEO: “It was deep in Denton ! ” <click>
_____________________________
So much for the ‘dry night’ Weather forecasters ‘pretend’ they know.
Very little snow if any, mostly sleet and rain in Ashton today. Here’s the forecast for tomorrow. With a dry night forecast I’d say at this stage it’s highly likely the league programme can go ahead tomorrow. I’m awaiting word from Mark Bradshaw before final confirmation. Watch this space. Also Facebook and Twitter.
Really hope it’s on tomorrow – otherwise what are we gonna do with these massive baps ? (one buttered and free with the first 20 order of chips in gravy)
- – – – –
DISCRETIONARY FAIR PLAY POINTS…Referees alone are uniquely positioned to judge the mood of a match, and the attitude of both sets of players.
Awards of a single Fair Play point remain discretionary but the following guidelines are offered.
We need to be more transparent , and allow everyone to see where the bar is set.
Two cases of contact FROM THE SAME PLAYER could be sufficient to DENY his team a point. Not definitively though, if he was substituted or if his subsequent play suggested a major improvement. Likewise if his team mates were exemplary walking footballers.
Two running offences FROM THE SAME PLAYER -even if he was substituted at the time of the second offence would also be sufficient to DENY his team a point. Again, if the player was substituted or spent the rest of the game clearly walking an award might still be an option for the Referee.
This puts the onus on individuals to restrain themselves to walk, and to play fair.
IT WOULD REQUIRE EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES FOR FAIR PLAY POINT AWARDS AFTER THE ABOVE INSTANCES but we cannot rule it our entirely. The Referee will make his own mind up.
As far as other scenarios go we cannot cover everything but the Referee’s experience will help judge what is acceptably accidental , or shamelessly intentional ! Belligerent ill feeling and complaining to the Referee should not be rewarded. Likewise disputing decisions in a none civil, heated way. Questioning the Referee in a polite, civil way would be appreciated. Foul language is a red line, if not automatically a red card but F.P. points are almost certainly forfeited anyway when the air turns blue. Referees will vary in their outlook but don’t force them to make the decision. Please keep it clean.
Remember currently three team runs or three team contact offences results in the DEDUCTION of a fair play point ( different individuals ). Three runs/contacts from the same player results in a blue card (minus 3 FP points). This has only happened once in seven hundred and twenty minutes of walking football so far, so lets try to keep it a rare occurrence.
Matters of time wasting by constant back passes to the goalkeeper are now catered for in an addition to the competition rules. A warning may or may not be given. The point at which to give a warning is a matter for the individual Referee. Teams involved in a series of blatant timewasting back passes should be, and will be DENIED a discretionary fair play point, indeed they may even have additional points deducted.
This is a ‘fair play’ league.
We wish all players a very happy new year and look forward to resuming on the 30th. January – promo trailer coming soon.
Thank You.
__________
All the best to our seven teams and their players, The league has not been dormant but applying thought to making small improvements. We will soon clarify the fair play point award from Referees. Steps are also being taken to ensure each touchline has a man with a flag throughout the days programme. We are aware the academy students have been somewhat distracted at times, often through no fault of their own.
Also , if you’ve already taken part in the video i.d. parade you don’t need to do it again. I’ve compiled a film of all the clips – which took a while – and I almost feel I know you ALL personally by now !
In the meantime enjoy your festive season and we will see you at the end of January. Fixtures will be announced very early in the new year – Alan.
In the meantime here’s a link to a little promo video we’ve put together. <click>
__________________
____________________
Apropos events detailed below , the following competition rules will be added to ours for the remainder of the season.
________________________
POINT DEDUCTION – TAMESIDE STRIDERS
Following consultation between Management Committee members Alan Richards, Alan Graham and Mark Bradshaw the end of the November game Tameside Striders v. Vintage Celtic has been reviewed. We had the benefit of video. It’s felt that the excessive number of back passes in a short time (five in twenty nine seconds) was excessive and amounted to time wasting by the Tameside team. It’s felt that these tactics were out of step with the essence of our fair play league. Therefore the fair play point awarded to Tameside Striders has been deducted and the league table is amended accordingly.
Lessons will be learned I’m sure. Not least for the FPL organisers, and a specific competition rule on back passes will be inserted into our rules before the next round of matches, it will of course be announced here first.
Thanks to match Referee and committee member Garry Pearce for his understanding in this matter.
______________________
Take a bow, Joe Bemrose !
“Just read your reports of yesterday’s matches.
I’d like to bring to your attention an example of excellent sportsmanship and refereeing In our match against one of your teams whose Captain is the guy with
the long hair, I went to tackle him as he approached goal , he ran
across me and fell over. There was no contact but a foul was given. I
told the Referee ‘ no contact’. He asked your Captain who confirmed no
contact so the Ref reversed his decision. Well done both , in the spirit
of your league”Derek Drabble of Vintage Celtic
The League Management Committee – the Three Referees and myself (Ed.)will be discussing the implementation of a new specific rule to cover multiple back passes to goalkeepers in a short space of time.
We will also discuss the closing minutes of Wednesday’s game Tameside Striders v. Vintage Celtic and matter that arise out of that match.
__________________
MAJOR BREAKING NEWS FROM THE NASH…I’m sure all of us involved with the Curzon F.P.L. would want to wish Mark Bradshaw, Referee on pitch 3 and Nash walking football’s mentor and friend the best of luck in his new role at the club.
Action shots from Brandon Booth – Curzon Academy – thank you young man.
*FLAIR* PLAY LEAGUE shin pad bank – remember they’re compulsory uunder F.A. rules for walking fooball. BUT if you forget yours you can rent a pair – £10 deposit but you get NINE back when you return them at the end of play.
We can’t think of everything but we think of most things– no mean feet!
WE’RE CHANGING CHECK IN PROCEDURE for NOVEMBER AND ASKING TEAMS to assemble in groups on arrival. individuals will be briefly filmed whilst announcing their names, age and date of birth. This is the easiest way to get this done quickly. Managers will still need to fill in the registration form and get these signed by their players please.
Some players might be asked to show photo i.d. but this will only be in a minority of cases. To be honest if you are asked for i.d. please take it as a compliment. Heaven knows, I would ! 🙂
Remember squad size is limited to nine. The average age must not fall below 62. Goalkeepers may be 45 or older and if they’re younger than 62 their age will not count in the aggregate for the average. £35 entry cap for each team please pay Mark Bradshaw on the day and make sure you hand your registration forms to Mark also – thank you.
- – – – – – –
We’ll be looking for people to interview at the November round and will post the results over the long winter break to hopefully keep people engaged with the league. 
Striders Player/co-manager has treated his camera to a better microphone to hopefully filter out wind noise which can howl across Ashton Moss. So if you see Alan wandering around looking for someone to talk to say hello , and hopefully much more besides 🙂
We’re especially keen to get the views of players on three touch walking football and the way their campaign is shaping up.
_________________________
New dug outs going in x 2.
David Wenham has stood down from the Bees squad and will now be of invaluable assistance collecting and collating the information from our Referees at the end of each set of games. David is a regular at both of our Denton Walking Football Group sessions and clearly has the bottle for such a vital job.
A Marple man, he’s a retired teacher of engineering so well versed in precision.
David will be updating a special new book pre-marked with fixtures and he’ll also have the White board so all can see exactly what’s happening out there.We have also laid on extra dug outs at the side of the Curzon pitches in case the weather turns inclement this month. Let’s hope for another dry day as so far we have been blessed.
In other news from the League Denton Wednesday look to have acquired two new players. Rod Seddon and Tony Cravagan (pictured left) have agreed to join the Wednesday squad in an effort to drive them up this league. This means Laurie O’Toole can revert to his rightful role with Tameside Striders.Management team Stafford and Wilson were thought to be ‘over the moon’ with their acquisitions.
- – – – – – – – – – – – –
- ______________________________________
CURZON WEDNESDAY WALKING FOOTBALL FAIR PLAY LEAGUE
www.curzonfairplayleaguewalking.football
🗣 “Walking Football is great for me because I can keep fit as well as keeping my competitive edge – the pace of the game is perfect!”
🚶♂️⚽️ Peter tells us about his enjoyment of BFCitC’s Walking Football sessions.#ActiveClarets pic.twitter.com/W6KLSPmPhx
— Burnley FC Community (@BurnleyFC_Com) November 5, 2018
Next month we’ll hope to improve our reception procedure and will film players arrival in team blocks. Individuals will be asked to self identify to a snap shot on the video and present their photo i.d. if requested. . Thanks in advance for co-operating. If teams can assemble themselves and be ready for this process by 10-00am. it will be much appreciated and help us get off to a prompt start.
HERE ARE THE FIXTURES FOR NOVEMBER. It’s a late start for the Nash Amblers and an early finish for Burnley F.C. Comm W.F.
NOVEMBER FIXTURES WEDNESDAY 28th.
- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
10-30 pitch one NASH BEES V VINTAGE CELTIC
10-30 pitch two DENTON WEDNESDAY V BURNLEY COMM WF
10-30 pitch three BOLTON ARENA V TAMESIDE STRIDERS
Team resting: Nash Amblers
– – — – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – —
11-00 pitch one DENTON WEDNESDAY V NASH AMBLERS
11-00 pitch two TAMESIDE STRIDERS V NASH BEES
11-00 pitch three VINTAGE CELTIC V BURNLEY COMM WF.
Team resting: Bolton Arena
– – —- — – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
11-30 pitch one BURNLEY COMM WF. V BOLTON ARENA
11-30 pitch two VINTAGE CELTIC V DENTON WEDNESDAY
11-30 pitch three TAMESIDE STRIDERS V NASH AMBLERS
Team resting: Nash Bees
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
12.00 pitch one VINTAGE CELTIC V TAMESIDE STRIDERS
12.00 pitch two NASH BEES V NASH AMBLERS
12-00 pitch three DENTON WEDNESDAY V BOLTON ARENA
Team resting: Burnley Comm. WF. - – – – – –
3 teams play 4 games in November Tameside Striders /Vintage Celtic/Denton Wednesday. - This will vary from month to month. January sees Burnley Comm WF / Bolton Arena / Nash Bees playing four games.
- GAMES TWENTY MINUTES DURATION: IF STRONG WINDS ARE EVIDENT TEAMS WILL CHANGE ENDS AFTER TEN MINUTES AT THE REFEREES DISCRETION
If you spot any anomalies in the above fixtures please contact alartic@googlemail.com or
mark@curzon-ashton.co.uk
- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Why we insist upon shin pads and will have random checks from next month in the Fair Play League’ No long term injury here but must have been painful. An innocent incident. Let’s minimise risk as far as possible please. <OUCH!>
We will be publishing video and still shots as we countdown towards November 28th.For starters we’ll have a disallowed penalty and a clear example of why shin pads are essential under our rules.
Good talking points to keep us interested, keep us engaged between fixtures.
Some of the games on pitch 3 received extensive attention from a much steadier tripod mounted camera this time and will be of interest especially to those teams taking part.
The coverage extended to this league is, so far as we know unrivalled within walking football – if you know of a more comprehensive website point us to it and we can learn lessons. The Editor’s ethos is that our game as older adults is very different to the game we all grew up playing and learning to love but the style of reporting and the application of 21st. century technology can enhance both forms of the game and he takes lessons from sixty plus years of reading football coverage.
Many competitions do not upload video because there is too much running. We can never eliminate the speed merchants but at best we can discourage and at worse penalise by deducting points. This website wears its heart on its sleeve and happily posts footage warts and all. As will be seen we ain’t perfect. Our referees are experienced and will get steadily stricter as the competition progress into winter and beyond to next Spring.
Contact is a worse problem and it’s been pleasing so far that it’s been kept to a minimum. Of course we can never entirely eliminate risk but we can do our best to limit and manage it. An element of trust is required between all who turn up to play and I think the vast majority in the FPL turn up for the love of playing the game, and winning a cup or two is secondary to their values. This is the spirit in which the league was founded. Winning is great, but it’s not everything.
So , watch this space over the coming weeks as late November moves on. We need more interviews and welcome articles or submissions to fill up your individual clubs web page here. Give us you perspective and opinion. Hopefully constructive . The right to edit or decline publication may be applied. Email them to alan@curzonfairplayleaguewalking.football
As for winter beckoning when November draws to a close we hear here will be extra shelters around the pitches by the 28th. in the form of ‘dugouts’ – we’ve been lucky with the weather so far though so let’s hope it continues….see you then, if not before.