Welcome to the website of the Pope & Smith Chelmsford Sunday League.
The County Premier Cup fourth round proved the end of the road for South Woodham Radars and Heybridge Social but Daen Ingas continue to fly the League's flag into the quarter finals after a 4-1 home win over Nicholas Wybacks. In the domestic Cup competitions Woodham Radars and Ongar United Reserves secured semi-final places in their respective League Cups whilst Woodham Athletic Reserves will be in the Gillott Trophy semi-final hat. The League continues to provide surprises as Infield missed out on topping Division One by being held to a draw by bottom team Great Baddow and Rivermead failed to consolidate their Division Three promotion position as they were beaten by lowly Springfield United desperately trying to avoid the drop.
Updated on 3rd February 2012.
February sees the start of the League Cup semi-finals and Great Baddow entertain Marconi Leisure in the first of the Division One matches. Rivermead host Writtle Manor in the other semi-final of the day in the Division Three competition. In the League Broomfield could top Division One with a win at Norton while Ongar United visit Fox & Hounds hoping to maintain their unbeaten record. Goldhanger Argyle visit Little Waltham in Division Two and a win will lift them to the top of the division.
Please Note : We have been advised that the Coward Cup and the Gillott Trophy DO NOT count towards suspension matches in Match Based Discipline. Players under a suspension will be suspended from these matches. The only matches that count will be League and League Cup matches.
WEATHER WARNING
The current weather may cause postponements and late changes of fixtures. Please remember that matches may only be postponed due to the condition of the pitch if the authorised groundsman has delared the pitch unfit or the pitch has been inspected by a qualified Referee and declared unfit. Fixtures are not to be declared postponed by a Club prior to the Sunday. We know this may cause inconvenience, but the correct procedure is to wait until the Sunday morning. Referees may delay the kick-off if it is possible conditions will improve. If your match is postponed, for whatever reason, please notify the Fixture Secretary, Dave Emerton, and Referee's Appointment Secretary, Martin Smith.
Applications for membership - Enquiries for membership of the League for Season 2012/13 should be made by contacting the League Secretary, Adam Maine, for an application form. The closing date for applications is 1st March 2012.
50 years of the Chelmsford Sunday League
The League celebrated its 50th birthday on 14th January 2012 and a celebratory dinner was held at the Chelmsford Golf Club on Saturday 14th January 2012. With a number of past officers and past and present Referees in attendance Chairman Maurice Carter paid tribute to all those involved in the birth and growth of the League and its continuing success. Guest Speaker Michael Game recalled memories of his involvement and some of the characters in the League's history as well as outlining the Football Association's initial reluctance to accept Sunday football's existance in the 1950s. If you have any memories or photos from the early days please email us and we will put them on the website. Please include your name, any Club you were associated together with dates - as much detail as possible would be welcome.
The following Clubs are looking for players so if you fancy getting involved please contact the numbers given:
* Broomfield Reserves [Div.3] are looking for a striker who has an eye for goal to join an ever improving team with great atmosphere and superb club facilities. We train at Chelmer Park under floodlights on a Thursday night at 9pm all standards are welcome. Contact Mark Farrell on 07739 022229.
* Marconi Leisure [Div.1] are looking for a couple of experienced quality players to strengthen their current 1st team squad, a goalscorer is of particular importance. We train on a Tuesday night in Witham and our home ground is based in Chelmsford. Please contact Philip Dabbs on 07736 677274 or dman21uk@hotmail.com
if you are interested.
If your Club is looking for players or other volunteers please email admin@chelmsfordsundayleague.org.uk if you wish to place an advert! (Notices will stay for 4 weeks unless removed)
Looking for a club to play for this season?
We always have a number of clubs on the lookout for fresh talent so if you are looking to join a new team please email info@chelmsfordsundayleague.org.uk with your general location and we may be able to help.
Fair Play Awards
The ECFA have recently announced the winners in their Fair Play Award scheme for 2010/11 and we are pleased to congratulate E2v Mannex for achieving second place in the Sunday Open-age category. They win £250 in equipment vouchers.
The ECFA will be running the scheme again in 2011/12 so playing the game how it should be played and showing respect and understanding to all participants in the game can have its benefits.
David Marshall Charity Match
This season's David Marshall Charity Competition match took place on Wednesday 12th October 2011 at Maldon Town FC, Park Drive, Maldon CM9 8XX. On an unusually pleasant evening at Maldon with little onshore breeze the match was played in good spirits and a very competitive 90 minutes of football entertained the crowd. The teams were fairly equally matched but the Mid Essex side had marginally the better of the first half until a penalty gave the Pope & Smith an unexpected lead at the break. A second goal early in the second half allowed the Pope & Smith side to relax a bit and this gave Mid Essex the chance to pull the game back to 2 apiece with 10 minutes to go. With penalty kicks looming the Pope & Smith side grabbed the winner to retain the trophy . The trophy was presented to the winning captain by members of David's family. Thank you to all who attended and/or donated to this worthy cause.
The David Marshall Charity match is played in memory of David Marshall and the money raised from the match and other fundraising is donated to a local Charity nominated by the Marshall family. more info.
Important dates - Secretaries please read.
- 4th September 2011 - League season starts
- 25th December 2011 - Christmas Day - not surprisingly there will not be any fixtures
- 1st January 2012 - I'm guessing you won't be surprised to learn there are no fixtures on New Years Day either
- 8th April 2012 - Easter - there will be fixtures scheduled. Clubs/Teams wishing no fixture MUST request in writing/email to the Fixture Secretary before 14th March 2012.
- 31st May 2012 - League season concludes.
Fixtures may be allocated on any Sunday between the commencing and concluding dates (except as stated above). Just because you have not been allocated a fixture doesn't mean you won't get one at short notice. The weather and ECFA Cup competitions may result in weekly fixture amendments. Please inform the Fixture Secretary if you require an away or no fixture on a particular date as soon as possible and definitely before the second monday of the previous month. Waiting for the fixtures to be produced is too late! If you share your pitch with a team from another Competition please let the Fixture Secretary know. Also if your pitch is not available for whetever reason please let the Fixture Secretary know so that arrangements can be made to accommodate this.
ECFA Disciplinary Procedure 2011/12
The Discipline Procedures for 2011/12 have been changed. Match Day Discipline is in operation this season although players receiving period based suspensions at the end of the 2010/11 season that extend into the 2011/12 season will continue to serve that suspension (from all football) until it is spent.
Players and Club Secretaries need to be aware that any player receiving a red card WILL be suspended 21 days after the event from that class of football (Saturday, Sunday, Midweek or Veterans). This will be automatic and there is no appeal procedure (except in limited cases). The suspension is from that particular class of football so a player sent off for a Saturday team will still be able to play Sunday football. The matches to be missed must be notified in advance to the ECFA. The F.A. have prepared a handbook which is available on their website www.thefa.com/TheFA/Disciplinary and the ECFA has prepared a smaller booklet that will be distributed to all Clubs and Leagues with the Handbook. Some additional booklets will be available on request which Clubs can pass on to their team managers. Full details of upcoming and current suspensions are sent to Leagues each week and also available on the County website www.essexfa.com.
A lot of the suspensions currently being served relate to offences last season so are period based. These suspensions are from ALL football until served.
We know it appears complicated so if in doubt – ASK your ECFA Representative, Dave Emerton, or Greg Hart at the ECFA so that you don't get caught out. A player found playing whilst under suspension will receive a further suspension together with a fine and the Club will be fined by the ECFA - this is before any action by the League for playing an ineligible player.
Discipline information can be found on the ECFA website www.essexfa.com. Look for the link on the right hand side of the Governance page. The document is a pdf document and players are listed in alphabetical order. You can also use the search option from the menu bar to find occurences of club names etc.
Electronic templates of the Result Sheet are available which can be submitted by email - if you want a copy please email Martin Smith.
You will all have heard of the FA Respect Programme and no doubt have seen it in action. The Programme is being introduced by The FA to help raise standards and address abusive behaviour in the game. The Respect Programme is a key aspect of the FA's vision for the next 4 years and The FA hopes that, as well as improving behaviour in the game at all levels, it helps with the recruitment and retention of referees. The Pope & Smith Chelmsford Sunday League is fully supportive of this initiative and asks all participants, whether it be as player, club official, match official or spectator to treat all others with respect, and to enjoy the game whatever the outcome.
The fixtures for the month (with Referee appointments) are available from the Divisional fixtures/results pages - just click the link on the yellow bar. Please note that the Referee appointments may change and not be updated on this page - if in doubt, please check with Martin Smith.
Virus Precautions: The addresses on this site are for communication to the league only. They are not used for email from the league. If you receive any mail from these addresses please delete it immediately. Do not open any attachments.
Please contact me if there is anything you can't find, anything that doesn't work properly or if you have any other comments. Email me on comments@chelmsfordsundayleague.org.uk