September 2013 - southernamateurleague.co.uk · Alexandra Park), Ray Gerlach (14Fourteen and Alexandra Park). Saturday 7th September 2013 is a date that will no doubt go down in the

www.southernamateurleague.co.uk/ Volume 2 | Issue 1 | September 2013

What’s Inside?

Editorial: The Hanau Hacklötzchen –

amateur football in Germany.

Alexandra Park & 14Fourteen:

A new sponsor. A new era?

Royal Visit:

Civil host Poly at the Palace

Wilson’s Words:

The League Secretary’s circular

Representative Football:

SAL and AFA fixtures announced.

Sepp meets Civil:

Civil Service visit FIFA headquarters

Welcome back to the action as we get underway

for another season of football. The first stop on my

list of grounds this season was Alexandra Park on

Saturday. The club unveiled its new sponsor,

, more about which you can read on the

following page. A delightfully sunny afternoon in

the shadow of the Palace was the perfect way to

start, with staggered kick-offs offering the best

possible platform to get plenty of photos under my

belt. But more of that later.

September 2013 The official magazine of the Glemnet Telecom Southern Amateur Football League

Glemnet Telecom are proud sponsors of the

Southern Amateur Football League.

Unit 1, 2 Thayers Farm Road, Beckenham, Kent BR3 4LZ

General sale & enquiries: +44 (0) 20 8639 0230

Hardware sales & enquiries: +44 (2) 20 8639 0240

Customer services: +44 (0) 20 8639 0230

glemnet.com ● mailto:[email protected]

Email: [email protected] ● www.glemnet.com

http://www.glemnet.com/

mailto:[email protected]



Editorial: The Hanau Hacklötzchen

FC Hanau 1893 (black/white) attack against TSV Niederissigheim in the Kreisoberliga Hanau

The weekend before last I was in Germany visiting my

sister, her husband Ivo and their three children Mark (6),

Anna (2) and Tom (2 weeks). During my stay Ivo and I

took in a match in the Kreisoberliga Hanau (District

Premier League Hanau – an industrial town just east of

Frankfurt) between TSV Niederissigheim (no, don’t just

skip over it – read it out loud) and FC Hanau 1893. I have

been meaning to take in an 1893 match for some time as

Ivo’s grandfather and his three brothers all represented

the club in its heyday between the wars. Following near

bankruptcy in the 1990s the club floundered and is still

struggling back to its former level but it has plenty of

history and good support for a team in a league which is

probably a similar standard to SAL football.

The Hanau team from 1894

In 1894 the club – the oldest in the state of Hessen –

reached the German championship but had to withdraw

as the team could not afford to travel to play BFC Viktoria

1889 in Berlin. In 2007, however, the DFB (Deutsche

Fussball Bund – German F.A.) arranged for the tie to be

played over 2-legs between the two clubs. Using

nineteenth century jerseys and ball The Ninety-Three-er

(it sounds better in German) took on Viktoria over two

legs to determine the championship, 113 years after the

original tournament. A 0-3 defeat over 2-legs did little to

spoil the occasion and was no disgrace given that Viktoria

were, at that time, playing in the Berlin-Liga (Level 5)

while Hanau were in the Kreisoberliga (Level 7).

FC Hanau 1893 in 1920: Willy Schlett is 3rd from right

Internet research on the topic of Ivo’s footballing

forefathers turns up precious little but family folklore

reveals that his grandfather ‘Willy’ was a storming centre

forward while two of his brothers formed a daunting

centre-back partnership known as the ‘Hanau

Hacklötzchen (pron. Hack-Lertchen) The Hanau Chopping

Blocks!). Such a nicnkanme leaves little to the imagination

and it is safe to say they were not the sort of softies often

expected from overseas in the ‘old days’. Having heard

stories about Willy’s temper from Ivo’s mother, the very

thought of playing football against him, let alone his

hatchet-men brothers, leaves me rubbing my shins.


The match we went to watch ended in a 3-1 win for

Hanau but the supporters we spoke to – and the players,

who came over to chat after the game – revealed it was

probably the poorest performance of what has been an

excellent season to date. Niederissgheim are rooted to the

bottom of the league without a point while the win

returned Hanau to the top of the league. In addition, the

team have progressed through the first two rounds of the

Hessen-Pokal (Hessen Cup) for which they qualified by

winning the Kreis-Pokal (District Cup) last season. This

leaves them just four wins away from winning the

tournament which itself would see them qualify for the

main German Cup next season.

The fans I spoke to expected the title race to narrow to a

2-horse race between themselves and SC 1960 Hanau.

The latter were also victorious on Sunday, winning at

home against local rivals TSV 1860 Hanau – former club

of German international striker Rudi Völler. In case you

think that’s too many Hanau team named after years a

quick check in the division below produces TG 1843

Hanau – and there are more further down the system...

TSV Niederissigheim

The cup system fascinates me with district cups feeding

state cups feeding the national cup. To clarify, the top 40

teams in Germany qualify automatically for the DFB-

Pokal (German Cup). These are the 36 in the two

Bundesliga divisions plus the top 4 in the 3rd League. The

remaining 24 teams are the 21 winners of the various

regional association cups plus, for the biggest states, the

runners-up. In the First Round the un-seeded teams are

drawn at home against seeded teams guaranteeing all the

smaller clubs a payday against a big name.

It creates a system which allows every single team in the

country the opportunity to play in the DFB-Pokal against

one of the big teams. Although the FA Cup is trumpeted as

being open to any team in England, this is not the case –

as anyone involved in the SAL will be aware. A similar

system in England might allow the AFA Senior Cup

winners to qualify for a regional tournament, perhaps

against other county cup winners from the south-east

with the winner of that going on to play in the FA Cup.

The German football pyramid as it affects FC Hanau 1893:

1. Bundesliga

2. 2nd Bundesliga

3. 3rd Liga

4. Regionalliga Südwest (1 of 5 leagues at this level)

5. Hessen-Liga (1 of 16)

6. Verbandsliga Hessen Süd (1 of 38)

7. Gruppenliga Frankfurt Ost (1 of 110)

8. Kreisoberliga Hanau (1 of 264)

9. Kreisliga ‘A’ (1 of 511)

10. Kreisliga ‘B’ (1 of 711)

11. Kreisliga ‘C’ (1 of 674)

12. Kreisliga ‘D’ (1 of 126)

13. Kreisklasse (1 of 4)

NB. ‘Bundesliga’ literally means ‘National League’ in this

sense and the two divisions are operated by the Deutsche

Fussball Liga (DEL). The 3rd Liga, on the other hand, is

controlled by the DFB, hence it is not called a Bundesliga.

‘Regionalliga’ is self-evident while Verbandsliga

translates as ‘Federation League’, ‘Gruppenliga’ as ‘Group

League’ (no, I don’t get that either) and ‘Kreis’ means

district, with it’s three suffixes of ‘oberliga’, ‘liga’ or

‘klasse’. ‘Klasse’, incidentally, is difficult to translate but is

typically found below the divisions named ‘liga’.

I hope that this can be the first of many articles about

amateur football in other countries. I am particularly

interested in learning about SAL club tours so if you club

does play overseas please get in touch with me at

[email protected] and we might be able to

put something together.

Andy Copeland

Editor



Alexandra Park & 14Fourteen

L-R: Alex Patterson (1st XI captain), Dave McLoughlin (Chairman), Christian Karembeu (14Fourteen – formerly of

Real Madrid and France), Robert Pires (formerly of Arsenal and France), Phillippe Wick (14Fouteen – formerly of

Alexandra Park), Ray Gerlach (14Fourteen and Alexandra Park).

Saturday 7th September 2013 is a date that will no doubt

go down in the annuls of history for local Southern

Amateur League club Alexandra Park FC. Not only did

they start the season playing their first game for over 50

years in the league’s Premier division, but the club

secured their first ever sponsorship deal with Swiss

based sports clothing company 14Fourteen.

This unique partnership started over 30 years ago when

the now CEO of 14Fourteen, Philippe Wick, came to

London to start his banking career. During his two year

stay he was introduced to Alexandra Park by a work

colleague and was so impressed by the club's welcoming

and friendly approach, that he felt compelled to come

back and return the favour 30 years later.

Phillipe Wick said:

“When you’re a stranger and you can’t speak the

language, you realise there’s an environment and

people that can make you feel much better.

“This is exactly what it felt like when I came to the

club.”

The kit was launched at the ground and Mr McLoughlin

revealed he thought about getting Mr Karembeu to lace

his boots once more. He said:

“I did think about trying to persuade him to turn

out for us, but he’s a bit too busy with the Real

Madrid Legends team and we can’t quite compete

with that.”

The club also marked double celebrations as it played its

first game in the top division of the league in more than

50 years.

At the presentation on Saturday, Wick commented "As a

21 year old speaking very little English, London could

have been a very intimidating place. Alexandra Park was

a wonderful environment for me – they were a friendly,

welcoming, community spirited club who had many

positive principles both on and off the field that made it

both a pleasurable and rewarding experience to be part

of. I am now fortunate enough to be able to come back

and say thank you in a meaningful way to the club, whose

principles do not seem to have changed over the past 30

years".


14Fourteen’s sponsorship includes full sets of kit for all

10 adult teams, training tops, polo shirts for all members,

70 footballs, training bibs and a surprise cheque for

£1000.

Christian Karembeu modelling the Alexandra Park

14Fourteen kit

Attending the launch were 14Fourteen's team including

world cup winner Christian Karembeu and Arsenal star

Robert Pires along with Philippe Wick and ex AP player

manager Ray Gerlach, seen presenting the sponsorship

package to Alexandra Park club chairman Dave

McLauglin, 1st XI manger John Morris and 1st XL Captain

Alex Patterson.

About Alexandra Park Club

The Alexandra Park Club has been in existence for over a

century, with the Cricket section being founded in 1888,

the adult Football shortly after in 1898 and the youth

Football joining the ranks in 1995. The Alexandra Park

Football Club is a founder member of the Amateur

Football Alliance in 1908, and now boasts 10 men's sides

and a women's team, together with 29 youth sides (26

boys and 3 girls), creating one of the largest amateur

clubs in the capital.

www.alexandraparkclub.com

About 14Fourteen

14Fourteen was founded in January 2011 with the aim to

design, create, develop, manufacture and distribute

precision engineered sportswear worldwide. Currently

the company enjoys distribution contracts covering all

continents and continues to develop its network

worldwide. The company name is inspired by the 14

principles by which they live and stand for. As well as

design, innovation and quality, 14Fourteen ensures that

all manufacturing adheres to the highest ethical, quality

control and best practice standards.

www.14fourteen.com

For more information please contact Ray Gerlach on:

07957 477 040 or email: [email protected].

Alexandra Park 1st XI line-up before facing Old Owens on Saturday

http://www.alexandraparkclub.com/

http://www.14fourteen.com/



Royal Visit: Civil host Poly at the Palace

HRH The Duke of

Cambridge, in his official

capacity as President of

The Football Association,

will host a special event

at Buckingham Palace on Monday 7 October to pay

tribute to 150 volunteers that help deliver and support

the nation’s favourite game on a weekly basis.

The event, which forms a key part of The FA’s 150th

anniversary celebrations, will see an official ceremony

take place at Buckingham Palace with 150 specially

selected grassroots heroes being awarded a medal from

HRH The Duke of Cambridge. The volunteers have all

been chosen for their outstanding contribution and

service to football – which includes everything from

helping to develop the women’s game, providing

opportunities for disabled players, grassroots referees as

well as club and league administrators.

A focal point of the day will see the Buckingham Palace

garden host its first ever football match, featuring two of

the oldest amateur clubs in England. The game, which will

be an official Southern Amateur League fixture, will be

played between Civil Service FC, the sole surviving club

from the eleven that met to create The FA in 1863, and

Polytechnic FC, which was formed in 1875.

With special permission from Buckingham Palace for the

game to take place, Wembley groundsman Tony Stones

will work with the Royal Household gardeners to help

create the pitch for what will be the most unique

grassroots football match in the 150 year history of the

game.

Prior to the match, the special ceremony will be held as a

way of celebrating the huge role that volunteers play in

football on a weekly basis. The nationwide network of

grassroots heroes totals more than 400,000 individuals –

this includes everyone from the mums and dads, coaches,

referees and administrators that give up their time to

provide the opportunity for people to enjoy football.

HRH The Duke of Cambridge, President of The Football

Association, said:

“In our 150th year, it is hugely important for The

FA to honour the efforts of the many thousands of

volunteers who week in, week out, help to provide

the opportunity for millions more people to enjoy

football at grassroots level. Inviting 150 of these

volunteers to Buckingham Palace provides a fitting

way for The FA to pay tribute and give thanks.”

Greg Dyke, Chairman of The Football Association, said:

“These volunteers are the heartbeat of football.

Without them, the game simply wouldn’t function

at a grassroots level and it is only right that The FA

honours their tireless and selfless work.

“We are delighted that, in his role as President of

The FA, HRH The Duke of Cambridge has given his

support to this initiative – even going as far as

arranging for the first ever game of football to be

played at Buckingham Palace in honour of our

grassroots heroes.”

To learn more about The FA’s work at a grassroots level

of the game or for information about how to get involved

in volunteering, visit TheFA.com/TakePart.

http://www.thefa.com/TakePart


Civil Service F.C.

The Civil Service Football Club was formed the same year

as the Football Association in 1863 and was a founder

member of that august institution. However, it is less

known that the club was also a founder member of the

Rugby Football Union in 1871, although it is believed that

this team was distinct from the ‘association’ team by that

point. Regardless, few clubs have as much history as Civil.

Pioneers in spreading the game, the club’s touring teams

were highly successful, regularly competing against what

are now among the world’s leading teams including

Barcelona and Real Madrid. In recognition of this

pioneering work, our history shows the club was elected

honorary members of both Real Madrid and the Slavia

Club of Prague.

The club was a founder member of the Isthmian (now

Ryman) League in 1905 and the SAL in 1907. It returned

to the Isthmian League in 1913 but came back to the SAL

in 1929. The club has won the SAL championship five

times, the AFA Senior Cup four and the AFA Middlesex

Senior Cup on three occasions. In addition the club also

won the prestigious London Senior Cup in 1902.

In celebrating its 150th anniversary this year the club has

visited the FIFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland and is

due to play an FA XI in December.

Civil Service in 1893

Polytechnic F.C.

Hanover United Football Club, later to become

Polytechnic, was formed in 1875 and initially played its

home games at Primrose Hill. The club was the brainchild

of Old Etonian philanthropist Quentin Hogg, and his

friend the legendary gentleman footballer Arthur

Kinnaird, who featured for the Poly for many years and

went on to become president of the Football Association.

In its early years the club faces such luminary names as

Millwall Athletic, Queen’s Park Rangers, Royal Arsenal

and Tottenham Hotspur, the latter inflicted Poly’s first

league defeat in the Southern Alliance in 1892.

Before changing its name the club had reached the semi-

finals of the London Senior Cup where it met Old

Foresters in front of over 1000 spectators at the Oval in

1884. A 0-6 reverse ended that particular cup run.

Poly joined the SAL in 1955 having previously competed

in the Spartan League. Since joining the League the club

has won numerous Division 2 and 3 titles plus the AFA

Middlesex Senior Cup at 1st team level and many more

trophies amongst the lower XIs to boot. The club has a

proud record of sportsmanship and hospitality, having

won the SAL’s Ian Hamilton Trophy on no fewer than 8

occasions since its introduction in 1988.

The first Hanover United team featuring Quentin Hogg

(back row, middle, wearing a cap)


Wilson’s Words

Welcome to NUFC Oilers

I would like to extend a huge

welcome to the recent addition

to the SAL family - NUFC Oilers.

After finishing last season as

runaway winners of the West

End Saturday League Div 1, I am

pleased to say the club were

formally voted in as full members of the SAL at June's

AGM for the forthcoming 2013/14 season.

NUFC Oilers 1st XI will be in competing in Senior Div 3

and their 2nd XI in Intermediate Div 3.

We wish both clubs every success and many years of

continued membership with SAL.

Old Latymerians

And as we welcome

one club, we say

goodbye to another.

Old Latymerians have

been a long-standing

member of the club

ever since they entered the SAL in 1945. Their first SAL

trophy was the Senior Division 3 title in 1950 and they

followed this up in 1993 with another Senior Division 3

title. They also tasted SAL trophy success lower down the

club too:

- Reserve Division 2 1995 - Reserve Division 3 1958, 1964 - 3rd Team Division 2 1952 - 3rd Team Division 3 1962, 2001 - 4th Team Division 3 1982, 1989 - 5th Team Division 2 1985, 1992, 1996 - 5th Team Division 3 2001 - 6th Team Division 2 1991 - 6th Team Division 3 1990 - Minor Division 6 South 2009 (4th XI) - Senior Novets Cup 1996 (5th XI)

Old Latymerians were also the inaugural winners of the

Ian Hamilton Trophy in 1989

Despite that proud history, the club have struggled on the

field in recent seasons - the playing membership numbers

dwindled and the amount of teams reduced as they

desperately tried to arrest the decline. In the end, they

had to face the inevitable and with a heavy heart handed

in their resignation from the SAL.

There is hope that we will see Old Latymerians return in

the future however - they still run a Vets team and with

the links to the school, it's certainly a possibility. It would

be great to see them back amongst old friends once again.

New Referees Secretary

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome aboard

Bob Coates who takes over the reins from Gareth Dineen

who ably served the SAL in this role for a number of

seasons. Gareth has moved on to take up the AFA Ref Sec

role and we wish him all the best.

Bob has a wealth of experience in this area having

previously been Senior Match and Ref Sec for the AFC. All

clubs should note Bob is also an expert on Full Time and

will be using this method as the main vehicle for

communicating match official appointments - this is a

break from Gareth's excellent but very time-consuming

way of phoning, emailing and texting details.

Bob has already been in touch with most if not all clubs

already this season to explain this, however if you have

any doubts about the way match officials are to be

appointed this season and what you need to do, please

contact Bob Coates ([email protected]) directly

and he will be glad to assist.

SAL Result Reporting

Our Result Sec, Christo

Kuniewicz, has already been

in contact with club Result

Secs to explain the reporting

process to newcomers and re-

iterating it to old hands.

There is a result amnesty for

the first couple of weekends

of the season, however after

that point should your club

not report results on time and

in the correct fashion, you will

be fined without exception. Chasing up clubs for missing

results/information is hugely frustrating and time

consuming for league officers and we would like to avoid

this if at all possible

Please ensure all result reports - both after the game on

Sat evening, and the electronic report by Monday evening

- are submitted in time.

Disciplinary Timeframe Amendment

Since Match Based discipline was introduced a couple of

seasons ago, the timeframe was 21 days from the date of

offence before any bans were enforced.


Please be aware this has been reduced to 14 days i.e.

should one of your players be unlucky enough to receive a

red card playing on 7th Sept, he start his ban on 21st Sept.

Keith Busby Award winner: Ian Charles

The Keith Busby Memorial

Award is given for

outstanding service to AFA

football and this year the

award was given to Ian

Charles of Norsemen FC.

Ian won his award for the

long service he has given to

Norsemen and the assistance and support he has given to

the AFA with regards to the Youth Cups. For long as I can

remember the AFA Youth Cup finals have been held at

Norsemen and this is primarily down to Ian.

I'm sure you'll agree Ian is a worthy recipient of this

award. Well done Ian.

Referee Training Course

The AFA are running a couple of Basic Referee Training

Courses in the Autumn.

Full details of each of these courses are available on the

AFA website. To go to the page listing the courses please

click Here.

If you know of anyone who is interested in doing the

referees training course please pass these details on to

them. If they have any questions please ask them to

contact John Monk - [email protected] or 020

8733 2613.

Date Venue

19-Sep Old Actonians Sports Club, W5 4LL

07-Nov Wilson's School, SM6 9JW

Discipline

A hot topic for pretty much all

clubs however I wanted to

highlight one particular point

which should resonate with even

the most ardent of regular

offenders.

Old Stationers and Old Owens have both been called up

for an Emergency Disciplinary meeting at the end of

2012/13 season to discuss their respective disciplinary

records, and as a result they have both been barred from

entering SAL Cup competition for 2013/14. Both clubs

also withdrew their 1st and 2nd Xis from the AFA County

cups as well so all teams were similarly affected by

missing out on a cup competition.

Let this be a warning to all - continuously poor behaviour

does not go unnoticed and leaves your club at risk of

missing out on cup football.

SAL Rep Team

FA Inter-League Cup Matches versus Senior Section

Although everything in our power is done to try and

arrange our FA Inter-League Cup matches for a midweek

date, it must be noted that it is primarily a Saturday

afternoon competition so if we cannot find agreement

with our opposition we will have to play the match on a

Saturday.

With the return of the FA Inter-League Cup, I would like

to remind all Senior teams of the Rule regarding two or

more players from the same team being selected to play

for the SAL Representative XI. Should this occur, a club is

within its rights to postpone its 1st XI fixture if the fixture

takes place on the same date as the SAL Representative

XI. Any such request to postpone must seek the consent of

the League Match Secretary Eric Owen first.

Civil Service 150th Anniversary Dinner

Civil Service Football Club is 150 years

old and have a number of events in the

year to mark the occasion.

One of them is the 150th Anniversary

Dinner taking place on Friday 25th October in the Royal

National Hotel, Bedford Way, London WC1H 0DG (same

venue as the SAL Dinner). An invitation has been sent out

to all SAL Clubs to attend this historic event and it would

be fantastic to see a great turn out from our member

clubs.

If you would like to know more about the event, please

contact Jim Kellett - [email protected].

Old Boys Cup Centenary Dinner

Many of our member clubs participate in

the Old Boys Cup and this prestigious

competition is also celebrating a landmark

of his own this year.

In October, the competition will be celebrating 100 years

of Old Boys Cup football with a Centenary lunch taking

place on Friday 11th October at the Imperial Hotel,

Russell Square, London, WC1B 5BB.

Tickets cost £28 and if you are interested in attending,

please contact Old Boys Cup Secretary Bob Leeds

([email protected]).

Graeme Wilson

Honorary Secretary





Representative Football

The Kent County League representative team

We are pleased to announce a number of matches are in

the diary for our Representative XI in what promises to

be a busy season.

It would be great to see as many of you there as possible

to support your League's representative XI, especially at

the forthcoming FA Inter-League Cup match.

The full fixture list is as follows (venues to be confirmed)

TBC Nottsborough (A)

Stuart Hyde Trophy

19/03 Arthurian League (H)

Friendly

26/03 Amateur Football Combination (H)

Steve Langley Trophy

02/04 Cambridge University (H)

Friendly

TBC Oxford University

Friendly

SAL v Kent County League

Saturday 12 October, 3.00pm

The SAL open their Inter-League Cup campaign with a

‘home’ tie against the Kent County League. The match will

be played at Uxbridge Football Club’s Honeycroft ground

in Horton Road, Uxbridge UB7 8HX.

The match pits the SAL against their very first Inter-

League Cup opponents. That match, back in February

2007 at Carshalton Athletic, resulted in a 6-3 win for the

SAL and set them on the way to winning the competition

at the first attempt, earning them the right to travel to

Italy for the UEFA Regions Cup in October 2008.

AFA Fixtures 2013-14

02/10 Oxford University (H) Friendly | Uxbridge F.C. | 7.30pm

09/10 Cambridge University (H) Friendly | Potters Bar Town F.C. | 7.30pm

06/11 Sussex F.A. (H) SCC | Corinthian-Casuals F.C. | 7.30pm

20/11 Royal Navy F.A. (A) SCC | Portsmouth | 7.30pm

04/12 Army F.A. (H) SCC | Enfield Town F.C. | 7.30pm

12/02 Royal Air Force F.A. (A) Friendly | Venue to be confirmed | 7.30pm

12/03 Middlesex F.A. (A) SCC | Venue to be confirmed | 7.30pm * SCC = Southern Counties Cup

Under 18s

05/10 Gloucestershire F.A. U18 (H) FA County Youth Cup | Enfield Town F.C. | 2.00pm

09/11 Dependent on winning above match FA County Youth Cup | Away, venue and kick-off t.b.c.

17/11 Kent F.A. U18 (H) SECYC | Colney Heath F.C. | 1.00pm

08/12 Sussex F.A. U18 (A) SECYC | Lancing F.C. | 1.00pm

16/02 Middlesex F.A. U18 (H) SECYC | Enfield Town F.C. | 1.00pm

23/03 London F.A. (H) SECYC | Enfield Town F.C.| 1.00pm * SECYC = South East Counties Youth Championship

Under 16s

29/09 London F.A. U16 (H) SECYC | Colney Heath F.C. | 1.00pm

09/10 Sussex F.A. U16 (H) SECYC | Lancing F.C. | 1.00pm

06/11 Kent F.A. U16 (H) SECYC | Faversham Town F.C. | 1.00pm

20/11 Middlesex F.A. U16 (A) SECYC | Venue to be confirmed | 1.00pm


Sepp meets Civil: Civil Service visit FIFA HQ

Civil chairman Ian Hunter (right) presents FIFA President Sepp Blatter with an 1893-style Civil Service jersey

CSFC President and SAL Chairman, Ian Hunter, led a small

delegation from the Club to FIFA Headquarters in Zurich on

Wednesday 4 October at the personal invitation of Sepp

Blatter, FIFA President as part of the Club's 150th

Anniversary celebrations. After watching a special FIFA

video about the role of CSFC in developing association

football and the Club's history in the amateur game, both

Ian and Mr Blatter made short speeches. Ian talked about

his pride in CSFC's footballing heritage, second to none, its

longevity, about the forthcoming game at Buckingham

Palace which will enable the present day players to add

their own chapter to the history books and how pleased he

was to see how football had expanded from the modest

beginnings at the Freemason's Tavern in 1863.

To Sepp Blatter and the many hundreds of millions who

now are able to play association football as a result, Ian

said "Welcome to our Game. We hope you continue to enjoy

it as we ourselves have over the past 150 years. Long may

our friendships, old and new, continue." In response, Herr

Blatter praised CSFC's special role in the original

development of association football, the FA Cup, in

safeguarding amateur football, and in promoting the game

across continental Europe at the start of the 20th Century.

He especially focused on the word "Service" in the Club's

title and thought that entirely appropriate given the service

they had provided to football everywhere by their

contributions past and present. He stressed that he would

be making this point very clearly in his speech at The

Football Association's Anniversary Dinner in London on the

26th of October. He then presented Ian with a special FIFA

pennant commemorating the visit and with one of the

football's that will be introduced for the 2014 World Cup in

Brazil. In return, Ian presented the FIFA President with a

replica football shirt of CSFC's 1893 team created for the

occasion by TOFFS, The Old Fashioned Football Shirt

Company. This shirt is now to go into the new FIFA

Museum of Football.

The CSFC party were then given a guided tour of the FIFA's

spectacular headquarters and treated to a fine lunch by

their FIFA hosts. CSFC wish to thank everyone at FIFA for

making this special event possible.

Neil Ward

150th Anniversary Co-ordinator

Documents

September 2013 - southernamateurleague.co.uk · Alexandra Park), Ray Gerlach (14Fourteen and Alexandra Park). Saturday 7th September 2013 is a date that will no doubt go down in the