Chairman's Annual Report for AGM 2021

AFC Henley is now in its 47th year
It is a ‘not-for-profit’ community club operating as an Unincorporated Association
The club has 400+ members from U4 to U18 and 60+ adult volunteers
We have a record number of 30 teams registered for league football
We have been awarded:

Oxfordshire FA Grassroots Club of the Year 2021!

This award is a fitting tribute to the dedication of the club’s 60+ volunteers, without whom there would be no football. These include:
Members of our Executive Committee, who have made a massive contribution to the success of the club over the last two years
Our Age Group Managers, Team Managers, coaches, administrators and Community coaches, who do so much to make football enjoyable for the kids they look after
The small team of helpers who maintain our three grounds and do the heavy work
Those who work quietly behind the scenes in various capacities.

I hope this award goes some way to making you all feel that your efforts have been worthwhile. I can’t thank you enough for what you do for the club.

YOUR EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Trevor Howell - Chairman
Gilly Lea - Club Secretary
Neill Hendry – Vice Chairman and Membership Sec
Spencer Sheppard - Pitches/Fixtures/Referees coordinator
John Sartin - Treasurer
Daniel Sadler - Club Welfare Officer (recently co-opted)

You may be wondering what the club’s Executive Committee gets up to.

I can tell you that, with the addition of recent appointees Gilly Lea, Neill Hendry, Spencer Sheppard and Daniel Sadler, together with existing members John Sartin and myself, your committee has done a huge amount of work, not only to keep the club ticking over but also to make a massive difference to the club’s facilities and modus operandi. Over the last two years we have:

Ensured that all Covid protocols were in place.
Managed the FA’s problematic online registration system over the summer.
Maximised subscription income, which is now at an all-time high.
Appointed a top FA-recommended turf specialist to bring our pitches up to standard. He is now contracted to look after our three grounds. The difference he has made is self-evident.
Invested in a robotic line marker.
Secured grants for new goals, nets, a more powerful ride-on mower for Jubilee Park and an irrigation system at Jubilee Park, to be introduced in spring 2022.
Investigated the cost and need for portable lights for use on the grass during winter. Our next funding objective is for a borehole at Jubilee Park so that we can water the pitches free of water bills.
Managed and upgraded the YMCA and Harpsden pitches.
Cleaned and repainted the inside of the Harpsden pavilion.
Ensured that those who needed it acquired a CRC/DBS.
Published a definitive policy for age group and team management.
Stewarded the club’s finances with the help of a paid external bookkeeper. With a year-on-year 6-figure turnover, financial management is a substantial task.

SUMMARY OF THE CLUB’S ACTIVITIES

Management structure/Constitution
Day-to-day matters are handled by an Executive Committee, supplemented by occasional meetings with the club’s Age Group Managers (Club Council)

Teams and league football
This season we have entered 30 teams from U9 to U18 in the East Berks Football Alliance, making us the fourth largest club in the league by number of teams fielded. One U8 team will be launched after Xmas for the third season running. We also have one girls-only team playing in the Berkshire County Girls Football League. Our youngest league-affiliated teams are reporting increasing numbers, with four or five teams per age group not unusual. Teams train midweek on the all weather pitch at Jubilee Park and at Henley Rugby Club.

Saturday Mini-Soccer Centre
Our Saturday Mini-Soccer Centre, run by coach Jack Woodley, continues to provide skills training to boys and girls aged 4 to 8. Up until summer 2021 we were attracting record numbers, regularly exceeding 90 attendees, but the Covid effect has brought numbers down to 60+ this autumn. Thanks to our links with Reading Football Club, we are fortunate to have the services of their Community Trust coaches and other freelancers on Saturday mornings.

Other footballing activities
The MSC is supplemented by midweek Mini Soccer and Player Development Centres, including a girls-only group, all run by coach Sam Bell, who also organises after-school clubs, tiny tots clubs, breakfast clubs and lunch clubs in state and private schools plus an inter-schools tournament. Coach Jack Woodley also organises holiday football camps during Half Terms and the main school Christmas, Easter and Summer holidays.

Links with other clubs
Promising young players are referred to Reading FC’s Academy. We also act as a feeder club for Henley Town Football Club, where post-18 AFCH members can make the transition to adult football. And in summer this year we transferred our Henley Ladies team to Henley Town, as we felt it was more appropriate for them to be part of an adult club. But we will continue to maintain links with them as we continue to develop girls-only football at AFCH.

Twinning links with Henley’s German twin town
Under the auspices of Henley Leichlingen Twinning Association we have been running an annual football exchange programme with SC Leichlingen since 1983. The usual format involves an U13 squad from Leichlingen visiting Henley in October and a return visit by our U13s the following Easter. This last two years’ exchanges were unfortunately cancelled due to Coronavirus. Whether we can welcome the Leichlingen players to Henley again in the near future is not yet clear and no discussions with our Leichlingen partners have yet been held.

Child safeguarding
We take safeguarding extremely seriously. All our managers, coaches and assistants have in-date CRCs, as required by the Football Association. Most team managers are qualified FA L1 coaches, some at L2. External paid coaches are L2 and L3. Our supervision policy, following FA guidance, is to have two adults at all coaching sessions and matches - see Safeguarding on www.afchenley.com.

Current facilities
We lease Jubilee Park from Henley Town Council, which comprises six pitches, including a new 5v5, plus a separate area for the Mini-Soccer Centre. And we have recently managed to squeeze in an extra 7v7 pitch. We also lease a full-sized 11v11 pitch in Harpsden from the John Hodges Trust for Harpsden Hall. And, since October 2019, we have taken control of the YMCA 11v11 pitch under a 3-year Service Level Agreement. We also use Henley Town’s pitch from time to time. We offer our facilities to local charities and primary schools for a modest charge. All pitches are maintained under contract by Elite Turf Solutions under the supervision of Spencer Sheppard. Individual sites are looked after day-to-day by John Hooper (Jubilee Park), Neill Hendry (YMCA) and Marcus Hooker (Harpsden).

Planned new facilities
Together with Henley Hockey Club we are still in negotiation with Henley Town Council on the construction of a new shared clubhouse and parking on Jubilee Park. A full-sized 3G pitch is included in the project. To pay for this, the existing clubhouses and other units next to Tesco in the site known as 353-357 Reading Road are to be demolished to make way for housing and retail units. The project was scrapped just before Christmas last year because the finances didn’t work out and the developer withdrew. A new project has been proposed by Henley Town Council, but this is wholly dependent on their finding a new developer and receiving a big enough offer for the 353-357 Reading Road site.

Financial Support
We have received a £54,560 grant over 6 years from the Football Foundation for pitch improvements and further grants towards new goals and an irrigation system for Jubilee Park. We are indebted to Invesco Perpetual for their generous annual donations and to SODC District Councillors for contributing to the purchase of equipment. We are also grateful to various team kit sponsors for their support: Pachangas restaurant, Mercers Solicitors, Node4, Marks Sattin, Chill Out Fred, Drifters Coffee House and Navint.

Trevor Howell
Chairman
Nov 2021