NOTE TO LEAGUE

Can someone please explain why our semi final (advance v sunbury) was played at frolesworths ground?
1. Pitch wasn't marked out. Not a exaggerating
2. No showers

It cost £62 which is £12 more than AP. You should feel embarrassed as 1 committee member turned up took the money and went.

If you had any decency both teams should be refunded some money.

Thought the Alliance was better than that.

Well played Sunbury

so whose responsibility it is to mark the pitch out and provide showers?

Who decides to use that venue for a semi final?

Think both sides would agree it was awful the Sunbury keeper had to mark his box out with his boot

It is the host clubs responsibility to mark etc.
Kilworth hosted one the other week and I marked the pitch (even had it rolled) put drinks on and resuscitated the Lino lol.

As far as i'm aware, its the refs responsiblity to check the pitch is correctly marked and playable, thats before the game even starts, and i thought it was illegal for the goalkeeper to mark any such area himself, as he would not be marking it to the Fa's specification, indeed i think someone recently did this and was booked for the pleasure. Get your money back, sounds like a right shambles.

Well done Mr Maisto,sticking your nose and rather large mouth in again,whilst agreeing with your points perhaps your secretary could go through the proper channels and raise the issues correctly? Embarrassing

The money was taken, then paid out to the pitch owners and officials....the league gets no money from that....i know, because it was me that took the money.....

so the league get some stick again for events beyond their control? did you have the white paint with you Widds - surely you could have marked it out?

I embarrassingly left the white paint at home!!!
Not sure if Mr Maisto is aware i emailed all details to club secs last week, postcodes, mobile number etc, also had to let down our reserves who had no keeper to go to this game, arrived there at 9:30, and then a couple of minutes prior to kick off spoke to the three officials and asked them if they were happy with everything and they said yes. The referees had already done the pitch inspection as well...
I have a lot of time for Advance Couriers and also a lot of respect for them, but not a fan of this post.....

If the refs checked it and thought it was OK, perhaps an underlying issue is afoot....

beer money running low for this week..
wont have enough for a chinky takeaway..
need some cleaning products for the trophy cabinet..
mum wasnt happy with her mothersday cheap gift..
need a new football..
need some headshiner wax..
need a back sack and crack wax..(ya'll never know)

Widds wrote:

I embarrassingly left the white paint at home!!!
Not sure if Mr Maisto is aware i emailed all details to club secs last week, postcodes, mobile number etc, also had to let down our reserves who had no keeper to go to this game, arrived there at 9:30, and then a couple of minutes prior to kick off spoke to the three officials and asked them if they were happy with everything and they said yes. The referees had already done the pitch inspection as well...
I have a lot of time for Advance Couriers and also a lot of respect for them, but not a fan of this post.....

Come on Widds did you go any where near the pitch, I understand its not directly the leagues fault but a certain standard needs to be set when hosting Semi finals and in this case it was a poor effort, and I'm pretty sure the Sunbury lads would be totally agree especially their Keeper who had a 5 minute rant after the first goal went in saying he didnt know where his area was

Widds wrote:

I embarrassingly left the white paint at home!!!
Not sure if Mr Maisto is aware i emailed all details to club secs last week, postcodes, mobile number etc, also had to let down our reserves who had no keeper to go to this game, arrived there at 9:30, and then a couple of minutes prior to kick off spoke to the three officials and asked them if they were happy with everything and they said yes. The referees had already done the pitch inspection as well...
I have a lot of time for Advance Couriers and also a lot of respect for them, but not a fan of this post.....

despite what Hellboy thinks not even I can defend them this time! wish my team was in a semi final playing in sub standard conditions!

This is incredible....the league officials don't seem to disagree that conditions were bad, but instead look to put the blame somewhere else. Don't put it on a host club to sort things out, do it yourselves! Typical from the league, get loads of money and put it in the wrong places. Play it at a more suitable ground..... I feel more for Sunbury as it was a big day for them.

Polska legend II wrote:

Widds wrote:

I embarrassingly left the white paint at home!!!
Not sure if Mr Maisto is aware i emailed all details to club secs last week, postcodes, mobile number etc, also had to let down our reserves who had no keeper to go to this game, arrived there at 9:30, and then a couple of minutes prior to kick off spoke to the three officials and asked them if they were happy with everything and they said yes. The referees had already done the pitch inspection as well...
I have a lot of time for Advance Couriers and also a lot of respect for them, but not a fan of this post.....

despite what Hellboy thinks not even I can defend them this time! wish my team was in a semi final playing in sub standard conditions!

No one wants defending just the basics in place for both sides who have earned the right to partake in a semi final

Dodgy wrote:

Widds wrote:

I embarrassingly left the white paint at home!!!
Not sure if Mr Maisto is aware i emailed all details to club secs last week, postcodes, mobile number etc, also had to let down our reserves who had no keeper to go to this game, arrived there at 9:30, and then a couple of minutes prior to kick off spoke to the three officials and asked them if they were happy with everything and they said yes. The referees had already done the pitch inspection as well...
I have a lot of time for Advance Couriers and also a lot of respect for them, but not a fan of this post.....

Come on Widds did you go any where near the pitch, I understand its not directly the leagues fault but a certain standard needs to be set when hosting Semi finals and in this case it was a poor effort, and I'm pretty sure the Sunbury lads would be totally agree especially their Keeper who had a 5 minute rant after the first goal went in saying he didnt know where his area was

I did go near the pitch to be honest mate, and it wasnt the best, goal mouths were water logged, my main issue on this post is that people seem to believe the league just take the money and are not interested in anything else. But no profit is made from semi-finals, if someone wants to make a note to the league, why not phone or email and raise the concerns in that manner?

Congrats on reaching another final by the way

Dodgy wrote:

Polska legend II wrote:

Widds wrote:

I embarrassingly left the white paint at home!!!
Not sure if Mr Maisto is aware i emailed all details to club secs last week, postcodes, mobile number etc, also had to let down our reserves who had no keeper to go to this game, arrived there at 9:30, and then a couple of minutes prior to kick off spoke to the three officials and asked them if they were happy with everything and they said yes. The referees had already done the pitch inspection as well...
I have a lot of time for Advance Couriers and also a lot of respect for them, but not a fan of this post.....

despite what Hellboy thinks not even I can defend them this time! wish my team was in a semi final playing in sub standard conditions!

No one wants defending just the basics in place for both sides who have earned the right to partake in a semi final

fair point - possibly the officials were wrong to allow the game to go ahead then if the pitch wasn't marked out?

Lounge's semi final at magna 73's Ground wasn't even played on the main pitch there! I don't believe the league are taking the money and running however I do believe that the standard of grounds selected for semi final is not of the standard you excpect for such fixtures which is the point I think maisto was trying to make!

I do not doubt that the Alliance representative will be making a report to the League, as will the two clubs concerned.

Full instructions were given to the host club.

The Alliance rules say that action may be taken against the host club if they fail to make the necessary preparations.

random wrote:

This is incredible....the league officials don't seem to disagree that conditions were bad, but instead look to put the blame somewhere else. Don't put it on a host club to sort things out, do it yourselves! Typical from the league, get loads of money and put it in the wrong places. Play it at a more suitable ground..... I feel more for Sunbury as it was a big day for them.

no profit is made from the semis, the league are charged to stage the games at their respective grounds.

newsreader wrote:

Lounge's semi final at magna 73's Ground wasn't even played on the main pitch there! I don't believe the league are taking the money and running however I do believe that the standard of grounds selected for semi final is not of the standard you excpect for such fixtures which is the point I think maisto was trying to make!

The Alliance League, in line with all other leagues, does not use pitches which are not normally used by Alliance clubs for our own domestic competitions. The pitch used at Meadows Sports Ground (Magna 73's ground) is the one that Magna 73 normally use. The 'first team pitch' is used by Leicester City Ladies each Sunday afternoon. They are able to use that pitch rather than Magna 73 because they pay half of all maintenance costs.

I personally agree that semifinals should be played on a pitch which suits the occasion. The real problem is that the availability and standard of such pitches which are available for Sunday morning football continues to decline. We did set a higher standard of pitches required for teams playing in the Alliance Prem and Div 1 and there were no problems at that time. Unfortunately, this is no longer possible because the pitches do not exist in the same numbers. The £11m investment in facilities in Leicester has been used for the benefit of youth and girls football (with the exception of Aylestone Park and Rushey Fields).

I wonder if those complaining have a ground of the 'required' standard and if they would be prepared to host an Alliance semi?

"OWL" second that Dennis.

newsreader wrote:

Lounge's semi final at magna 73's Ground wasn't even played on the main pitch there! I don't believe the league are taking the money and running however I do believe that the standard of grounds selected for semi final is not of the standard you excpect for such fixtures which is the point I think maisto was trying to make!

And it was £66!! £16 dearer than AP and didn't get a half time drink lol no complaints today though wasn't magnas main pitch but I think it's as good, just hasn't got bars round it!!

i'd settle playing a semi final in a potato field if it meant we got to one!

I really really wanted to put the Reem Team v Saff Lounge game on the main pitch which was all set up, but I had my hands tied by my committee and the fact that the Leicester Ladies were on there in the afternoon. Our pitch is usually very good, but significant damage was done to it by the Sunbury United game 2 weeks ago and with todays poor whether conditions it made the pitch horrendous.

I agree, the semi finals should be played on grounds of quality, having made it that far, you want to be rewarded.

I felt awkward and wrong asking for the money as I understood that with the pitch in the condition as it was, it was overpriced

I'm sorry I couldn't do more but my hands were tied.

I witnessed a cracking game by the way which was won by Saff Lounge 4-3 only after the Saff keeper, who had been dodgy for most of the game made 3 worldys at the end of extra time

would it be fair to say though that most clubs would put a semi final place ahead of quality of ground?

Kinnel they win and they still moan, time to get off the high horsey, book Leicester citys ground for them next time, it might just about satisfy the whingers,on another note, they come on and says its only sunday morning football, they only want to play with thier mates, and most of the pitches are poor these days, so what do people really expect. mind you if you have given that team the impression that they are the bees knees, and the flagship team, i suppose they are going to behave in a high and mighty manner, you've fed them the nectar, and they want better stuff next time.

Hellboy wrote:

Kinnel they win and they still moan, time to get off the high horsey, book Leicester citys ground for them next time, it might just about satisfy the whingers,on another note, they come on and says its only sunday morning football, they only want to play with thier mates, and most of the pitches are poor these days, so what do people really expect. mind you if you have given that team the impression that they are the bees knees, and the flagship team, i suppose they are going to behave in a high and mighty manner, you've fed them the nectar, and they want better stuff next time.

They've always thought they were high and mighty and better than anyone else and have always loved to moan but i think this year they've realised that after getting no where in the FA Sunday Cup or the Sunday Premier Cup that they are on a downward spiral and this has made them bitter and twisted.

littlebigman wrote:

Hellboy wrote:

Kinnel they win and they still moan, time to get off the high horsey, book Leicester citys ground for them next time, it might just about satisfy the whingers,on another note, they come on and says its only sunday morning football, they only want to play with thier mates, and most of the pitches are poor these days, so what do people really expect. mind you if you have given that team the impression that they are the bees knees, and the flagship team, i suppose they are going to behave in a high and mighty manner, you've fed them the nectar, and they want better stuff next time.

They've always thought they were high and mighty and better than anyone else and have always loved to moan but i think this year they've realised that after getting no where in the FA Sunday Cup or the Sunday Premier Cup that they are on a downward spiral and this has made them bitter and twisted.

I dont see how asking for a pitch to be marked and showers are to much to ask for really is it

Dodgy wrote:

littlebigman wrote:

Hellboy wrote:

Kinnel they win and they still moan, time to get off the high horsey, book Leicester citys ground for them next time, it might just about satisfy the whingers,on another note, they come on and says its only sunday morning football, they only want to play with thier mates, and most of the pitches are poor these days, so what do people really expect. mind you if you have given that team the impression that they are the bees knees, and the flagship team, i suppose they are going to behave in a high and mighty manner, you've fed them the nectar, and they want better stuff next time.

They've always thought they were high and mighty and better than anyone else and have always loved to moan but i think this year they've realised that after getting no where in the FA Sunday Cup or the Sunday Premier Cup that they are on a downward spiral and this has made them bitter and twisted.

I dont see how asking for a pitch to be marked and showers are to much to ask for really is it

Look at Maisto's original post and it smacks of an arrogant bench warmer who is too big for his boots,I just think that before commenting you should perhaps look at the position that the league is in and if the club as a whole needs to complain let the secretary do it.
It might be worth remembering that last season County Cup semi finals were not even played on neutral grounds and then perhaps you will realise what a good job the Alliance League does

Dodgy wrote:

littlebigman wrote:

Hellboy wrote:

Kinnel they win and they still moan, time to get off the high horsey, book Leicester citys ground for them next time, it might just about satisfy the whingers,on another note, they come on and says its only sunday morning football, they only want to play with thier mates, and most of the pitches are poor these days, so what do people really expect. mind you if you have given that team the impression that they are the bees knees, and the flagship team, i suppose they are going to behave in a high and mighty manner, you've fed them the nectar, and they want better stuff next time.

They've always thought they were high and mighty and better than anyone else and have always loved to moan but i think this year they've realised that after getting no where in the FA Sunday Cup or the Sunday Premier Cup that they are on a downward spiral and this has made them bitter and twisted.

I dont see how asking for a pitch to be marked and showers are to much to ask for really is it

No its not, and, whilst i only briefly saw the changing rooms when i gave your gaffer the team sheet (therefore cannot comment on the showers), i did see the pitch, and the markings (lack of) on it, so, if your sec had just done a simple email to Gordon etc then i would have confirmed this. I think people are losing sight of three issues here:

1) The pitch could and should have been better prepped
2) Coming on a forum and moaning about it in the way the original post was made is not the right way to go about things
3) The league do a bloody good job and get things right 99% of the time in my opinion, and instead of bitching about it, we (club secs) need to give better feedback

If your sec contacts the league or contacts me then i am happy to pass on my thoughts to the relevant people in the league...ways to do things....

Just not sure how it can be the leagues fault if they book a neutral ground in all good faith

I went down to watch Saff lounge v Reem Team today in the EW Foster Semi... I thought it was a well fought game and seriously think Reem should have wrapped it up in the 90 mins with the 3/4 decent chances in the last 5 mins of the second half. But Saff did well to take the lead twice in extra time and with a couple of great saves by their keeper late on helped them take the win.
BUT, the pitch they were playing on was dreadful when there was a perfectly decent unused pitch next to it. The 3 Officials looked out there depth if im honest if thats possible reffing a sunday football game, both linos had absolute shockers. one of the linesman was atleast 60 struggled to keep up with play the whole game flagged a couple of decisions after hearing shouts from either team and hoping he was right. Fans from both teams stood infront of the barriers and at somepoints were pretty much on the pitch which made it almost impossible for the linos to see yet they were still making decisions based on guess work. At one point one spectator from the Saff end ran on the pitch and kicked the ball away because he didnt agree with where the reem lad was taking the free kick from. When players moaned the Ref did nothing, this is the same ref that last time i saw him ref a game turned up with NO whistle NO cards and NO watch(he borrowed a phone from a spectator to keep time) and yet he finds himself with a semi final fixture to ref. He got a bit card happy in extratime booking a reem player that had been subbed and a couple of saff players for small things. just pointless bookings.

In all fairness this was a bad representation of the Alliance League today, why would any team want to get to a semi final and have to play on a cow field and have 3 incapable officials spoil the occasion.

Well done to Saff Lounge and good luck for the final.

Its not the leagues fault at all, but, if the clubs involved do have a legitimate issue, then it needs to be discussed (by correct channels!). By the looks of it, Sunbury were not aware of all of their duties as the 'home' club, so maybe clubs need reminding prior to their semi finals next season...

[quote="littlebigman"]

Dodgy wrote:

littlebigman wrote:

Hellboy wrote:

Kinnel they win and they still moan, time to get off the high horsey, book Leicester citys ground for them next time, it might just about satisfy the whingers,on another note, they come on and says its only sunday morning football, they only want to play with thier mates, and most of the pitches are poor these days, so what do people really expect. mind you if you have given that team the impression that they are the bees knees, and the flagship team, i suppose they are going to behave in a high and mighty manner, you've fed them the nectar, and they want better stuff next time.

They've always thought they were high and mighty and better than anyone else and have always loved to moan but i think this year they've realised that after getting no where in the FA Sunday Cup or the Sunday Premier Cup that they are on a downward spiral and this has made them bitter and twisted.

I dont see how asking for a pitch to be marked and showers are to much to ask for really is it

Look at Maisto's original post and it smacks of an arrogant bench warmer who is too big for his boots,I just think that before commenting you should perhaps look at the position that the league is in and if the club as a whole needs to complain let the secretary do it.
It might be worth remembering that last season County Cup semi finals were not even played on neutral grounds and then perhaps you will realise what a good job the Alliance League does[/quote]

Couriers v Prem Sports Premier Cup Semi final was play at St Andrews last season

littlebigman wrote:

Dodgy wrote:

littlebigman wrote:

Hellboy wrote:

Kinnel they win and they still moan, time to get off the high horsey, book Leicester citys ground for them next time, it might just about satisfy the whingers,on another note, they come on and says its only sunday morning football, they only want to play with thier mates, and most of the pitches are poor these days, so what do people really expect. mind you if you have given that team the impression that they are the bees knees, and the flagship team, i suppose they are going to behave in a high and mighty manner, you've fed them the nectar, and they want better stuff next time.

They've always thought they were high and mighty and better than anyone else and have always loved to moan but i think this year they've realised that after getting no where in the FA Sunday Cup or the Sunday Premier Cup that they are on a downward spiral and this has made them bitter and twisted.

I dont see how asking for a pitch to be marked and showers are to much to ask for really is it

Look at Maisto's original post and it smacks of an arrogant bench warmer who is too big for his boots,I just think that before commenting you should perhaps look at the position that the league is in and if the club as a whole needs to complain let the secretary do it.
It might be worth remembering that last season County Cup semi finals were not even played on neutral grounds and then perhaps you will realise what a good job the Alliance League does

Fail to see where the arrogance is in his post, merely pointing out how disappointing the facilities are at Frowlesworth today, dont think anyone is asking for the ground or pitch to be Holmes Park standard, and to be fair apart from the 2 issues that have been raised it would be fitting to hold any semi final on the pitch, its just unfortunate that the 2 issues are basic requirements of any football match

Widds wrote:

Its not the leagues fault at all, but, if the clubs involved do have a legitimate issue, then it needs to be discussed (by correct channels!). By the looks of it, Sunbury were not aware of all of their duties as the 'home' club, so maybe clubs need reminding prior to their semi finals next season...

So what are Sunburys duties as the home side, surely not having to travel to Lutterworth to check the pitch has been marked out and the showers work, I always assumed that's why a committee member is present so if any problem occurs they are on hand to inform the league of such incidents and appropriate action is taken

The home club has a duty to liase with the host club for all arrangements. Whilst i do think the host club should have lines marked as a matter of course, sunbury should have spoken to the host club. As for committee member, once there if the ref is happy with the pitch etc, what else can be done? Maybe i should have cancelled the game, bet that would have gone down well. Wish i had played for our ressies now instead of driving out to lutterworth.

I remember GT's first season in the alliance and the two semi finals we reached, Scrappy Garage played at Oadby Towns ground And against Advance up at..................................Gypsy lane

I have to sort out the semi finals and this includes the venues (and I HATE doing it and don't hide the fact either).

Every season ALL I generally get is abuse about semi final venues!!

This season so far we've had one at Aylestone Park, which was not good enough because it was on one of the side pitches! One at North Kilworth which is too far away! One at Magna 73 which wasn't on the main pitch! This one which sounds like a complete mess! The Walton semi's at Aylestone which although they were o.k, the second pitch is still not as good as the first pitch!

The only one I've not recieved any poor feedback from is Huncote!!

Now my brief is to pick the best possible venues? They have to be pitches that Alliance teams use?? Anyone getting my problem?? Also it helps to not use a venue of a team that is behind in fixtures.

In the past we've used Leicester Irish centre (not on the main pitch so not good enough), Desford (Pitch is far too small) and a host of others I've received abuse about!

This Sunday the semi final is proposed to be at Dunton & Broughton but the pitch isn't available, so come on then lets have a list.....


By the way I would like to thank Gareth for giving up his own personal time yesterday to go to this game and not receive a dicky bird for it! I also get to choose the committee member and always just send them along! In fact why don't I thank them all! They never moan! Just get on with it!


With regards to what Dennis said and I've already had this conversation with loads of people, the facilities for adult football are def getting worse! (I'm surprised this isn't the Alliance League's fault) I've not played for 8 years and played (if you'd call it that) for 6 seasons prior to that and most of the facilities are exactley the same as the first season I played and that was REALLY poor!! The private teams and better grounds of Leicestershire aren't going to let us use their facilities and ruin them! But even the top facilities at some of the better clubs in Leicester are still poor!!