Welcome to the www.bdsfl.org website, for the   Michael R. Peters Bedford & District Sunday Football League.     Here we will be sharing latest league news,match reports,    league tables, fixtures, results, and other information.

Long Service Awards

Before the AGM on Monday 15th June 2009, four League Club Secretaries were presented with their long service awards, (10 years).

They were Guy Tramunto (Atletico Europa), Kevin Cook (Haynes), Malcolm Lane (Queensmen) and Adam Piper (Hobgoblin Old Boys.

Referee's were also presented with long service awards.

10 years service (bronze) to Brian Humphries, Clive Milton, Andy Medlock, Kevin Hallett, and Marc Deans.

15 years service (silver) to Frank Fender, Keith Pearce, David New, Colin Sinden, and Derek Clarke.

20 years service (gold) to Trevor Cooper, Mick Burgoyne, George Roberts, Tony Houghton, and Brian Muggeridge.

DISCIPLINE – THE WAY FORWARD

The Bedford & District Sunday League is one of only five football leagues in the country to be chosen by the English Football Association to pilot the cascade of the Match Based Discipline System to the ‘grass-roots’ level of football. 

The League’s Vice Chairman, Clive Milton, together with Andy Medlock, the League’s Registration Secretary, recently travelled to Soho Square in London to meet up with representatives from the other four ‘grass-roots’ leagues, to start work on the pilot scheme with the F.A.’s Discipline Department.

The intention is to change local leagues to the

Match Based Discipline System,

by initially bringing it into the five chosen Leagues

at the beginning of the 2009 / 2010 season. 

After the successful pilot, the system will be cascaded down to the rest of ‘grass-roots’ football as soon as possible after that season.

Match based discipline is the system used in football leagues from the Barclays Premiership down to the semi-professional level just above local football.  Local football follows the Time Based Disciplinary System.  Clearly, it is much better to have a universal discipline system in the country rather than two or more systems – which are either time (term) based or match based.  In fact pressure has been brought upon the F.A. to get all leagues onto a universal system.  Players and officials connected with Saturday clubs in higher leagues and who involve themselves in local Sunday League football will already be aware of the Match Based Discipline System and will have probably experienced the difficulties of having two different disciplinary systems when players play on a Saturday and Sunday.

When dealing with players’ suspensions after being sent off in a game, the professional game’s system deals with offences by suspending players for a certain number of games.  In a term based system players in local leagues are removed from football for a period of time, which could mean missing perhaps more games than with the match based system.  This difference in the punishments has long been a matter of controversy in football and the aim of the pilot is to standardise the misconduct system.

What does the system mean to us?  Just as a flavour, in short there will be a more realistic level of punishment in line with football’s top flight.  There will be some raising of eye-brows to the ‘no right of appeal’ to standard sending off offences, and heavy fees to pay for anyone wanting to take other cases to appeal.  Assaults on match officials will be ‘Term based suspensions’ and there will be heavy fines for clubs who incur multiple charges in a single game.  There is the facility of keeping a check on referees, both in availabilities and discipline reporting.   There will still be fines levied and the disciplinary points system.

Although the emphasis is to put all football on the Match Based Disciplinary System, there are occasions when players will need to be put out of football for a length of time.  I have already indicated this above, but to illustrate this need one may remember the Eric Cantona ‘feet first’ excursion into the crowd a few years ago.  He was given a lengthy suspension.  More recently, the handbag fight involving Agbonlahor was also dealt with by a time based suspension.

Clearly there is much more to learn about the system which relies on the I.T. being transparent to Leagues and players, and trust put in clubs particularly to supply information about their games, players etc.  Finance is being put into the scheme by the F.A. to ensure that the system works at the lower levels of football.

Mark Ives, Head of the F.A.’s Discipline Department, (mark.ives@thefa.com) who also referees on the Bedford Sunday League, completed a presentation at the Sunday League’s Clubs’ meeting on the 2nd March 2009 where he explained how the system works and how information is provided, not only to the Bedford Sunday League but to and from other leagues.  By April preparations should be well advanced and ready for the nominated five Leagues to go live with the Match Based Disciplinary System in September 2009.

The Bedford Sunday League is one of only two Sunday Leagues involved in the pilot.  Hayes (Middlesex) Sunday League is the other league, which is similar in size to the Bedford one.  The Hereford Saturday League, Cambridgeshire League and West Riding County Amateur League are the three Saturday Leagues who have been selected by the Football Association. 

This initial report on the work being done has necessarily been just a brief flavour of what is coming to local football.  Member clubs of the League will be kept updated with any information that becomes available concerning the change in the discipline system. 

Clive Milton.    

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REMINDERS for Secretaries:-  

Make sure when it's your home game you inform your opposition ,referee of pitch, ko time, team colours.

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League, and League cup matches. RESULT to be rung in to Fixture Secretary by

home side immediately after the game, and in any case before 1.30pm.

County cup. RESULT to be rung in to Fixture Secretary, whether at home or away, immediately after the game, and in any case before 1.30pm.

Any problems regarding referee and/or cover contact

Clive Milton on 01234  273893

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Home clubs using public pitches

DON'T FORGET TO PAY FOR YOU PITCH BY 8pm WEDNESDAY at the Athletics Stadium, Barkers Lane, Bedford.   You can pay over the phone by credit card - But you still have to call in for your pitch permit that may be asked for by the groundsman at the pitch on match days - NO permit NO play.   If your pitch is changed by the Stadium for whatever reason, then don't forget to go back to the referee and opposition to advise them of change

(This only happens occasionally).  

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Any problems give me a ring - otherwise may I take this early opportunity to wish you all well, and for an enjoyable season's football,

remembering the FAs ' Respect ' campaign for all referees.   Regards and good luck,   Russ Maddox  BDSFLeague

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FIXTURES

The fixtures are displayed on the website, so all Fixture Secretaries are to make use of this site when looking ahead for their clubs fixtures.

The League will supply a weekly results service by way of an email to all clubs on a Sunday afternoon with the results from that days fixture programme, and a fixture list for the following Sunday that includes the referees for those matches.

MATCH REPORTS

GET YOUR CLUB AND PLAYERS A MENTION IN THE PRESS

Wearing one of my other hats, that of League Press Officer, every week I will be submitting a report to the Times & Citizen, and its associated newspapers, giving a report on League and Cup games played by the Bedford and District Sunday League clubs.

I am reliant on club members sending in to me information on their games.  It matters not if your club has lost the game, let me know goal-scorers’ names and nicknames (however daft), any interesting incidents, man of the match etc., and I will try to make it an interesting read.

I have no control over what actually gets printed in the newspapers, but my complete, unexpurgated version will be duplicated on the League website.

Players like to see their names in print and I believe that interest in who does what in the games is universally interesting, so please give me a ring on

01234-273893,or e-mail crmilton2@btinternet.com

with the details

by the Monday evening following the Sunday game.

Clive Milton

REGISTRATIONS

REFEREES

The Fixture programme published on the website does NOT show the appointed Referees. The appointed Referees will be recorded only in the ‘Fixture Booklet’.

Referee availability is often last minute and there are frequent changes for various unforeseen reasons. The Referees’ Secretary will keep all clubs informed by telephone of any changes of referee before a match, if known to him. For this reason referees will not be included on the website fixtures.

The Leagues Referees’ Secretary is Mr. Clive Milton, who must be contacted in relation to all Refereeing matters for the LEAGUE, and LEAGUE CUP fixtures. (01234 273893)

Please note: Clive Milton does NOT cover COUNTY CUP ties - Nic Snelson (Century House, Dunstable on 01582 567712) runs the competition on behalf of the Beds FA, and if you have any enquiries/queries it is Nic Snelson you need to contact regarding fixtures, and referees for these competitions.