Who Would Be A Secretary?

For the first time in 14 years, Chertsey Town reached a Cup Final, only to be thrown out of the competition a matter of days later. Last Saturday, the Surrey club won 1-0 at Worcester Park in the EL Records Premier Challenge Cup Semi-Final, the knockout competition for Combined Counties League clubs. But it was later discovered that they had fielded an ineligible player.

I had spoken to a number of Chertsey Town fans prior to the Semi-Final, and they were excited about a potential Friday night April Final at Woking FC. It promised to be a big occasion, with well supported clubs Camberley Town and Molesey contesting the other Semi. I was genuinely saddened by the news for two reasons. Firstly, I had every intention of going to the Final to cheer on my local club and a trip to Woking with family and friends would have made for a good evening out. Secondly, I know the club secretary down at Chertsey Town and I'm sure he will be distraught at the news and it his him I feel most sorry for.

It is a thankless task being a club secretary, and the many I have met in the last few seasons all demonstrate the same personable traits. They are passionate about their club. They are extremely hard working. They are selfless with their own time that they volunteer. And they are sticklers for detail. They have to be. One job in a secretary's million-and-one jobs is to ensure that players are eligible to play when they walk out onto the pitch. Believe me, this is not as easy as it sounds. Rules are numerous and complex, changes are common, season in season out, and there are a whole raft of subtly different rules depending which competition you are in. You'd need a brain the size of Saturn to know and understand the subtleties of all the rules, let alone keep up with them as they change.

I spoke to an official at the Combined Counties League this week, and I've been told that Chertsey Town has appealed against the punishment. The ineligible player in question also played in Chertsey's Quarter-Final win at Bookham. The problem was that he had not played 3 League games for Chertsey Town before appearing in the Cup. In my opinion, it is unlikely that any appeal will be successful.

The fielding of ineligible players is not uncommon. Look at any of this season's non League tables and they are littered with teams that display an asterisk against their name. Clubs deducted League points this season include Bognor Regis Town, Colwyn Bay, Goole AFC, Maldon Town, Potters Bar Town, Dulwich Hamlet and Caernarfon Town. Lower down the pyramid at Steps 5, 6 and 7, I counted at least another 38 clubs that have been penalised for using an ineligible player this season alone, and that was before I gave up counting (I struggle with double figures). The Conference teams are not immune either: Crawley Town, Oxford United and Mansfield Town have all contravened the rules. Even the secretaries at semi-professional clubs struggle to get it right all the time.

I started this season's FA Vase trail with Chertsey Town, and this competition is has had its own fair share of ineligible player headlines. One of the most famous cases has to be that of Beckenham Town; at the start of the 2004-05 season, the Kent club fielded an ineligible player in their FA Vase game against Lordswood. The FA banned them for 5 years from the FA Vase and 6 years from the FA Cup. This was a particularly severe punishment, and Beckenham Town have spent the last 5 years wondering 'what if?' in the knowledge they were missing out on potential prize money that these competitions offer. Only last week, the FA agreed that Beckenham Town can be reinstated in the FA Vase next season, something they are most relieved about. In the words of Peter Palmer, the secretary at Beckenham:

"As the secretary, I take responsibility for what happened and it has made me far more vigilant when it comes to signing new players. It is a case of leaving no stone unturned. Even if a player insists he has not signed for anyone else this season, we make sure we go through all the channels and check everything out".

Chertsey Town has not had much sympathy this week following their dismissal from the League Cup; in fact, there has been a deal of animosity directed at the Alwyns Lane outfit. I know that when this kind of thing happens at clubs, when teams are deducted points or ejected from competitions, it is usually the secretary that gets it in the neck. But spare a thought for the hard working club secretaries up and down the land; these are the ladies and gentleman that work tirelessly behind the scenes to keep the clubs going. They are like you and me, only human, and make the odd mistake. But without them, where would we be?

Off To Tinsley Lane

Tinsley Lane is the home of Oakwood FC and is notoriously difficult to find. My sense of direction is appalling at the best of times so the chances of me finding the ground for this, the first FA Vase game of my 'Chasing The Vase' venture, are slim. So much so, this season's plan may fizzle to nothing before it is properly ignited.

But of course I'll find the ground, how hard can it be, even for a simpleton? I'm actually quite excited about my trip down to Sussex tomorrow, to take in Oakwood v Chertsey Town in the First Round Qualifying (the FA's official description). If you have stumbled upon this site by chance in search of news about Keegan, Curbishley, Manchester City, or other football news stories of the day, you are excused for thinking that 'excited' is perhaps too strong a description to use in relation to a game that will attract a crowd of around 30. Oakwood's League games so far this season have been attended by between 19 and 47 paying customers. The old joke about announcing crowd changes to the teams flashes across my mind. But I am excited, and if you read any of by FA Cup blog last season, you will understand why. If you didn't, please join me for this season.

Oakwood have had a fairly innocuous start to their 2008-09 Sussex County League Division One campaign, and sit only six places off the bottom with four points from five games. Bizarrely, all five of those League games have been played at home; in fact, their first away League fixture is not until September 20th. This is something I certainly have not come across in the game before. What was the fixture committee thinking? Answers on a postcard?

Formed in 1962 (many years before I was born) Oakwood are a relatively new club and have been playing Sussex County football since 1984, one year after they moved into their current Tinsley Lane home. Located near Crawley, the club started out in life as a school team. Pupils from St Wilfreds School founded the club as an escape from the predominant school sport of rugby. Club honours include winning the Sussex County League Division Three (1984-85) and Division Two (2005-06) and runners-up in the Sussex Senior Cup (1993).

Oakwood FC is a Step 5 club in the English football pyramid, as are Chertsey Town. So one would expect an even contest tomorrow, but Chertsey (as I mentioned last week) are off to a flyer this season. However, after I built up their chances for 2008-09 following their marvellous start, Chertsey went and lost 2-1 to Sittingbourne in the FA Cup on Sunday and dropped their first League points with a Tuesday night 1-1 home draw with Bookham. The FA Cup result was rather disappointing with a last-gasp winner (only 10 seconds left on the clock) eliminating the Surrey club at the same stage of the competition as last year, and defeated by the same opponents to boot. Another strange fact is that the game down in Kent on Sunday was Chertsey's first competitive Sunday game; this for a club founded in 1890. I find that fact rather refreshing in this day and age when the 3pm Saturday kick-off is less and less the norm. A feather in the caps of all the traditionalists. Confidence is still high at the club though, and in the FA Vase there is a feeling that they could progress some way. That's the 'kiss of death' then from me; pucker up.

But with a Wembley Cup Final in May the ultimate target, Oakwood will undoubtedly want to have a say in matters. So off in the direction of Crawley tomorrow, another location I don't recall ever visiting before. A small ground to look forward to, an entrance fee that won't break the bank and an opportunity to meet some of the locals; 'grassroots' football in every sense of the word. The forecast is for heavy rain, strong winds and poor visibility, which won't help me trying to find Tinsley Lane. Although I have been given some very good advice on how to get to the ground by a number of readers. Apparently, just turn left at the postbox. How easy is that?