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Licence Updates

3rd November 2009

 Licensing Update      1^st November 2009

Gwynfor Parry and I attended a meeting in Newtown on Sunday in which all clubs went through the various licensing requirements, deadlines and plans, with an opportunity for all clubs to have their say and raise issues.

Some clubs did not bother attending which possibly indicates that they are not seriously intent on achieving the levels required, but the majority of the 24 clubs were well represented.

Having spoken to many of those present, the general feeling was that it is for the good of Welsh Football in the long run, as is the reduction to 12 and ultimately 10 clubs. There were reservations about the number of games, but at this time that is still an unknown. Most clubs are making good inroads into meeting the criteria and of course some are already in a position to be awarded a Domestic Licence - not to be confused with a UEFA Licence which does allow a club to play European games at an approved ground other than their own.

Some things have eased in the process, such as the expensive Medical needs which now excludes ECG and Cardio tests (unless playing in Europe). Also there is funding to assist with the basic medical certification. There is also funding for Accounts Auditing, some Medical Equipment and the media Wireless facilities. Funded courses are also in place for Security, First Aid, Media and other necessary qualifications. Plus the Coaching Licence courses through the Football Trust have also been brought forward to enable clubs to conform to the criteria. Dispensations of qualifications due to experience have understandably been dropped; however past dispensations if up to date have been permitted for the time being. The various levels of criteria have also been addressed with level ‘A' being mandatory, ‘B' subject to caution of possible future fine and ‘C'  as recommendations; only level A is taken into account for this first licence. A lot of positives in here with more assistance than we originally expected and some changes that help.

It was not all positives with Stadia certification rearing its head. There may be a need for various engineering surveys - structural, electrical end engineering which are all part of the Safety Certificate, there was also some voiced concerns about some council's reluctance to get involved with these certificates for such small capacity stadia. The FAW are looking into this with a view to appointing someone to handle the possible issues.

Assurances were sought and given that the criteria will be adhered to in selecting the clubs for the Premier League in addition to their league positions, with no club being given preferential treatment by the independent body handling the review.

All in all an interesting meeting and with more positives than negatives, we are happy to proceed with the process and are confident of our ability to achieve our licence within the time scales laid down.

We will keep you updated with progress and will be looking to all supporters for any help they can provide as situations arise.

Many thanks

Russ Austin

2-0 win away at Denbigh

31st October 2009

A big game away from home and all 3 points in the bag.

Line up;Pearson, Jones G, Mitchell, Gibbs, Austin, Williams C, Williams R, Roberts K, Kehoe, Roberts DG, Thomas subs. Gwynedd, Lloyd, Jones M, Higham, Shannhan, Craven

A bright, sunny day and a good playing surface, wind gusting right to left, we were out of the blocks quickly creating chances and Darren Thomas proving a handful down the flanks with Chris Williams on the other side. Danny Glyn won a lot in the air, but our first chances fell to Warren Gibbs and Austin at set piece corners which went wide . The keeper was called on a number of times and produced some good saves. From a weak clearance the ball fell to Kev Roberts wide on 45 yards who hit it first time over the retreating keeper, but struck the bar and rebounded out. Robbie Williams and Steve Kehoe got a tight grip in the middle despite some provoking tackling, with both having an excellent game. Danny had a good shot stopped but on 15 minutes it fell to him again and despite it being struck into the ground it eluded the goalie to open the scoring. Quiet until then Denbigh came back and put us under considerable pressure with one dropping clear to the normally deadly Tommy Mutton, who struck it well enough, but Shaun Pearson pulled off the save of the match to keep it out. The game got more physical and scrappy with the referee at last using cards to stem the tackles flying in. We had 6 or 7 free kicks and eventually Chris Williams took one on 25 yards with his hard low drive being parried by the keeper and the alert Austin snapping up the 2nd goal on 40 minutes and so it stayed at the break

2nd half Denbigh came out determined and controlled the first 15 minutes the dangerous Vernon and Mutton causing most of the problems, but the defence was back to its resolute ways and gave little away. The nearest to a goal came from a corner where with Pearson seemingly impeded, they had a chance at an empty net but a last ditch block from Mitchell saw it rebound to the keeper.Kev Roberts had a good effort headed wide from a well worked Danny Glyn cross and shortly after he was replaced by Ywain Gwynedd  who immediately created openings wide right with his pace and direct running. Kev Lloyd came on for Gerallt Jones with Chris falling back , his fresh legs started to put them under more pressure and a cross was met by Steve Kehoe which flew over.  A quick run by Chris Williams took him past 4 players with his well hit shot grazing the bar. A backpass was attacked by tormentor Darren Thomas saw him nick it off the keeper but a last ditch tackle prevented a goal. The tireless Danny Glyn took one to the bye line and his cut back to Kev Lloyd went just wide. Rich Higham came on for Danny to anchor the middle again. They continued to probe adn an edge of the box free kick was flipped over by Shaun and despite a couple of speculative late efforts there was little danger and we ended up creditable 2-0 winners against the side in 4th place.

All agreed this was probably our best all round team performance and could easily have been 6 or 7 plus the bonus of a clean sheet.

well done to all and let's take this into next week's big game at Llanduno.

Presentation

30th October 2009

The official presentation of the plaque to mark the opening of the refurbished changing rooms, took place on Thursday 29th. Gwynfor Parry and Martin Gallagher are shown with representatives of the Welsh Football Trust who do so much to improve the grounds and facilities in Welsh Football.

All at the club wish to thank them for their generous help which goes a long way towards achieving our domestic licence.

On to the next project!