I am being continually reminded that season 2010/11 was the Club’s 40th; presumably to remind me of my seniority. It is certainly true that nobody in 1970 envisaged how the Club would develop on and off the field.

There has been considerable frustration over the delays in getting approval for the new all weather facility at Nicholas Breakspear school. Clive Attwood, Mervyn Morgan and Dave Wray have spent many hours  working through the tortuous planning application processes and ensuring the finances are in position, helped by the Golf Day organised by the trustees under Bob Murphy.

At the time of writing we still await final approval but hopefully by the time you read this we will be looking forward to this further development in the Club’s progress. To add to this the officers have also been  discussing with Highfield Park the expansion of the football pitches there and indeed how the club can be more involved in the future at the Park. Dave is also to be congratulated on the enormously successful  coaching development programme which sees many of the club’s teams benefiting from the help of a young coach and has indeed seen us take on two “apprentices”, Sam Crafts and Sam Mardel, whose input has  also been invaluable.

Under Gordon Graham’s oversight the girls football programme has rapidly expanded with regular sessions across the District’s Primary Schools. The two Sams with Dave travelled to the Gambia with Ian Stapleton to  run coaching courses there and to hand over some surplus kits. On top of this Mervyn has overseen the Club’s renewal of its Chartered Standard Community status, the top of the FA tree.

Things have happened on the field as well with a record 42 teams in action. A glance at the Honours page reveals how successful the Club’s teams have been in winning trophies. Pride of place goes to Steph  Whitaker’s under 10 Girls in adding to the Club’s County Cup victories. Allen Dunbar’s under 14 Girls unfortunately fell at the last hurdle in their age group. Cup and League doubles were achieved by Kevan Parker’s  under 16’s, Stuart Meaton’s under 15’s and Mark Smith’s under 10’s . Matt Hall’s under 14’s, Andy Armstrong’s under 11’s, Charlie Boswell and Matt Wyatt’s under 10’s. Neil Almond’s under 12 Girls and Chris Smith’s under 10 Girls all ran out League winners while League Cups were won by Lawrence Levy’s under13’s, Keith Glasscoe’s under 13’s. John Oliver’s under 12’s, Andy Martins and Dave Skinners’s under 9’s and Steph  Whitaker’s under 10 Girls. Peter Towndrow’s under 18’s distinguished themselves by winning the Holland Cup in Amsterdam over Easter.

Finally particular mention of Roland Brown’s under 18’s, a side which has over the years experienced many hard times but this season held their own in the League and had their excellent attitude to the game  recognised in their last season by the award of the Sporting Team Award from the Watford Friendly League. Apart from Roland’s team this season has also been the last for Alan Heaffey’s under 18’s, another side  which has been a credit to the club both in this country and abroad.

Other managers standing down are Chris Gentle and Allen Dunbar. The Club is grateful to these for all their work on behalf of St Albans City Youth.

Indeed thanks are due to all managers (and their long suffering partners) for the amount of time they spend ensuring football is available for young people in St Albans.

Ian Woods

Secretary