All

With Christmas fast approaching I thought it was worth reflecting on what has been an incredibly busy but rewarding 2018 in the history of Evergreen Football Club. So by way of summary, and this is not an exhaustive list:-

• This season we are fielding a record number of teams and have 37 teams registered with various leagues across Hertfordshire and delighted with the progress the teams are making and after a highly successful season last year I am expecting a very full trophy cabinet at the end of season 18/19. Also it is great to see a number of new coaches joining the ranks this year as we look to continually invest in the quality of our coaching provision so that all players receive consistent coaching and have a clear pathway from Youth into Senior football. We are in the process of setting up courses for next year in conjunction with the Herts FA which Ian will share with you when dates are confirmed.
• Delighted we were the first football club in Hertfordshire to secure our FA Charter Standard Community Club renewal which is an incredibly difficult task and gets harder every year with the FA looking at everything from how the club is structured and run right through to Manager/Coach education and all our safeguarding polices. Big thanks to Ian Turner for all the work he does to ensure we pass with flying colours.
• Whilst we re-opened the Clubhouse in Jun-17 this did not mean we have stopped investing in our infrastructure and we have continued to spend money to ensure the buildings are well maintained and continue to look as good now as when we re-opened. Over the last couple of months the interior has been re-decorated, we have also had all the carpets and upholstery professionally cleaned and of course the 3G facility continues to be deep cleaned on a bi-annual basis. We do need all members and visitors to treat the facilities with respect and your support is required here!
• We are still looking into constructing a secure compound to the right of the Clubhouse, which will involve a planning application but will alleviate some pressure on the garage and give us much more storage space for goals/bins so watch this space. We are also looking at the old Youth Room but both of these projects are cash-flow dependent and will need not insignificant sums.
• Our Annual 6-a-side tournament saw over 120 teams descend on South Way for yet another successful day and we will be looking to start planning for the next one early in the New Year. This proves to be an extremely popular tournament with all profits going to the Youth section.
• We have renewed our partnership with Watford Ladies FC where we are one of only 6 clubs in Hertfordshire to enter into this partnership which has been designed to attract more girls to playing football and keep them in the game as they progress through to Adults football. I am genuinely excited by this partnership and it will help the club continue to attract new players. The growth in girl’s football at Evergreen shows no sign of slowing down and we are currently running 4 teams, shortly increasing to 5 which is fantastic.
• Our Pensioners Christmas Lunch was hugely successful last week where we had 37 guests for a fantastic 3-course lunch which was absolutely devoured. Great to see so many volunteers helping on the day and the fantastic donations from local businesses which meant that everyone who attended left with a wonderful gift. This was the 12th year we have run the lunch and it goes from strength to strength although tinged with sadness this year as we lost Barry Frankham in April who originally came up with the idea and who had been an ever present.

As you can see 2018 has been a fantastic year and these are only some of the highlights but certainly worth reflecting on. No doubt I will see some of you before Christmas but on behalf of the Club Committee we wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Mark

Location

evergreen south way abbots langley