President’s Foreword

The Opening Remarks from President Jim Culleton, as printed in this season’s Handbook.

Foreword - July 2024

The 2023-2024 Season ended with a Team deciding to show a total lack of respect to the Competition and its Member Clubs which was a sad way in which to conclude our 125th year.

This meant that the Premier League title was decided on the Committee table. Putting that to one side it was another competitive season, and congratulations to all those Teams and Clubs who were successful in winning trophies.

We continued to see success in the County Cup Competitions with Haver Town F.C lifting the Saturday Essex Junior Trophy, defeating Collier Row in a competitive final at Heybridge Swifts F.C.

We were again grateful to Witham Town F.C. for hosting our Cup Finals. Once again we had some good attendances. The Competitions decision to remove extra time was a positive move and it may be that this will become a consistent feature across all football at some point.

We managed to achieve close to 100% coverage from a Referee perspective, our thanks go to the hard work and commitment of our Referee Appointment Secretary, Joe Turnpenny. The Competition disciplinary record was again satisfactory, despite countrywide again seeing poor levels of indiscipline. We did unfortunately see three matches abandoned due to misconduct, and those fixtures were treated as void given that the indiscipline was caused by both Teams.

Our Fixture Secretary, Paul Stringer worked hard during the season to combat both withdrawals, the weather and County Cup fixtures, but he again managed to successfully conclude the season on time.

Roger Crane is a great asset to this Competition and his tireless work as Registration Secretary I know is recognised by the Clubs as he keeps the window open for registrations as late as possible on match days to support Clubs.

We understand the demands of the volunteer are becoming harder and harder and we as a Competition try to act in a respectful way and support where we can.

It is a shame that when individuals can’t get what they want they deliberately try to undermine and seek to destroy all that is good in the game locally. All we ask for is honesty. The Mid Essex Football League is a Competition that is entering its 126th year of existence, we are grateful to all those that have committed their time to reach these important milestones. History shows that there have been challenges and the competition has tackled those but continued to survive and grow.

A massive vote of thanks must go to the League Management Committee and the member Clubs for all your efforts over the last season.

So we look forward to season 2024-2025. I really don’t know what the future holds. We need to find a level of trust across grassroots football but we know the game continues to grow and as long as this Competition remains an honest and transparent one and continues to offer respect and support to our Clubs we will continue to be a critical part of football in Essex.

Good Luck to everyone and I hope you enjoy your football with the Mid Essex Football League for Season 2024-2025.

President