Held on Tuesday 7^th September 2021 Via Zoom Video Call at 8pm

•            Roll Call @ 8:15pm – Chairman, Secretary, Covid Officer, Referee representative, Club representatives from Aston Swallownest, BartonInclusive, Bradford City DFC, Brunsmeer Awareness,  City Knights, Club Doncaster Titans, Derek Dooley FC, Doncaster Deaf Trust,Sheffield FC, Social Eyes, Spartans FC & Wheatley Wanderers SYACL FC

Absent –

•            New Disability Officer Chair introduced the new disability officer for Sheffield & Hallamshire FA, who told us of her plans for the role in the up-and-coming years. The FA are really pushing female football at the moment and that is where she will be pushing for higher numbers and possibly a female only disability league. There was also mention of maybe playing a cross county competition, as was tried before the pandemic. Overtures had also been made with professional football clubs across the county, asking them what they are doing to promote disability football and what their pathways are? The FA are pushing specific disability teams such as CP, visually impaired and blind football.

•            League Dates & Venues Chair checked that all representatives knew the dates for the upcoming season which have been sent out via texts and emails; everyone said they had received them. 7-a-side will be 2pm to 5pm at Concord Centre Sheffield & 5-a-side at Doncaster and Sheffield Goals 2pm to 5pm. He then discussed the County Cups Adult (for the 7-a-side teams) and Junior (for the 5-a-side teams). County Cup matches cost £30 entry fee, but clubs will likely have to pay costs towards matches, unlike previous seasons. These games will be played on the same day as the League games. We then discussed the format of the 5-a-side Leagues; there will be 4 Leagues of 5 teams. It was voted that League 2 teams will play a round robin of 4 x 10-minute games on the day, the other Leagues will be 2 x 20min games, plus any additional Cup games.

•            Referees Costs The costs of referees have risen for the first time in years; to cover these costs it will be £27 per team per match day for 7-a-side & £22 per team per match day for 5-a-side

•            Wearing of bibs Chair asked teams to let him know their team colours, so if there is any colour clash one team will be asked to wear bibs, secretary suggested all teams bring a set of bibs of alternative colours on the day.

•            Squad Lists Chair asked for all Clubs to send him their squad list, so he can check that all the players are on the Whole Game System and that players are not in various teams and that female players are not in the 7-a-side. Also, that all players have the correct proof of disability, usually PIP or DLA letter (doctors letters) The Whole Game System was discussed [the new registration system set up by the FA], there has been major issues with it since it was updated; but Chair said to keep trying to enter players, but any major problems let him/FA know.

•            Junior Section This season the SYACL will be running a junior league with an under 16’s & Under 12’s League. Chair has booked the venues and will arrange the fixtures, Bradford City DFC, Club Doncaster Titans, Hillsborough Hornets and Sheffield FC will be providing the teams this season but hopefully new clubs will enter in future seasons.   These fixtures will be the first Sunday of every month.

•            Media Department & Social Platforms The League’s Media & Social Platforms department try to give the League and its clubs maximum exposure to a wide audience.  Anyone visiting these sites can gain an insight to the clubs within the League and hopefully encourage more participants. Chair stressed we need to keep sending articles for the social media site, to keep interest for the league. It always seems to be the same clubs that send the articles; can a few of the teams that don’t send, please try send something to put on the website. A good news story or how your players enjoy disability football. Once the Leagues are up and running, can ALL teams send match reports (they don’t have to be kick by kick reports) just how you did, maybe someone played well or achieved something that they usually don’t? No worries about literacy as they can work wonders with a few sentences and a photo or two. It’s all about promoting the openness of the League and their players and clubs to the general public.

•            FA representative then told us that the FA are bringing in a 3-star award for any mainstream clubs that have adult, junior, boys, girls and now disability teams. The idea being that new clubs might be formed to play in our Leagues or some clubs might try to adopt’ teams that already exist. She also told us about a mental health course she is trying to run for disability clubs to raise awareness within the clubs; everyone said they would be interested in the course. The Flourish League was discussed alongside this topic.

• Fair Play Rule Covid officer reminded Clubs about the fair play rule which is; –                                                       In order to best reflect the importance of competition and in order to reduce the possibility of excessively one-sided and demoralising fixtures, the following rules will apply without exception and will be enforced by our match referees.

If a team establishes a three goal advantage at any stage in the match (i.e 3-0, 4-1, 5-2) , the match referee will invite the losing side to bring on additional players until the lead is reduced to a single goal. In 7-a-side fixtures, the losing side may bring on up to three more players, and in 5-a-side fixtures the losing side may bring on up to two additional players.

If the losing side has no additional players to bring on, the team with the three goal advantage will be restricted to two touches only per player in 7-a-side football and to three touches in 5-a-side football.

The match referees will use their discretion in enforcing the limit on the number of touches. This message needs to be sent to all coaches of all teams in the leagues, so there is no confusion on the day.

• Barton Inclusive FC thanked everyone who have accepted them into the league and have arranged friendlies such as the Spartans Tournament, Bradford City DFC, Sheffield FC & Club Doncaster Titans. They are really looking forward to the new season as are all of us!

Close of meeting – 9:35pm

Next meeting to be arranged once the League is underway.

Let’s make season 2021/2022 a great season, in Darren’s memory.

One minute silence and applause for Secretary Darren Warner, who passed away during Covid. RIP Darren.

We would like to thank SWFC and Wednesdayite for featuring our League in their matchday program and allowing us to republish the article.

Wednesdayite Column- Doncaster Rovers FC

Everyone associated with Wednesday extends a warmer-than-usual welcome back to Hillsborough for this afternoon’s League One local encounter with Doncaster Rovers. We also extend our deepest sympathies to the families who have lost loved ones over the last 18 months.

For the season ahead, the Wednesdayite matchday column plans to cover the buzzing Non-League, Ladies, Junior and Disability competitions – and the many fantastic volunteers – in and around our city, which is the true Home of Football.

It’s appropriate, then that today’s piece spotlights the South Yorkshire Ability Counts League, which features three Divisions of open-age 7-a-side footballers living with a range of disabilities, and three further Divisions of 5-a-side players living with mental ill-health or learning difficulties, including Autism.

The feature is particularly poignant today as Darren Warner, the SYACL Secretary and its key driver – alongside Darren’s friend and Chair Mike Stylianou – was also the founder of Club Doncaster Titans, which he set up so that his son, who has autism, and other boys and girls like him had a place to play football. Over time, the popularity of the Titans rocketed, further enhancing the chances for children and adults with disabilities or mental ill-health to play the game that we all love.

In 2019, Darren won the “Unsung Hero” award for the BBC Yorkshire region and was invited to the Sports Personality of the Year Award in Aberdeen, where he just missed the National Award.

Sadly, Darren died in January of this year, aged just forty-nine, after a period of prolonged ill -health; despite this, he remained a regular at SYACL matchdays as recently as the previous December. He leaves behind loving wife Sharon and sons Jordan and Cameron, and over three hundred footballers across six leagues and thirty-one teams who owe him a great debt and regard him as a True Titan of the game.

Rovers paid tribute to Darren ahead of their home game with Rochdale, and hundreds of families and friends paid their own socially-distanced tribute when the funeral cortege paused briefly outside the Keepmoat Stadium on its way to the Crematorium.

Darren’s was recently recognised posthumously as a Grassroots Football Coach of The Year by the Sheffield and Hallamshire FA.

In the meantime, the SYACL continues to grow under Mike’s leadership, and plans to add a junior division for the season ahead, offering even more playing opportunities.

The South Yorkshire Ability Counts League restarts in September. Seven-a-side and 5-a-side fixtures played alternately once per month, with participating teams from South and West Yorkshire, and from this season, North Lincolnshire.

You can read more about Darren, Mike, and the League at their excellent website www.southyorkshireabilitycountsleague.com or their Instagram or Twitter Accounts.

Enjoy the game.

Paul Holmes

Chair, Wednesdayite    

Up at Social eyes Rotherham the football training is underway; they have moved to a new training facility @ Kickabout Football Centre, Unit 1-2 Vantage Drive, Tinsley, Sheffield. S9 1BG.

If you visit their website http://www.socialeyesrotherham.co.uk and visit their daily blog page, you will see the great time they had yesterday during training. Now they are back, after the pandemic, it looks like they have their eyes firmly fixed on the top of the SYACL again.

All the other teams training shots will follow. Come back soon.

Sophie Bartup: “I believe in our players, and I look forward to cheering them on”

When the South Yorkshire Ability Counts League kicks off again in October, there will be two teams of welcome new faces, from the Humber area, making an appearance in our League competitions. Barton Athletic FC will be playing their football in what is expected to be a highly-competitive 7-a-side Championship Division and Inter Barton FC will play in Division One of the 5-a-side league.

We wanted to know a little more about our new friends and rivals, so our www.southyorkshireabilitycountsleague.com editor Margaret Gregory had an email chat with Sophie Bartup, who is a Sports Lecturer and the driving force behind Barton Inclusive Football Club.

Margaret: Sophie, welcome to the South Yorkshire Ability Counts League. Tell us a little about Barton Inclusive – how it started, the League you have been playing in, the progress you’ve made.

 Sophie: Thank you very much, and before we start, I’d like to say a big thank you to The South Yorkshire Ability Counts League, to Mike and to all the teams, players and volunteers who have made us feel extremely welcome.

 Barton Inclusive FC started after I moved permanently to the area in October 2018; I was keen to volunteer within the Ability Counts game, however at the time, there wasn’t any provision within the town. So, this led me to create BIFC. I actually just remember saying one day as I was sat at home ‘I’m going to create a club!’; this was in January 2019. I hosted a fundraiser in July 2019 and from September 2019, we started our sessions. We began with a session for inclusive football and one walking football session. We welcomed new players, volunteers and began to plan for our future, when the COVID lockdown was announced in March 2020. We stayed connected with our players via Zoom, and within the next 12-16 months, we started training at a new facility, introduced Wildcats to our club and continued to welcome new players for both our inclusive and walking sessions. Amongst all this, we delivered a range of initiatives as a club such as our ‘Liam Jinks Cup’, which will be hosted annually. The hard work that has gone into our club from everyone involved led to us being awarded the Lincolnshire FA ‘Club of the Year’ for the 2020/21 season; of which we are immensely proud. We now have over 70 players within our club, which continues to grow with two competitive Ability Counts teams.

 Margaret: How did you hear about the SYACL and what made you decide to join up with us?

 Sophie: Being a new club, we started to explore competitive playing opportunities for our players and did extensive research within our region; to develop our understanding of the networks and structures in place, to varying levels of engagement. We are located in quite a unique position in North Lincolnshire, with many of our players traveling from surrounding areas and counties. After initial conversations with SYACL representatives, and consultation with our players and volunteers, we made the decision that we were confident that SYACL would provide our players with high quality regular competitive football.

 Margaret: How has your pre-season training gone?

Sophie: It’s been very positive for us, our players and our coaches. Our Inter Barton FC team entered the Spartans FC tournament in Sheffield, of which they won their division. I was there that day to support our team, and I was very impressed with the event, the authenticity of the environment and how each team and their managers supported each other. Following this, I drove straight to Bradford to support our Barton Athletic FC team; in what was an extremely competitive set of matches.

 In addition to this, both of our teams have just returned from an event with Sheffield DFC at the Concord sports centre on Sunday. This gave us another opportunity to put into practise what we have been working on in training. I have to say a big thank you to Kevin of Sheffield  for hosting us.

 Prior to their first league fixture, Inter Barton FC will be heading to Doncaster to play their women’s team, which I am sure will be a valuable experience for our players.

 Margaret: What are you most looking forward to when SYACL competition starts?

Sophie: Definitely for our players, they’re so excited to play league football. We have players such as Zak and Sean from Barton Athletic FC who came to our very first training session and will be experiencing their first competitive match representing BIFC. I am excited for our coaches Richard and James who have worked so hard with their players. We know we have to travel, and this would likely be the case wherever we played, however we have enjoyed our trips so far, getting the bus together and building momentum as we arrive at new places. Personally, I am just so grateful to everyone that has joined us on this journey, we’re dedicated to driving forward to reach a more equal and sustainable pathway for our players, and also for future coaches, referees, and volunteers.

Margaret: What should we be looking out for from your teams?

Sophie: A few months ago, I would have said we have two groups of great players and exceptional people. The more they have trained with each other and played together, our coaches are starting to see how they’re beginning to work more as a team, in cohesion with each other. Both our teams are extremely hard working and competitive. Through our pre-season, we know the quality of what exists within the League, and we know that we will need to turn up and prepare professionally in order to compete. Although this will be our first time of entering into a League, I know our players are proud to wear the badge and will want to do everyone connected with the club proud. I believe in them and will look forward to attending their matches and cheering them on.

 And before we finish, again I’d like to thank SYACL for their support and guidance and genuine commitment to welcoming us into their community. The standard of service we have received has been exceptional.

www.syacl.com would like to thank Sophie and all at Barton Inclusive FC and we wish them every success in the season to come.

 Check back at our website for our forthcoming match days, when you can see Barton – and all our fantastic teams – back in competitive action. 

The  South Yorkshire Ability Counts League -a-side 2021/22 season will begin in October and matches will be played at Doncaster / Sheffield Goals Centres. 

The dates are all below, fixtures will be completed and sent out in early September, via Full Time .

October 17th  …. ‘21 – Sheffield 
November 21st .. ‘21 – Doncaster 
December 19th .. ‘21 – Sheffield 
January  16th .. …’22 – Doncaster 
February 20th … ‘22 – Sheffield 
March 20th ……. ‘22 –  Doncaster 

April 17th ‘22 – if required .

The  South Yorkshire Ability Counts League 7- a-side 2021/22 season will begin in October and matches will be played at Concord Sports Centre, from 14.00 to 17.00.

The dates are below, fixtures will be completed and sent out in early September, via Full Time.

>> October 10th ‘21
>> November 14th ‘21
>> December 12th ‘21
>> January  9th ‘22
>> February 13th ‘22
>> March 13th ‘22

April 10th ‘22 – if required.

Derek Dooley completed a sponsored walk to raise funds for Cystic Fibrosis in honour of players with the condition, especially Jack Shillitto who has been with us since the beginning.

They raised the sum of £450 with kind donations from Mike Stylianou, local business, the players and collecting on the walk around Norfolk Park, after they had completed a training session on Saturday 19 June.

The players loved being part of the experience and showed what great friends they all are, chatting and enjoying the occasion. 

The Nurses were so happy with the presentation of the cheque from Jack and his mum Sue, thanking us all for our efforts.

Claire Cowlishaw, Derek Dooley Football Club.

Swallownest FC would like to extend a warm welcome to anyone who would like to join them on Saturday, 24^th July Swallownest FC when they host their annual Chris Lill memorial match when Swallownest FC play Maltby Main FC for the Chris Lill Trophy.

Swallownest and Maltby Main play an annual fundraising match in memory of Chris’s life and in support of the brilliant staff at Rushey Meadow respite centre and Mind Sheffield.

Christopher Mark Lill, was born on the 25^{th of} February 1992 and is fondly remembered as part of a famous local football family. Brothers Alex and Josh both played for Swallownest and Maltby Main, father Richard is Vice Chair at Swallownest, and Mother Ann has been a supporter of her boys and a popular and valued volunteer at a number of non-League clubs.

After a battle with deteriorating health, Chris passed away on the afternoon of January 12^th 2018, aged just 26.

Chris spent the first few weeks of his life in the Special Care Baby Unit at the Northern General Hospital, where a series of tests revealed that he had been born with a unique chromosomal disorder and would be living with severe learning difficulties.

As younger brothers Alex & Josh grew older, they loved playing football on the back garden and Chris would generally sit in the middle of the ‘pitch’ watching and laughing at them. As they began playing Junior football, Chris really enjoyed watching the boys play their games.

Home life was always frenetic with Chris, so football was always the family escape. Chris was non-verbal and profoundly deaf and later lost his sight, however his smile and use of ‘body language’ ensured he always got his point across. He only really got upset if someone took his football sock away from him (from an early age he used a football sock as a ‘comforter’).

Every Monday night (straight from School) and every 6^th weekend, Chris visited Rushey Meadow Respite centre, and was always delighted when he saw his ‘Rushey Overnight bag’.

Rushey Meadow Children’s Home is part of the Sheffield City Council’s Children, Young People and Families Service, located on Bannerdale Road in Sheffield and provides a service of residentially based respite care to children with severe learning disabilities. Their service plays a key role in enhancing the lives of young disabled people and their families; and the home offers care which respects and values the young people within a nurturing environment where their abilities are developed and achievements celebrated with a 24-hour service, including weekends. Some of these children can require a high level of personal care including feeding, bathing, and intimate care, undertaken by highly-skilled and well-trained staff.

Covid stopped last year’s match but this Saturday, hopefully, the 2^nd Annual Chris Lill Memorial match will go ahead with a 3pm kick-off and all are welcome down at the Swall Siro stadium @Swallownest Miners Welfare, Rotherham Road, Sheffield. S26 4UR.

Tickets available now and on the gate @ http://www.TicketSource.co.uk/swallownest-football-club.
They are priced @ £5 adults, £3 Concession.
U16 accompanied by an adult – Free Of Charge

If you would like a preview of the joy you could have visiting Swallownest FC and the area, then Swallownest FC – Miners Welfare Ground – Gibbo’s 92 (gibbos92.com) is the place to read about it and smile.

A Just Giving page has been set up and you can donate @ “Swallownest FC – Support Rushey Meadow Children’s Home and Mind Sheffield.”

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/swallownestfcchrislillmemorialtrophy-rusheymeadownursinghomeandmindsheffield?utm_term=MjEykVVxb

Thanks in advance for your support of a great cause and “a little man who could”.

We have been contacted by disabilitysportyorkshire.org to ask if we can include this information on our website.

DSY are offering a fantastic opportunity to join an Employability Course run by Disability Sport Yorkshire. 

The course will be held at U Sport in Sheffield, starting in September and will run for 20 weeks minimum.

Target group = Young Adults with a Moderate Learning Disability aged 19 – 25  but maybe older if necessary.

For further information access their website: disabilitysportyorkshire.org or contact dawnwood135@live.com

Premiership and Championship titles go down to the wire.

Phew! If you thought that last week’s final 7-a-side matchday wasn’t exciting enough, Sunday saw a fantastic conclusion to the 5-a-side Leagues.

When the final matches in the Premiership and Championship kicked off just after 4 pm, four sides were still involved in the battle for glory; but when all was said and done, Wisewood had clinched the Premiership crown with a win over plucky Bradford City Fuchsia; and in the Championship, Bradford City Emerald lifted the trophy after a nerve-wracking battle with Derek Dooley Blue, with Emerald’s win over Spartans clinching a vital three points, writes our SYACL Website editor Margaret Gregory.

It had been almost 5 months since the 5-a-side teams had been in competitive action, but the guys and girls certainly made up for lost time, with 6 brilliant games in each Division.

As with the 7-a-side match days, the SYACL again took time out to pay tribute to Club Doncaster Titans founder and our League Secretary, the late great Darren Warner. Darren’s wife Sharon, sons Cameron and Jordan, and Cameron’s partner were special guests for the afternoon. The squads and officials heard tributes to Darren from Chairman Mike Stylianou, Referee’s Secretary Sean Wright and City Knights star Mark Boyes; the League also made a small presentation to Sharon.

The inaugural Darren Warner 5-a-side Fair Play award, nominated by Sean and his fellow referees, went – fittingly – to Club Doncaster Titans (Blue) with Sharon presenting the Shield to skipper Cameron Mounde and his team. [below]

• 

• 

The rain stayed away for the final afternoon, with the first four teams arriving at 1pm for temperature checks, hand sanitiser and social distancing in their squad bubbles. Referees Sean and Tim Savage oversaw a lively start to proceedings.

In the Premier League, title-chasing Wisewood DFC got off to the perfect start with wins over Derek Dooley White and Club Doncaster Titans Blue. Dooley coach Claire Cowlishaw summed up that first game for http://www.southyorkshireabilitycountsleague.com.

“The first game against Wisewood saw Dooley Whites come up against a very solid team, seeing the play one end to the other with some super goalkeeping from Shaun. The team were talking to each other and all had shots saved by the Wisewood goalkeeper, a lovely shot saved by Mo, followed by a goal for Wisewood.“

“The lads kept going,“ Claire told us. “They showed perseverance against the eventual Division winners.” 

Dooley’s next fixtures saw them win one, then lose one against Club Doncaster Titans (Blue) “The next two games against Doncaster Titan Blue, showed the team spirit with the boys becoming tired as they gave it their all,” Claire reported. “We saw good passing and shots by Kieron, goals for Jordan and Tom in the first game; but in the second game Doncaster come out the winners. The season has been hard for the lads after the Leagues were condensed to two with them playing in a higher division, but they didn’t give up and had the resilience to keep going to the end. WELL DONE!”

Bradford City Fuchsia (below) were delayed in arriving at Goals Sheffield, and in their two games they found themselves up against Wisewood. Bradford’s Paul Jubb set the scene for SYACL.com.

“Fuchsia went into the games knowing they had to win one of the two games against a strong Wisewood DFC,” Paul said. “Unfortunately, our keeper Ksenja was unable to attend. This meant changing the team that had previously won all of their games.”

“The first game ended Bradford DFC 0 – Wisewood 6,” Paul told us. “The ladies struggled to get settled against a Wisewood side that were throwing everything at them.
Wisewood managed to score 3 goals before half time then another 3 in the 2nd half.
Anna made some great saves in goal but Wisewood had some powerful players. They were marking up well which made it hard for us to even get shots on target and pass the ball.”

“In the second game, the result was Bradford DFC 2 – Wisewood 6,” Paul reported. “The second game was just as hard; changing keepers didn’t seem to have much effect.
We began to find our feet more in this game but again Wisewood managed to score goals early on which made it hard for the ladies to come back.
The ladies did start passing the ball better and getting more shots away & Katy managed to score 2 goals but it was not enough to stop Wisewood.”

Paul was delighted by the performance of his side. “The all-ladies team did amazingly well to come second at the end of a strange season, where they played most of their games with only 5 players.”

The results meant that Wisewood clinched the title by four points from Bradford Fuchsia, with Dooley White third and Titans Blue fourth, although for Titans there was a significant consolation in winning the Darren Warner Fair Play title.

Paul was generous in his tribute to Wisewood. “Well done to Wisewood DFC for winning the league title!!” he told us.

Congratulations to Wisewood DFC (below) and all the teams for a tremendous season, with the Final table as follows:

POS	TEAM	PLD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	PTS
1	Wisewood	6	5	1	0	6	1	5	16
2	Bradford City Fuchsia	6	4	0	2	4	2	2	12
3	Derek Dooley White	6	1	1	4	2	5	-3	4
4	Club Doncaster Titans Blue	6	1	0	5	1	5	-4	3

Into The Championship, then, and an even more exciting end to the season. Derek Dooley Blue made a fast start with a win over Spartans, as Dooley Coach Claire explains;

“The first game against Spartans was a tight match which see-sawed to a Dooley win, with shots from Fallon; Ben scored a penalty and Shaq scored, which saw his loud celebration as he ran the length of the pitch!”

Spartans followed up that first game with another battling display against Club Doncaster Titans Yellow. Spartans coach John Hunt summed up the two games.

 “In the early part of the afternoon Spartans narrowly lost their first couple of matches against Dooley Blue and Titans Yellow by the odd goal. They were fortunate that their keeper Jake was in terrific form and prevented their opponents from scoring more goals.”

Derek Dooley Blue were on a title charge, and kept the pressure on with two wins over Titans Yellow.

“The next games were against the Doncaster Titans Yellow and were good matches to watch with the players having fun. There were a lot of players running and shooting, a good run by Jordan then a super performance from Fallon with lots of timely defensive duties and each and every player giving 100%, even though some of the players were playing for the first time this year. The team won both games and this saw them at the top of the League.”

By this time, the delayed Bradford City Emerald had arrived at Goals Sheffield. Paul Jubb sets the scene for SYACL.com.

“The Emeralds went into the games knowing they had to win one of their 2 games against Spartans DFC to win the League,” Paul explained. “We had heard that Derek Dooley had beaten Spartans in the first game and started to realise that they were the team we needed to worry about!“

Paul had good reason to be concerned.  “In the first game Spartans showed why they had won the League last season beating us 6-2! Gemma was amazing in goal, saving lots of shots, and Toby and Mark both scored consolation goals! My Assistant Stephen and I were in shock and couldn’t see how we could turn it round!”

The second game would be decisive, with Derek Dooley watching on.  “We had an anxious wait on the last game, a Spartans win would have given us the title and if Bradford won then we would be runners up to Bradford,” Claire from Dooley explained.

“The second game kicked off and Spartans started with a weaker team and we took our better players off to match up, “Paul explained. “Spartans went 1-0 up! Then Toby scored with a cool finish in his first game, playing out. Then Simon scored from distance to make it 2–1 and Toby got his 2nd to make it 3-1.” 
“Spartans got one back to make it 3-2 and then a bit of bad luck for the Spartans keeper made it 4-2 to City Emeralds,” Paul continued. “Mark scored an own goal to make it 4-3; it was a nervy end to the game and we were so happy to hear the final whistle, as one more goal from Spartans would have meant 2nd place! Gemma Fletcher was Player of the Day, making numerous saves in both games.”

“We are Championees, Championees for 2021, “ Paul was delighted to tell us, adding “Well done to Derek Dooley for pushing all the way to the final game!”

Spartans John Hunt summed up the two games with Bradford. “We were involved in back-to-back matches against Bradford Emerald. In the first match goals from Matt, Sam, Jacob and Paul secured a comfortable win for the Spartans.”

“However, the second match was very different,” John went on.  “Bradford Emerald held a comfortable 3 goal advantage in the second half and despite a late rally and 2 goals by Oliver, the Bradford defence held out for a deserved win.”

Dooley’s Claire was proud of her Dooley team, summing them up, “the team were ecstatic to receive a medal for second,” she beamed.

After a stunning final day, the Championship table finished as follows, with Bradford Emerald (pictured below) taking the title. 

POS	TEAM	PLD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	PTS
1	Bradford City Emerald	6	4	1	1	5	2	3	13
2	Derek Dooley Blue	6	4	0	2	4	2	2	12
3	Club Doncaster Titans Yellow	6	2	1	3	3	4	-1	7
4	Spartans FC	6	1	0	5	1	5	-4	3

So, the strangest SYACL season ever finished on a high; congratulations to all the winners and runners up, and to our amazing Committee – Mike, Paul and Sean – for keeping the action going in a safe environment for all our players and coaches.

We also take the time to think about the loved ones we have lost over the last months, including our own wonderful Darren Warner. The League sends our love to Sharon and her family.

Hopefully, next time we meet up, we’ll be able to welcome spectators back to our matches. In the meantime, stay safe and we’ll see you later in the year.

We finish with a letter from our Chairman and the replies from the League coaches/managers: –

  Having been a disruptive, frustrating and at times difficult past year for us all, I would like to thank all involved in helping to conclude another successful League season.

  Despite the many changes and challenges collectively we have safely made it possible for our players to participate in structured matches. We think we are the only Ability Counts League in the country – or amongst a very few – who have actually organised League matches for their teams this season.

  We were hoping to stage a divisional tournament for both the 5 & 7-a-side Leagues in July, that would only be possible if the Government removed all legal limits on social contact by that time, though as that is looking doubtful and unlikely, we cannot safely plan ahead.

The tournament will now instead be held next season, when it will be much safer for all teams to be at the venue at the same times throughout the day and we can then also welcome back and involve the teams who’ve been unable to participate this season.

Please affiliate your teams to the FA for next season before the AGM in early July and complete any outstanding safeguarding courses.

  On behalf of Darren’s family I’d like to thank all the teams for the compassion and consideration expressed towards them.

 Stay Safe and Best Wishes

 Mike

The coaches/managers replies: –

Thank you for everything you have done and all the support you have given us and for keeping us safe.
Take care, keep safe.

Warm Regards, Sharon Lavender

Secretary/ Manager, City Knights FC

Hi All, thank you for the email, it is really appreciated to be kept in the loop.
Social eyes Rawmarsh St Josephs FC are looking forward to re-joining the League in September and getting back amongst all our friends in this fantastic league.

Stay safe & see you all very soon

Regards, Claire Hobson [Social eyes Rawmarsh St Josephs FC]

Cheers Mike, well done to all the teams that played this season. You can be proud that you have given your players something to look forward to during a hard year! 

I know it’s kept my players going through out the pandemic, knowing they had League games to look forward to. 

Well done to Mike, Darren, the refs and everyone involved in keeping the League going.

Looking forward to seeing all the teams that unfortunately couldn’t play this season.

What a brilliant league we have!!

Thanks for having us! 

Paul & Jaimie & Everyone at Bradford City DFC.

Many thanks for this. Thank you for all your hard work to make it possible 

Claire Cowlishaw

Just to echo what Claire said, a big thankyou to Mike and everyone involved in running SYACL.

Kind Regards, Andrew Robson

Club Doncaster Titans, Secretary@clubdoncastertitans.com

AND FINALLY, more photos from the afternoon.