the grassroot magazine december 2013
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Call: 0800 8 20 21 22Email: [email protected]
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3
Contents
2 Grassroot Teamwear
Cheap training bibs
4 ESU Scoreboards
Good offers for member clubs that need a
new cricket scoreboard
5 MD’s Letter
6 Player Fitness with Isaiah Barratt
This month Isaiah looks at keeping your
players fit during the cold winter months
8 Meadons Insurance
Cricket club insurance from Meadons
Insurance - piece of mind guaranteed
10 Sports Psychology with David Harrison
Get some tips to change the way you think
about the game
13 Cricket Coaching with Andrew Beaven
Time to look at your scorebooks from
2013...
16 Grassroot Teamwear
If your cricket club is looking for new
playing shirts you probably won’t be able
to find them this cheap anywhere else
Grassroot Media ContactsTwitter @grassrootmedia Facebook.com/grassrootmedia
LinkedIn search for Matthew Court
Office telephone number 0800 8 20 21 22 or 01992 27 44 27
Mathew Court’s email address [email protected]
18 The Grassroot Print Shop
The Grassroot Media Print Shop is a new
service to our clubs giving you the chance
to make money through designing and
producing club merchandise easily
22 Michael’s Trophies
Great offers on trophies from Michael’s
23 Colin Smith’s club ideas
Colin is back to give you details on some
interesting loopholes/ideas
28 easyfundraising.org
Easy & cost-free way to raise club funds
30 Twitter Directory
See which clubs are where on Twitter – if
you’d like to be added talk to Mat
31 The Secret Non-League Footballer
This month to Secret Non-League
Footballer looks at the issue of match and
spot fixing.
35 JMN Sports
Great value footballs for both training and
match days from JMN Sports (and an
exclusive discount code for Grassroot
Media member clubs)
Hello and welcome to December’s special Christmas edition of the
magazine. OK well the only thing Christmassy about it is the awful Merry
Christmas thing I’ve stuck on the front cover, but it’s Christmas
nonetheless so happy Christmas to you all, and thanks again for your
continued support.
So as we move in to 2014 I’ve got a few updates: one is that I’ve worked up
a partnership with Vistaprint to get you guys a discount off their products.
The idea is to give you access to more ideas on how to make money
through club merchandise – I chose Vistaprint as I use them quite a bit for
Grassroot Media promotional materials and I’m always happy with what I
get. The other main news this month is that this magazine is now digital,
by popular demand as I was against it for a while (call me old fashioned).
But it’s done now and it means you can share this to whoever you like
within your clubs if you think they’ll find it useful and/or interesting.
I’m looking for a groundsman to do a regular monthly feature in here to
share ideas and do a kind of monthly diary checklist on what needs doing
on football and cricket pitches and grounds so if you know any good
groundsmen please ask them to drop me a line. Ideally I’m after two of
them, one for cricket and one for football.
Marry Christmas!
Mat Court - MD 5
The MD’s
Letter
Player Fitness
Isaiah Barratt
This month I am going to cover tips
that will help give us a fighting
chance to stay fit while indulging in
the things we love over Christmas.
Over Christmas we all tend to feel
guilty about things stuff we
consume drink and food-wise.
Don’t worries there are ways to
ensure you can still have fun over
Christmas and stay fit.
Think about portion size, the
smaller the better. Try a bit of
everything but limit the amount; try
sharing with someone, so that you
are not tempted to scoff the whole
lot.
Try healthier food, eliminate the
foods full of carbohydrates that
make us sluggish and add on the
extra pounds when not needed.
Replace these with high density
nutrient food such as meat e.g.
chicken, turkey and fish. Eat
vegetables and plenty of it as this
has a small carbohydrates value
and not forgetting is good for us
and counts towards our 5-a-day.
Reindeer steaks are lower in
calories, cholesterol and fat
(saturated) than other meats such
as beef, lamb or pork.
Enjoy your turkey, ham or pork for
your Christmas meal just remove
the skin which makes it a lot
healthier, lean meat. Try eating
your meal as late as possible say 3-
4pm this way you wont feel as
hungry when people are digging
into those turkey sandwiches later
on in the evening. Snack on
hummus and carrot sticks or
maybe even small handful of
peanuts, this will be sure to help
with the long gap before your
Christmas meal.
Eat slowly and listen to your body
when it says it is full, savour every
mouthful.
In his player fitness column this month, Isaiah Barratt looks at Christmas and how
you can minimise its impact on your fitness levels
6
7
Reading shows that a glass of
bubbly can reduce the risk of
cardiovascular diseases. The
ingredient within Champagne is
red grapes which is rich in
polyphenols, plant chemicals that
help to dilate the blood vessels in
the body and improve our
circulation. Well having said this, I
know what I will be drinking this
Xmas ha. Try keeping active
throughout the day, if going to the
gym try high intensity short
workouts. Greater benefits plus
saves you plenty of time. That way
you can be back at home within an
hour to spent time with the whole
family.
For most of us that train all year
round ensuring our fitness levels
are of the highest that it can be,
Christmas time is an excellent
break to let our bodies recovery.
This way we are less likely to pick
up any injuries and most important
we will be more pumped and
motivated to achieve them
personal goals come 2014.
Hope you all have a great
Christmas and New year and I will
see you in the New year.
It is always important to stay
hydrated so try and drink 2 litres
or more a day, even mix it up with a
squeeze of lemon or lime.
At parties, slowly drink your
alcohol. Don’t just shove it down as
fast as you can! Sip a glass of
champagne or white wine. If
having spirits due to not liking the
above then have single shots with a
diet soft drink.
“...slowly drink your
alcohol. Don’t just
shove it down as fast
as you can!...”
Now for an interesting fact for you,
research from the University of
Sports
psychology
Intimidation in Sport
- Are you a Wolf?
This month’s article is based
around a very important factor in
every sport. I was on a recent train
journey and I needed something to
read so I picked up a copy of New
Scientist (1 June 2013). Several of
the articles took my eye with
immediate links to sport
psychology. The one that really
took my eye was from Ecology
around intimidation and how
predators influence the
behaviours of their prey. This got
me thinking. Intimidation plays
an important part in sport and
how athletes develop, use and
respond to intimidation can be the
difference between winning or
losing a contest. Just ask the
England players in Australia at the
minute.
“...just ask the England
players in Australia at
the minute...”
Some players and teams in sport
are able to intimidate their
competition and their environment
10
This month David Harrison from Pinnacle Performance talks about intimidation in
sport
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In Ecology an example of this are
wolves and elk. The mere presence
of the wolves changes the
behaviour of the elk, they spend
more time looking out for the
wolves than grazing. They are
playing not to lose (become a
wolves dinner!). In sport the
consequences are not that serious
but when you become an elk you
have shifted your focus away from
you and what you can control,
you have become the prey, you
have become intimidated.
“...the greats and the
great teams have that
much influence that
they can change the
environment...”
In team sports this can be seen
when home teams dominate
opponents at their home grounds,
they intimidate the away team into
losing, they change the visiting
teams behaviour as they control
their environment. The greats
mentioned above and the great
teams have that much influence
that they can change the
environment, just like the wolves in
the New Scientist research who
changed the behaviour of the elk
which then had a knock on effect
and as a result change their
opponents behvaiour. They create
a landscape of fear to coin an
ecology term (Laundre in Yong,
2013). They create an environment
where all they seem to do to win is
show up. They are the top
predators. They have that eye of
invincibility, they are able to
intimidate their opponents causing
them to change their behaviour.
Think of the greats in sport.
Immediately athletes like Usain
Bolt, Michael Jordan, Lionel
Messi and Roger Federer spring
to mind. Due to their past
experiences their opponents of
these greats have a mental map of
risk (Yong, 2013) when they
compete against them. They have
developed strategies to minimise
the impact of these 'predators',
their behaviour changes. They are
playing to not to lose (survive in
Ecology!) as opposed to playing to
win. Their behaviour has been
changed because of the fear
caused by the intimidation. The
predators have already won!
12
put a stop to this. Have a quick
release that will put a stop to the
intimidation. Then refocus on your
strengths, refocus on 3 simple
things that are within your control
that if you did would increase you
chances of winning.
Become a Wolf
not an Elk!
Please contact me through my
website is you have any questions
on sport psychology
www.pinnacleperformance.co.uk
Reference:
• Yong, E. (2013) Scared to Death.
• New Scientist, 2919(June 1), pg.
36 -39
for other animals. These greats,
these top predators, change the
sport that they compete in. Other
athletes have to devise strategies
to first survive and then move to
become a predator. These
strategies change the game,
change the sport.
“...think in the
present, the past has
gone and the future
hasn't happened
yet...”
In sport you can 'Create a
Landscape of Fear' by remaining
focused on the things you can
control. Focus on your strengths,
play to your strengths and make
your opponents change their
behaviour, make them become an
elk! Think in the present, the past
has gone and the future hasn't
happened yet. Use positive and
strong reference points where
you have been the predator and
refer back to the hard work you
have done in training. Make sure
you work hard!
If you feel yourself slipping into a
landscape of fear recognise the
slip, acknowledge that your
opponent has done this and then
Andrew
Beaven
The future of
cricket coaching –
what next for
coaches working in
schools and clubs?
What game will the players be
playing in 10-20 years’ time?
And what should we be coaching
now, to prepare players for the
future?
Future cricket
The traditional time and “long
form” limited over formats will still
exist, with typical club games
lasting 6-7 hours. There will
certainly be more T20, driven by
the professional game and the
excitement and immediacy of this
game.
But as players have less time to
commit to recreational play, even
the 2.5 hours a T20 game takes to
complete might be considered too
long. We might see even shorter
format games, indoors or outdoors
in enclosed spaces (“cage” or
MUGA – multi-use games area –
games). Formats might develop
along the lines of LastManStands,
or the very popular indoor cricket
(6-aside, 12 overs/innings) or even
“street20” (again 6-a-side, but
played over just 5 four-ball overs
per innings).
“...players have less
time to commit...”
Players and coaches will have to
adapt to these new formats, and,
most importantly, be prepared,
technically and mentally, to adapt
again and again during their
playing careers.
13
Andrew Beaven from The Twenty20 Cricket Company gives us his take on the future of
cricket coaching.
Future skills
Batters will play more attacking
stokes, and employ power hitting
techniques more akin to baseball
slugging. At the same time, they
will need to manipulate deliveries
that cannot be hit hard, and work
ever harder on running between
the wickets.
For bowlers, there might be less
obvious change. They will
concentrate on control and
(especially) variations. A dot-ball
is a (very) good ball, but taking
wickets will still be important.
After all, no batter can score runs
once he is back in the pavilion!
Fielders will develop speed to the
ball, and a fast release and strong
arm…nothing new!
Future coaching
Coaches will have to focus on
developing basic techniques and
athletic fundamentals, but even
more importantly should seek to
inculcate adaptability in their
players.
The coach’s role remains to avoid
and remediate techniques that
inhibit the delivery of a skill, or that
have the potential to result in
injury.
“...there is
already a move
away from “text-
book”
coaching...”
But there is already a move away
from “text book” coaching –
reinforcing a player's strengths,
rather than correcting (perceived)
deviations from orthodoxy.
The challenge for the future coach
is now to distinguish between non-
negotiable orthodoxy, and
permissible idiosyncrasies in their
players’ techniques. There might
no longer be one “right way” to
play the game…but there will still
be wrong ways!14
Certain fundamentals remain – a
level and steady eye-line, transfer
of weight and power along straight
lines – but beyond that cricket
coaches might find that they are
working with players to develop
and enhance athletic abilities, and
the fundamentals of movement –
agility, balance, coordination – that
currently get forgotten after
primary school.
“...athletes first,
cricketers
second...”
“Athletes first, cricketers second”
(or perhaps, “cricketers and
athletes”), rather than “fit(ter)
cricketers” might become the new
ideal.
How to “teach”
adaptability
Another trend in coaching circles is
the inclusion of games-based
learning into practice sessions,
alongside traditional drills-based
teaching. Expect more of this. By
developing games-sense, or
tactical awareness, coaches can
encourage players to recognise for
themselves when to apply a
particular skill, and when not to.
The coach provides challenges, as
much as he or she might previously
have given (technical) solutions.
Importantly, players are allowed to
develop their own strategies and
techniques.
“...changes
in the game
are
inevitable...”Adopting and encouraging the
“growth mindset” will be essential,
for coaches and players. Changes
in the game are inevitable, and by
believing that “better is possible”,
players can be more ready to
adapt.
Conclusion
Part manifesto, part crystal-ball
gazing…some of this might ring
true with you, some ideas prove to
be well wide of the mark.
Where do you see the game in 10
years time? And how can we
prepare players for that future?
15
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18
The Grassroot
Media Print Shop
This month sees the launch of a
new way for our clubs to design
and manufacture club merchandise
– the Grassroot Media Print Shop in
association with Vistaprint. OK, it
needs a catchier name, as do many
of my ideas but I think you’ll find it
useful. I approached Vistaprint as I
have been a customer of theirs
since I set Grassroot Media up. The
leaflets you saw in your Welcome
Pack when you signed up, the t-
shirts I wear on club visits, the
magnet signs that go on my car
when driving round the country,
Grassroot Media pens, my mouse
mat, business cards and lots of
other promotional stuff I get done
for the business all come through
them.
Everything that Vistaprint does is
available to you guys, with various
special offers such as free delivery
which will change each month. And
each month the plan is to highlight
a few different products on the
A new service to our clubs giving you the chance to make money out of
producing and selling promotional items to your players/members/fans.
home page of the Print Shop, and
then in this magazine features we’ll
try to give you an easy-to-follow
guide to producing one item of
merchandise that we think could
be a useful way for you guys to
make some money, or make
promoting your clubs easier.
You can find the home page on the
Grassroot Media website:
www.grassrootmedia.com/mercha
ndise
So this month as we are near the
end of the year we are going to
look at making a club calendar that
you can sell to your members, or
anyone else that you think might
want one. Yes it’s 2014 soon! Who’d
have thought that, eh? I can still
remember when I was working at
Waitrose in the mid-90’s putting a
tin of baked beans on the shelf with
a best before of ‘Jan 2000’ thinking
“that’s futuristic”. Oh well...
19
Step by step guide to making a club calendar
1. Go to www.grassrootmedia.com/merchandise
2. Click on one of the links to the Vistaprint page
3. Select ‘Photo Poster Calendars’ – it should be highlighted in yellow
when you arrive there
4. Select ‘Click here’ next to the special offer in green text.
5. Select ‘Get Photos’ to add a picture to use in your calendar, I’ll use the
Grassroot Media logo here as an example but you could perhaps use
an image of your club in action, your club house, pitch, players or club
logo. You can also click on ‘layout’ on the left hand side and go for a
layout with more than one image.
20
6. Crop and rotate the images as you wish. Top tip – if your image doesn’t
fit, click on ‘edit’ and then ‘crop/rotate’ and either crop it or select
‘scale to fit’.
7. Fill in the boxes to put some words on the calendar – perhaps you
could add a call to action on the bottom such as “for sponsorship
opportunities for 2014 please get in touch” or something?
8. Hit ‘next’ at the bottom of the page.
9. If you’re happy with it tick the box and then ‘next’ – if you’re not happy
then hit ‘back’ and do it again. You can always go back to the start and
change the whole design.
10. Select how many you want and then next. Top tip here – have a think
how many you think you can sell to your members/players/fans and
for how much.
11. Add on any extras that you want to add on and then it’s in your basket.
Orders over £30 qualify for free delivery (special offer for Grassroot
Media that runs out on 30th December).
12. Sit back, wait for them to be delivered and then sell them at your next
home game and the club keeps the profit. Everyone’s a winner.
I hope you like the service, I’m
really happy about it and I think
you guys will like it too. If you order
anything I’d love to hear what you
think of the process.
If you are thinking of getting
anything else for your clubs and
would like us to do a step by step
guide like this in the next issue
then give me a shout.
The range of products is quite big
so I doubt we’ll ever get through all
of them in these guides but things
that
I think you’d be interested in are:
phone cases (these could be a gold
mine for you as they aren’t as
expensive to make as you’d think
and people will pay a lot for them),
mugs, mouse mats, club rubber
stamps, club business cards, club
pens, t-shirts, flyers, Christmas
cards (for next year obviously), car
bumper stickers, fridge magnets. If
you’d like me to cover any of these
in particular in January drop me a
line at
Have fun designing, and I hope it
helps you make a bit of cash for
your clubs.
If you know of a cricket
or football club that you
think could host our
panels, please feel free
to tell them about us and
what we do.
We are also on the look
out for leagues that want
to spread the word of
Grassroot Media so
again, if you know any
then please ask them to
get in touch, the more
clubs we have on board,
the easier it is to sell to
advertisers and the more
money we can make for
each club.
www.grassrootmedia.com
Tel: 0800 8 20 21 22
Mob: 07795 49 59 69
Email:
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23
Colin Smith
Colin Smith from Elvington & Tilmanstone Colliery Welfare Cricket Club
continues talks about more great tips for our clubs.
Rewarding Your
Volunteers:
Give Somebody
The Day Of
Their Life
Keeping your club volunteers and
encouraging new one’s is not an
easy task. It can however be very
rewarding as I always say “ some
things are worth more than
money”. I find volunteering is one
of them. I am my club’s fundraiser
but no one volunteer is more
valuable than the next. I, for
example could not prepare the
cricket pitches like our volunteer
groundsmen do. This is the chief
source of our annual income as it
allows us to hire the pitch to other
clubs as well as playing our own
home fixtures.
One of the ways to keep people
interested is of course to reward
them. This can take many forms
starting with a simple heart felt
“thank you”. Other forms of
showing your club’s gratitude can
be to buy them a small
appreciation of your gratitude at
the club presentation night or
name something in their honour.
Now before you all switch off and
say “ I know that”, I will bring you
on to my main point.
AWARDS
The way I find really showing your
appreciation and encouraging and
retaining volunteers is to nominate
them for awards.
In cricketing terms there are a few
out that like the Outstanding
Service to Cricket Awards (OSCAS)
and the Kent County Cricket Alan
24
I am very proud to say that I have
also taken this to another level. I
have personally nominated
successfully two people so far for
National Honours and I have two
pending. These are not all cricket
based but two are. When I say
National Honours I mean O.B.E,
M.B.E or the reintroduced British
Empire Medal.
‘Sir’ Trevor with Freddie Flintoff at
the BBC Sports Personality of the
Year Award 2010
You can also nominate a group of
people for the Queen’s Award for
Voluntary Service. This award is
equivalent to the M.B.E for groups
and clubs.
When you nominate an individual
you cannot be specific as to what
honour somebody should receive,
that is decided by the Ceremonial
Secretariat where you send the
nomination form. All I can say mine
have been placed on the services
to the community list.
Albury Awards. There are many
awards that are sport specific, and I
know that football has F.A.
volunteer and McDonalds
sponsored awards as well.
I have also successfully nominated
two people for the BBC Sports
Unsung Hero Award for the South
East Region. One was my good
cricketing friend, Trevor Rogers or
Sir Trevor as we call him,and one
was a referee of 49 years, Bernie
Grivell. What I particularly liked
about this award is it is non sport
specific – you can nominate
somebody for the contribution to
any grassroots sports club.
Trevor Rogers receiving his BBC
Sports Unsung Hero Award from Rob
Smith, Presenter BBC South East
Today
25
their colleagues but try not to tell
them why and tell them not to tell
anybody that you have asked. I
CALL THIS THE SECRET
DETECTIVE STAGE.
So you’ve got your form formatted
you then need to type it onto the
downloaded copy and save it to
your home drive computer. Once
you have a copy you are happy
with you will need to think about
obtaining up to five letters of
support for your nomination. This
again is a confidential process.
In the past I have obtained letters
of support from the local M.P., the
Parish Council leader, the local
Council Sports and Leisure Officer,
the Council’s Community
Engagement Officer, Sport specific
County Officer’s, PCSO, local
residents and this is a nice one – a
former pupil or child that is now an
adult that can directly relate and
reflect on the impact of your
nominee’s work and contribution to
the local community and wider if
relevant i.e. County, International
etc.
Writing letters of support also
known as citations is an art form in
itself. However their is a list of
fantastic tips on the GOV.UK
website under writing citations.
Have a look at these as they are
useful for writing the nomination as
Having had some success and I
hope more to come I can give you a
few tips here if you have somebody
in mind that you think is worthy of
nomination for such an award.
TIPS AND ADVICE
First of all I find the nominee must
have longevity of service to their
chosen field of volunteering or
have made a massive impact in a
short space of time. Then you need
to download the National Honours
nomination form from the GOV.UK
website. You need to study this and
think about how you could fill it in. I
find formatting it is the best for me.
By formatting I mean printing off a
working copy and writing some
phrases that you would later
expand on to fill out the form. For
example if your nominee was
instrumental in obtaining a new
piece of equipment or local
sponsorship then format this with
new piece of equipment. Once you
have your form formatted you will
then be sure that your nominee will
have a chance of success. At this
stage you will probably be feeling
quite good about the nomination. I
would say you need to be
otherwise if you think it’s a bit light
you haven’t got enough. But don’t
give up and as this is a confidential
process you cannot ask the
nominee what else they have done.
You have to sneak around asking
26
hours all voluntary unpaid work
within the community.
“...you have to wait
up to two years...”
When you have all your letters of
support and the form ready to go
send a few photos or newspaper
reports if you can. These will not be
returned so don’t send anything
you only have one copy of but it is
worth doing as it gives the
nomination added credibility. Don’t
be afraid to nominate somebody
that has received other awards as
contrary to what you might think
this actually helps the nomination,
as again it adds credibility.
Once you have it ready to go send
it recorded delivery and then you
have to wait up to two years as
awards are announced twice a year
at New Year and in June for the
Queen’s Birthday List.
All I can add to this is if your
nomination is successful you will
get such a buzz from being the
nominator it’s almost like receiving
the award yourself – well this is
how it made me feel anyway. I love
it, I love it ( Kevin Keegan famous
interview rant mode) when one of
my nominations receives a National
Honour.
well. Ideally try not to duplicate
specific stories or to many events
in the nomination and the citations.
When you ask for a letter of
support send them the link to the
citation writing tips but try not to
insult them or teach them to suck
eggs, be subtle.
Keep rewriting the nomination and
improving it, until you are happy
with it, before printing off your final
copies for posting, address is on
the nomination form. I found that
the more I dug the more I learned
of what my nominee had done.
A good example being when I
nominated somebody regarding
their footballing volunteering I also
found out that they had been a
volunteer umpire at a local cricket
club for 44 years as well. What a
fantastic piece of information that I
could now include in the
nomination. This turned the
nomination from a single sport
nomination to a dual sport
volunteering nomination. As my
nominee had never taken a match
fee I could also approximate how
much he had put back into
grassroots football on a monetary
basis and how many hours he had
stood at the crease over 44 years.
This was impressive reading when
you looked at these figures alone
and came to many thousands of
pounds and many thousands of
27
John outside Buckingham Palace
gates with from left my son Daniel,
John, my wife and John's sister Jackie
and of course me again.
So go ahead and get nominating;
it’s not difficult. There is no better
way to say thank you to a volunteer
that really deserves a little bit more
than a verbal thank you than to
nominate them for a National
Honour.
I always think you are a long time
dead and while somebody is here
they should receive the recognition
they earn, so don’t leave it to
someone else – do it yourself or
your nominee could miss out.
Give somebody the day of their
life.
By Colin Smith
Elvington & Tilmanstone Colliery
Welfare Cricket Club
Email:tilmanstoneminers@hotmail.
co.uk
I was fortunate enough to be
invited by one of my successful
nominees to watch the M.B.E.
investiture at Buckingham Palace
and it is a day I will never forget.
The whole day, the Palace, the
people and of course being chosen
as one of only three guests by my
nominee to go into the Palace and
watch the investiture, in this case
performed by Prince Charles, was
magnificent.
The investiture finishes at about
1:30p.m. and gave us plenty of time
to have a great meal in Covent
Garden, have a few drinks in
London, see a West End show and
catch the fast train home.
What a day.
My friend John Bagley receiving his
M.B.E from Prince Charles at
Buckingham Palace
29
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The Secret
Non-League
Footballer
Fixers cast
shadow over
football
Football attracted headlines for all
the wrong reasons last week, with
six men arrested on suspicion of
alleged match-fixing in England. At
least three players were involved
but, with none at professional
clubs, it obviously suggested that
they were linked to non-league
outfits.
This was confirmed when Michael
Boateng and Hakeem Adelakun,
who play for Brighton-based
Whitehawk FC in the Conference
South, were charged with
conspiracy to defraud. I find this
very sad and it makes you wonder
how people will now look at the
non-league circuit.
Each month we print an article from the excellent Secret Footballer
website – you can see more at www.thesecretfootballer.com
It’s exceptionally concerning that
players would take money in order
to throw their own games, whether
by means of them getting booked
or the team conceding a certain
amount of goals. The threat of
corruption is something that
shouldn’t enter football. The
authorities must treat this with
utmost seriousness.
And yet, in all the time I have spent
in non-league, not once have we
been sat down from someone
representing either the FA or PFA
and advised about what we can
and what we can’t do. Very much
like the article I wrote on
recreational drugs in football,
players are very naïve about these
issues.
“...It just isn’t taken
seriously enough and
we are given no
guidelines...”30
It just isn’t taken seriously enough
and we are given no guidelines. I
haven’t received a booklet from
any organisation giving me the
rules and regulations about betting
on football.
In the past, one of my old gaffers
did say to me to be careful what I
was doing and what I was betting
on, as it could come back to bite
me. That is as much information as I
have ever been given and I’m sure
it’s the same for a lot of players in
non-league.
I can categorically say that I have
never bet on my own team to win,
never mind lose. There has been
the odd shout in a changing-room
that a team have a few injuries and
are struggling, with one or two lads
putting a few quid on the opposing
team to win.
Players will always do this, whether
it’s by placing the bet themselves
or by asking a friend or member of
family to do it for them. I fear this is
creeping more and more into the
game and it doesn’t surprise me
that these recent allegations have
been made.
In 2009, five Accrington Stanley
players were banned for gambling
on their own game. Unusual betting
patterns had been reported on a
match between Accrington and
Bury in May 2008.
An FA investigation resulted in Jay
Harris being suspended for one
year, David Mannix for ten months,
Robert Williams and Peter
Cavanagh for eight months and
Andrew Mangan for five months.
They were also fined between
£2,000 and £5,000.
I know a few of these players and,
from what I heard, some of them
had cashed in on the game big-
time.
“...I know a few of these
players and, from what I
heard, some of them
had cashed in on the
game big-time...”
I’ve also heard gossip about
players throwing the last game of a
season when their team had
nothing to play for. It’s pretty
simple, really, as long as you don’t
do anything stupid like going to
your local bookmaker and sticking
a grand on your opponents to win.
When it’s come to the game, most
players usually bottle it and decide
not to go ahead. But I have heard
Web: thesecretfootballer.com Twitter: @tsfnonleague
Facebook: /TSFfootballer
scoresheet and couldn’t care less
about the defeat.
In the past, I’ve been at a club
where we had a kitty, which was
made up of players’ fines
throughout the season. Yet when it
got to Christmas, we decided – by
a majority vote – that we stuck half
of the kitty on a football bet. We
would look at teams who were in
good shape – and were decent
odds – and would stick, say, £2,000
on a treble.
“...It really shows how
some footballers are up
their own arses and
fancy themselves...”
It was very risky and could result in
our Christmas party going from
being at a top VIP nightclub in
London to a few rounds down at the
local Wetherspoons. Alternatively,
if the bet came in, the money could
be put aside for perhaps a cheeky
trip to Magaluf at the end of the
season.
Every week, many footballers put
on “accumulators” – a bet that
grows in size and in potential
winnings with each successful
result. Players will examine the
fixtures across all the Football
whispers that a few games have
been thrown. I’m talking about
years ago but it has happened and
no doubt still goes on. It just isn’t
always picked up or investigated.
There will be a player who will try
to get others to do it but, generally,
players fear the worst and realise
that it’s just not worth it. There’s
30,000 non-league football clubs so
it’s highly likely that some teams
have been on the fiddle and have
thrown a match here and there.
I remember, when I was a young
pro, playing with a player who
would bet on himself as first
goalscorer in every game. I’m not
sure whether he placed the bet
himself but, one week, he said that
he was 8-1 first goalscorer and
smirked.
I found this quite funny as it’s such
a vain thing to do. It really shows
how some footballers are up their
own arses and fancy themselves.
He was a pretty arrogant guy and,
when he scored, he used to brag
about how much he had won and
about his club goal bonus as well.
These sort of players are all about
themselves and they couldn’t care
less if their team had won or lost. If
we were beaten 5-1, he would be
buzzing that he was on the
Web: thesecretfootballer.com Twitter: @tsfnonleague
Facebook: /TSFfootballer
It also comes as no surprise to me
that Delroy Facey – or “Delboy”
Facey, as many non-league players
are calling him – is involved in the
match-fixing investigation. Let’s just
say, as a former team-mate of mine
told me recently, that Facey – the
ex-Premier League striker turned
football agent – is very cash
conscious.
There’s a thin line between having
a bet every now and then for
enjoyment to when it becomes
compulsive, when you can lose
hefty amounts of money. This is also
when greed and/or desperation
can creep in.
This latest match-fixing case
worries me but, hopefully, it won’t
tarnish people’s views about non-
league football.
We’ve got two more copies of
the Secret Footballer’s first
book to give away as
competition prizes over the
next few weeks. Both are
signed and fingerprinted by
the mane himself so if you want
to be in with a chance of
wining them keep an eye out
for a note from Mat Court in
your email inbox.
League clubs and non-league sides
and try to pick the teams that are in
the best form.
Also, with inside knowledge as
players, rumours are easily spread.
A few quick phone calls to pals in
the game, at different levels, can
expose more information, such as
suspensions and injuries.
“...A simple answer to
the question will
result in me picking
my pal’s team for the
accumulator … or
not...”
I’ve had the occasional flutter in my
career, albeit not in the league I’ve
been playing in. And I have called
a friend playing in League 1 and
asked him whether his team are
fancying themselves at the
weekend,if they reckon they’ll win.
A simple answer to the question
will result in me picking my pal’s
team for the accumulator … or not.
However, it would appear that
some players are starting to take
advantage of this and it is
developing into an addiction.
Web: thesecretfootballer.com Twitter: @tsfnonleague
Facebook: /TSFfootballer
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