The referee will be Robert Hanison, assisted by David Simpson and David Cunningham.

All support is welcome.

Double Headers - Reminders (March 2010) - If a fixture is shown as DH then a double header must be played.

Double headers are played 30 minutes each way (60 minutes per match, so 120 minutes in total), with the first fixture kicking off no later than 2pm. Each game counts separately, and clubs cannot play one game for "double points". Referees should be offered a separate match fee by each club and substitutes should be nominated prior to each game. Clubs normally share the match expenses.

AFC Microsite (February 2010) - For those wishing to check on AFC results on their mobile phones/PDA's, note that the league has a microsite which can be found at:- www.TheFA.com/FULL-TIME/WAP

AFC League Dinner 2010 (February 2010) - Please note that the 2010 AFC Dinner and Presentation of Trophies will be held on Thursday 27th May, at the Oval (Surrey County Cricket Club), where we are confident the evening will be somewhat less pricey than The Brewery had become!

Non League Paper (February 2010) - Since the bad weather of December/January, Stuart Lock (07717 411 037) has had rather fewer reports for the Non League Paper being rung in (pre Christmas he was delighted with the volume). It's definitely the more the merrier, so can we get more reports coming through to him again please? Click here for more details on how to get your club featured.

AFC Club Marks (February 2010) - The AFC Club Marks to the end of January 2010 have been published.

Fixture Progress (February 2010) - As of the end of January, we've completed 46% of league fixtures, which compares with 54% at the same stage in 2009, and 52% in both 2007 and 2008. Be prepared for a busy March/April/May, and a mixture of double headers and midweek fixtures.....

It's safe to assume Spring Cups are out of the question!!!

Postponements and Switching Home Grounds (February 2010) - With the continuing bad weather a number of sides are now facing serious fixture backlogs for the remainder of the season. Clubs are advised that if a ground falls victim to the weather it is our expectation that if at all possible, where either side has a fixture backlog, the fixture is switched to the opposition ground, if available, to ensure that the fixture is played, even if this means conceding home advantage.

Valuables and Cars (February 2010) - We've had similar problems in the past, and clubs and referees are warned of the potential for thefts of valuables from cars as well as changing rooms. The not uncommon MO of those concerned is to wait and watch teams putting valuables in cars and then break into them once games are in progress. Nor should clubs assume that the changing rooms are secure, as doors can be forced. We would recommend that valuables are taken out onto the field of play and left with the goalkeeper.

With theft reported in recent seasons at Birkbeck College, Firs Farm, Hanwell Town, Northwick Park, Wimbledon Common Extensions and London Marathon, Mottingham, it really is clear that nowhere is completely safe. Please be aware.

Old Sedcopians (February 2010) - Old Sedcopians are now running a 6th XI, looking for friendlies for the remainder of the season.

Football Association/AFA National Strategy Survey (January 2010) - In conjunction with the Football Association, the AFA are running a survey on the National Game Strategy, and how it is performing. The more feedback from members of our league, the better. Click here for more details.

Staines Town vs Old Hamptonians (January 2010) - The Old Hamptonians match against FA Cup giant killers Staines Town in the Southern Counties Combination Cup, has been re-arranged for Tuesday 26th January, a 7.45pm KO at Staines Town F.C., Wheatsheaf Park, Wheatsheaf Lane, Staines, Middlesex, TW18 2PD. There will be a small entrance fee charged by Staines Town.

League Executive Committee (January 2010) - The League Executive Committee meeting on Wednesday 13th January 2010 has been cancelled due to the fresh snowfall and travel problems.

New Look AFC Website (January 2010) - As you'll see, a somewhat changed look to the AFC website, with the side and bottom menus having been deleted, and drop-down menus added to the top - hopefully in such a way you can still navigate around the site more easily.

The main reason for the change is to make the Match Centre page look neater, though it also tidies up the navigation as well. For those who regularly want to check this news page, there's a hyperlink underneath the AFC logo as well, so you can click on that to reach here.

Finally, a mini-plea - whilst the new menus are working fine for Internet Explorer users, I'm still having a few problems with it for other browsers (Firefox, Chrome, Safari) - if you happen to be an expert on Javascript, and don't mind looking at tidying a piece of code for me, please drop me an email - Danny McConnell.

AFC vs The Champions (January 2010) - On Saturday 2nd January 2010 the AFC lost 3-2 to The Champions (Bealonians), a 1.30pm KO at Redbridge Sports Centre, Forest Road, Ilford, Essex, IG6 3HD.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year (December 2009) - On behalf of all officers of the Amateur Football Combination, can I wish our clubs, players, referees and everyone involved with the league a very Merry Christmas, and a prosperous New Year.

Fixtures for 9th January will be issued before Christmas, and with luck we'll have a thaw before the New Year!

Football Foundation Grants (December 2009) - Are you making the most of Football Foundation grants? The following is a list of current projects within the M25 with Football Foundation Support, either through the AFA, London FA or Middlesex FA. 

If you want to know more, and think your club could look at a project, please contact Bob Leeds at the AFA.

Staines Town vs Old Hamptonians postponed again (December 2009) - The Old Hamptonians match against FA Cup giant killers Staines Town in the Southern Counties Combination Cup, due on Monday 21st December, has been postponed because of a frozen pitch. The match will be re-arranged for the New Year.

Confirming Fixtures (November 2009) - Can we remind clubs that fixtures should be confirmed with the referee and opposition not later than five days before the match (confirmation means speaking to them/receiving acknowledgement). If referees or clubs do not receive confirmation in time, then please report the miscreant club to the appropriate referees/league match secretary, and we'll levy fines, or for repeated offenders consider withdrawing referees or fixtures.

AFA Suspension Lookup (November 2009) - In conjunction with the Football Association, the AFA (our parent county) have launched a Suspension Lookup tool on their website. When you enter the default display is the Premiership, but there are options to search by club and surname, so any club member has access to check for current suspensions.

Note that only limited information is provided, the name of the player, the club, and the suspension term. Further details are available to club secretaries via Members Services, but these are security protected.

The age old excuse of "I didn't know I was suspended" is dead and buried.

AFC Club Marks (November 2009) - The first set of AFC Club Marks for the 2009-10 have been published.

AFC Player Registration Lists Overdue (November 2009) - Clubs are reminded of rule 8e, and that registers of players were due to be sent to Norman MacDonald, Chairman of the Fixtures Committee by 31st October. 

This requirement has been laid down for us by the Football Association and the AFA, and has to be enforced. Click here for more details and an electronic template.

Data Protection Act: This information is being collected by the Amateur Football Combination for the purposes of Player Registration and will be made available to the Amateur Football Alliance. It may also be made available to other County FA's and to the Football Association. It will not be made available to any external organisations for Commercial Purposes.

AFC End of Season Presentation of Trophies and Dinner (November 2009) - The end of season AFC Dinner will be held at a new venue, The Oval (Kennington) on Thursday 27th May, 2010.

AFC over Christmas (November 2009) - There will be no AFC Fixtures (unless requested) on Saturday 26th December and Saturday 2nd January 2010. There will however be full programmes on Saturday 19th December and Saturday 9th January.

AFC vs Southern Amateur League (November 2009) - On Wednesday 18th November the AFC overturned a 2-0 half-time deficit to win 3-2 against the Southern Amateur League and regain the Steve Langley Memorial Trophy at Dulwich Hamlet F.C.

AFC Squad:- Stuart Henry (Albanian), Mat O'Sullivan (Old Ignatian), Jay Abberley (Old Parmiterians), Innis Pirrie (UCL Academicals), Chris Akinrele (Old Parmiterians), Will Gerrish (Old Meadonians), Eamon Keane (Albanian), Sean Power (Albanian), Ian Sawyer (Bealonians), Joe Fox (Albanian), Peter Eguae (Old Meadonians), Lawrie Pointer (Old Meadonians), Ed Glover (Old Meadonians), Andy Thompson (Old Meadonians), Lewis Jones (Old Parmiterians).

SAL Squad:- Russell Hodges (Old Salesians), Chris Shaw (Old Salesians, capt), Jack Gavin (Old Salesians), Mark Jamieson (Old Parkonians), Arren Sutcliffe (Nottsborough), Paul Checketts (Polytechnic), Neil Parkinson (Old Salesians), Sean Gavin (Old Salesians),  Nick Stavri (Nottsborough), Rob Tromans (Old Parkonians), Jeremy Fields (Polytechnic), Adewale Oshilaja (Old Salesians), James Alexander (Norsemen), Jack Lawrence (Crouch End Vampires), Chris Sinclair (Old Salesians).

The next game will be on Wednesday 2nd December, vs Cambridge University at Hanwell Town F.C.

AFC League Forum (October 2009) - The AFC will be holding a League Forum on Tuesday 17^th November, 7.00pm at the Chadwick Street Recreation Centre, 1 Chadwick Street, Westminster, SW1P 2EP. Club officers, league officers, players and referees are all welcome, for an informal evening’s discussion about some of the future of the AFC. Attendance is optional

FA Charter Standard League - Should we be working to become a Charter Standard League, and how?

Referees – Fees and Training - Should we pay a higher match fee to recruit referees, and should clubs provide more candidates for training

AFC Dinner – Costs and Subsidy - Is the Dinner too expensive? Should we subsidise it more, or less, or run it differently?

Should we join the Non-League Pyramid? - Are any clubs interested? Could we improve our facilities sufficiently? Should we have minimum standards of facilities for our Premier Division?

It’s Your League – Open Forum - Any other topics you want to discuss? This is your chance.

Whatever your role and interest within the AFC, we want you to come. This is your chance to have your say about how your league runs and develops.

The Bar will be open beforehand for those who want food, and afterwards for those who want to join us for a drink!

Click here for more information, or please contact Danny McConnell.

Looking After Your Visitors (October 2009) - Can we remind clubs of the club guidance notes (also on page 14 of the handbook), with a checklist for looking after your visitors (clubs and referees). In particular the need to greet them, make sure they know of arrangements, providing the referee with match balls and offering his/her match-fee prior to kickoff.

Over the coming weeks we'll be asking referees/clubs to make sure they report home clubs who aren't following the rules.

UCL Academicals (October 2009) - Congratulations to UCL Academicals, who have recently been awarded the FA Charter Standard.

Respect Monitoring (October 2009) - When referees (hopefully) log into Members Services to do Respect Monitoring, they should now find that County Cup and London Old Boys Cup games are included, as the Football Association upgraded the system last week.

The FA systems will also send out a reminder email to referees who have not marked particular games.

Centymca on theFA.com (October 2009) - The FA's "Superfan" has reported on Centymca's recent AFA Cup match. Click here for the report.

AFC over Christmas (October 2009) - There will be no AFC Fixtures (unless requested) on Saturday 26th December and Saturday 2nd January 2010. There will however be full programmes on Saturday 19th December and Saturday 9th January.

AFC confirmed as a RESPECT league (October 2009) - We're delighted to be able to report that the Amateur Football Combination has now been confirmed by the Football Association as a RESPECT league.

AFA Referee Training Courses (October 2009) - The AFA have announced two new training courses. The first begins on 22nd October in Enfield (registration deadline is 8th October), the second over Half Term in Woodford (27th, 28th and 30th October). If you are interested in training to become a referee, please click here for more details or contact John Monk at the Amateur Football Alliance on 0844 980 8200 # 4929.

Click here for more details. We hope as many as possible of our panel referees and club referees will attend. Please could all those intending to come confirm to Bob Coates, who will happily answer any questions you might have.

AFC Dinner Committee (September 2009) - Miles Briggs has recently moved to Cambridge, and consequently has had to step down as Chairman of the Dinner Committee. On behalf of everyone at the AFC, I'd like to offer our thanks to Miles for his time and efforts over the last few seasons, with the huge task of organising the dinner.

In his stead, Andrew Cashmore-Till has volunteered to step into the breach - good luck Cash.

Non League Paper (September 2009) - Can clubs please note that Stuart Lock (07717 411 037) is the contact for the Non League Paper reports this season. Click here for more details on how to get your club featured.

New Club Officers Evening (September 2009) - It was summer, it was late in the evening, you were drunk. The next morning you woke up with a nagging feeling of doom, something bad had happened. A woman, no! The police, no! Worse! You'd agreed to become Club Secretary or Fixture Secretary.

You tried to escape, even attended the AGM in the hope someone else would offer. They didn't (attend or offer). You tried pleading insanity, but it's football - that's never been a barrier!

There is hope out there.

On Tuesday 29th September, the AFC will hold its "New Club Officers Evening", aimed at providing an introduction to running an AFC club (including how to avoid fines!) for all new club officers (though more experienced ones are equally welcome). It's optional, and informal, and the idea is for some of the more experienced administrators to pass on their wisdom to the new guys (Fletcher and Godber in "Porridge" may be a perfect parallel!).

Kickoff is 7pm at the Chadwick Street Recreation Centre, 1 Chadwick Street, Westminster, SW1P 2EP.

We'll aim to be in the bar by 9pm, if not before!

Click here for more details.

Bedfordshire County League edge out AFC, FA National League Systems Cup (September 2009) - On Wednesday 23rd September, the AFC lost on penalties in a heart-breaker to the Bedfordshire County League at Biggleswade United FC.

The AFC dominated the first half, and spurned a dozen clear chances, Ed Glover could've scored a hat-trick in five minutes, but either the AFC shot wide, defenders blocked them, and Bedfordshire keeper Luke Kiteley led a charmed life. The second half saw Bedfordshire come back into the game, and the AFC needed Stuart Henry to make a good save from a fortuitous penalty to keep the game level. Although the AFC continued to have the bulk of the pressure, clear opportunities were few and far between. Extra time saw few clear chances, but just before the break, Kiteley made a superb double save, first from Glover and then, whilst still on the floor, pushing Colin Hawkins shot onto a defender's back and over the bar.

With both sides tiring, penalties became inevitable, and with the AFC missing their first and fifth spot kicks, Bedfordshire stayed calm to notch the winner and progress to the next round.

A disappointing result, but the team and staff (Rory Vermeulen, Paddy Rumley and Fred Nuckey) did the AFC proud, and we should give them our thanks on behalf of all of the league.

AFC: Stuart Henry (Albanian), Matt O'Sullivan (Old Ignatians), Damien Swann (Old Aloysians), Innis Pirrie (UCL Academicals), Laurie Pointer (Old Meadonians), Chris Akinrele (Old Parmiterians), Eamonn Keane (Albanian), Will Gerrish (Old Meadonians), Peter Eguae (Old Meadonians), Ian Sawyer (Bealonians), Ed Glover (Old Meadonians). Substitutes:- Jay Abberly (Old Parmiterians), Nick Jones (Old Meadonians), Colin Hawkins (Old Meadonians), Andy Thompson (Old Meadonians).

Bedfordshire County League: Luke Kiteley (Caldecote), Shahbaz Hussain (Meltis Corinthians), Scott Tallentire (AFC Kempston Town), Ollie Housden (Campton), Neville Allen (Meltis Corinthians), Adam Wombwell (Southill Alexander), Nicky Threadgold (Dunton), Alex Woolston (Meltis Corinthians), Kai Griffiths (Biggleswade United), Paul Jones (Wilshamstead), Jason Allison (Meltis Corinthians). Substitutes: Rakesh Gill (Meltis Corinthians), Sundeep Gill (Meltis Corinthians), David Morbin (Southill Alexander), Leeroy Odd (Caldecote), Dean Warren (Meltis Corinthians), Sheldon Washington (Meltis Corinthians).

Match Officials: G.Kinnear (Northampton), R.Whitehouse (Northampton), S.Wills (Kettering).

Click here for an alternative match report courtesy of Dave Stanners.

AFC Handbooks (September 2009) - AFC Handbooks went out to all clubs (via the Club Secretary), Referees and Officers during the first week of September, although I'm aware that they may have been held up due to the various postal strikes and backlogs around London at the moment.

If you've not had yours by Friday 18th September, please contact Danny McConnell and I'll send a replacement.

Old Suttonians (September 2009) - Congratulations to Old Suttonians, who have recently been awarded the FA Charter Standard.

St Albans Rangers (September 2009) - Unfortunately, St Albans Rangers have had to withdraw their only side from the Amateur Football Combination (4 North) this season, due to a lack of players. The club are optimistic that next season they may again be able to field a side, as more players progress from their youth sides.

AFC Golden Boot (September 2009) - From the start of the 2009-10 the AFC has launched a "Golden Boot". It's voluntary, and there are no prizes (sorry!) but any clubs or teams who wish to participate are able to do so.

Clubs can register their goal-scorers (and a host of other match stats if they wish) on the FA system Full-Time, and these scorers appear within the AFC Match Centre. The match details will appear on the pages for each game, and the cumulative stats for the season will appear on the Stats link.

Remember, it's voluntary, and you can pass over the leg work to team captains/managers, so please forward this around your committee, and if you wish to take part, let us have the required information and we'll set you up.

If you want to see how it appears, go to Senior One and click on a Hale End 1sts fixture.

FA Charter Standard (September 2009) - Our thanks to all clubs who attended the Charter Standard/Respect evening on Friday 4th September. For fuller information about Charter Standard click here, or to find out more, then please contact Samantha Brown at the Amateur Football Alliance (AFA) on 0844 980 8200 # 4948.

Members Services (September 2009) - Click here for a draft user guide on Members' Services, which are available via the AFA website. Club officers who need to know their FA Number (FAN), Affiliation or Sanction numbers should contact Mike Grimshaw at the AFA.

Referees and Coaches may also wish to look at the guide, as Members Services is also being developed with various elements designed for referees and coaches.

Suffice to say, the 2009-10 AFC season is here. The mailing of handbooks, start of season newsletter, Spirit of Football newsletter, details for sending results, etc is going out to clubs (Club Secretaries only), referees and league officers this week (2nd/3rd/4th September). 

If you haven't received details by Friday 11th September, please contact Danny McConnell.

Best of luck to everyone for the new season!