Well, talking about having egg on one’s face, I think I can safely say I fell into that category in my last notes when I lauded the merits of the FAW Trust’s Football in the Community scheme without being too patronising, I hope, of their excellent partnership with the Football Association of Wales. Well a lot has happened since I wrote those notes. Both organisations seemingly have fallen out and the old cliché of political decisions relating to football has been bandied about. It appears that the problem arose when the Technical Director of the FAW Trust was stopped by the FAW from undertaking spying missions on behalf of Welsh Manager Mark Hughes and to compound matters further the Assistant Technical Director Mark Bowen, who ran the Player development Section, has resigned his post as he felt it was politically incorrect to do the job and also be Mark Hughes’ number two for the National Team. So there is a flutter in the dove cotes but I say again that the FAW Trust are performing a magnificent service for football at grass roots level and I’m sure that the fruits of their labours will eventually show through..

It was pleasing to read in various editions of the Evening Post during the last weekend a report of our match against Llanelli by a professional journalist. Since the Evening Post’s Assistant Sports Editor Jonathan Wiltshire was elevated to the position of Swansea City’s main reporter there has been a void in that worthy paper in relation to the LoW, I feel, and the newspaper relied mainly on associates of a particular club making reports, supplemented by a general synopsis from the Press Agency. Well, it looks like matters have changed for the better at the Post with reporter Phil Dillon now responsible for reporting on LoW football and this is indeed welcomed.

AN INTERESTING TOPIC of discussion has arisen regarding our former player Gareth Barton who was sent off in our game against Oswestry and subsequently was required to undertake a three match suspension with effect from 9th of September. As you all know, Gareth was transferred to UWIC Inter Cardiff on 6 September but his term of suspension still relates to Carmarthen’s games. Unfortunately for Gareth he has been twiddling his thumbs since then. Despite UWIC Inter Cardiff playing regularly since his transfer, Carmarthen has not because of the postponement of three games - Haverfordwest and Rhyl due to the fuel crisis and Aberystwyth due to the weather. So until we play these three games in total, Gareth still cannot play for UWIC. This must be a case of ‘sod’s law’. I sympathise with Gareth as otherwise he would have been back playing sometime ago. Still, rules are rules and who am I to criticise a difficult situation for the FAW to evaluate. Enjoy today’s game and come in droves for our big game on Tuesday night!

Furthermore, careful planning of fixtures can be of great financial assistance towards the well-being of a club.. This is particularly so in the arrangements for our LoW fixtures. Our support at Richmond Park is excellent compared with many clubs in the LoW but it does comprise those people who enjoy supporting other activities as well as other teams, particularly rugby here at Carmarthen. I often notice some ardent Quins and Athletic followers at Richmond Park when, of course, their sides are not playing at home. not to mention quite a number of you who follow the Swans as well.

The first priority, however, at the beginning of the season is to examine the position relating to Welsh Rugby Union International matches because, no doubt, any clash would have serious consequences on our support, especially here at Carmarthen.. So, during the summer months, the international dates are ascertained and then submitted to our Officers at Westgate Street where we receive full co-operation. In fact you will note from this year’s fixture list that we do not clash at home with any Welsh Rugby International.

The situation regarding the Quins, the Athletic and Swans is slightly different, however, where it is logistically impossible to arrange dates to avoid any clashes. Fortunately, however, this season as far as the two rugby clubs are concerned - by sheer luck and aided by some Friday night fixtures - we only clash on five occasions with each of the two clubs, which does affect any dual supporter too badly. Unfortunately, the situation with the Swans is slightly different where a number of fixtures clash and let us hope that we can entice some of the Swans supporters to watch us instead of travelling to the Vetch on such days by producing the results and providing good football. There will, however, be some very attractive matches at the Vetch this year with the Swans now in the Nationwide Football League Division 2.

A key consideration, of course, is the availability of match sponsors which, as our worthy Chairman tells us, is the lifeline of our Club and we are fortunate to have companies and individuals who are able to support us both in mid-week and on Saturdays.

FINALLY, a big thanks to the Llanelli Club for agreeing to change this fixture from tomorrow’s date to tonight and I hope you all enjoy the game.

Well, our path this season has not been all that smooth. Our manager stated in the press before the season started that he thought that progress would be hard with quite a number of teams carrying big squads. I think that this adage was bourne out in our Gilbert Cup match last Wednesday when both sides were slightly under strength but the large squad at Aberystwyth containing mostly experienced players won the day. No doubt our fringe squad members have an abundance of talent but there is no substitute for experience and know how.

Well, the recent reverses in Belarus by our Senior and Under-21 teams did not on the surface augur well for the future. With so many matches in the tournament left, however, I personally do not feel too despondent. But at grass roots level matters are progressing rapidly despite the recent controversy of government funding being allocated to England only. Yes, the FAW Football in the Community Trust has in place a superb structure to develop Association Football from the very base of the Pyramid upwards. It incorporates the Technical Department of the FAW with funding coming from the Welsh Sports Council and self generated funds from various coaching activities. The Technical Director is Mike Rigg and he has four Assistant Directors with different roles. Former Welsh International Mark Bowen runs the Player Development Section whilst former Wales Under-21 Manager Jimmy Shoulder is responsible for Coach Education Courses. The other two Assistant Directors are Helen Croft (Women’s Football) and Neil Ward (Manager of the Area Football Programmes). Beneath the line of these Assistant Directors are the 22 Area Football Coaches, one in each unitary Authority in Wales.

And now for the object of my telling you about this set-up. For in Carmarthenshire, the County Council’s Football Coach or Football Development Officer is our own Colin Staples.

COLIN, AS YOU KNOW, is manager of the Club’s Reserve X1. As Colin’s duties with the County Council include the running of coaching courses for team managers, parents and teachers, Football Development Centres for 8-15 year olds, school coaching visits, you can see how fortunate the Club has been in securing such a versatile person. I hope that our lads in the Reserves benefit from Colin’s knowledge. Any of you who watch the reserves play will notice that at the end of their match he will supervise ‘warming down’ exercises sometimes. I have only seeb this done in one other case by the West Indies Cricket team at the close of play! ........ Enjoy today’s game. I hope to see you here next Wenesday for the Haverfordwest game.

I feel very positive about the Gilbert Cup, not least of all due to the fact that it is a sponsored competition which is indeed symbolic in view of the considerable difficulties our worthy Officers at Westgate Street are finding in gaining a sponsor for our League. I can reinforce this view by outlining the other positive elements within the competition. The Gilbert company in the first instance gives considerable assistance to us in the supply of high class footballs together with a financial reward for the winners, albeit at the moment not all that considerable, so we have much to thank that company for its sponsorship. Additional games also provide a lifeline of supplying clubs with additional revenue, especially as the groupings are fairly local, and what better teams for us to play than Aberystwyth and Haverfordwest with the added spice of derby rivalry. The revenue received for these games can be generated through the turnstiles, match sponsorship, even bar takings, where the total income for each match could well exceed a four figure sum.

So I feel that clubs should be very positive in their approach to this competition and I would not be belittling the Cup in any way if however I did emphasise that the League itself is our ‘bread and butter’ with the carrot of European qualification at the prize. This competition however can be served in the best interest of the Club in so far as squad players, fringe players and those returning from injury can be tried Yes, there are so many plusses to be gained from this competition.

So it’s Aberystwyth, Bangor and Wrexham in our Premier Cup group. When I first heard the draw my initial reaction was one of disappointment that Swansea City - whom many of you support here at Richmond Park - had not been drawn in our group. On reflection, however, and having time to think about it there is no doubt that it is an excellent draw with some very attractive fixtures, not least of all our visitors tonight and the prospect of Wrexham fielding a full first team here at Richmond Park which is usually their policy in the Premier Cup. The dates of the games will be announced shortly.

THE HIGH STANDARD of guest writers in our programme has been maintained by the contribution from Paul Ashley-Jones this evening who has already written articles in Come on Cymru and When Saturday Comes. His theme this week is very topical and we are very grateful for his contribution. I hope you do not think that I am biased, especially as he is my son-in-law! Enjoy tonight’s game!