Wales' top young Referees gather for annual seminar
Thirty-one of Wales's 39 young Development Group Referees from around the Principality gathered at Newtown Football Club on Sunday for their annual in service training and education seminar.
Also present were the six Area Development Officers, Darren Adie, Gerald Davies, Ray Ellingham, Steve Hames, Brian Lawlor and Mark Whitby as well as representatives from the Central Wales FA (Charlie Emberton) North East Wales FA (Brian Bevan) South Wales FA (Carl Daughters) and West Wales FA (David Rees).
It was also great to see FAW Referees' Committee members Bob Waygood, John Harris, Idwal Williams and Chairman John Phillips in attendance giving their support to the day.
Referees Manager Rodger Gifford kicked off by welcoming the 12 new members to the group and highlighted what had been achieved by previous members of this scheme which included appointments to UEFA matches and varying FAW Cup Finals. He then asked Brian Lawlor to start the day off by talking about 'Priorities' and in his own larger than life style Brian illustrated varying scenarios which could occur and asked those present to consider what they would do in the circumstances described. A highly humorous but effective delivery which gave all concerned food for thought.
This was followed by a joint presentation by two of the scheme's two success stories, Daniel Beckett of Llanelli and Lewiss Edwards of Aberdare. Both young men just 22 years of age but delivered a highly professional address on the benefits of the development scheme which led on to their appointment to UEFA's CORE (Centre of Refereeing Excellence) project as Assistant Referees where they travelled to UEFA headquarters in Nyon, near Geneva together with Referee Bryn Markham-Jones for 10 days intensive training with UEFA specialist coaches.
Lewiss and Daniel's coach is Leif Lindberg from Sweden who was Assistant Referee at the 2002 World Cup Final itself. They went through the details of their programme on a daily basis and the hard work involved and it was clear that the others in the room were clearly in a 'I'd like to be able to do that' mood. For two young men who had never presented before by sound preparation and practising they delivered an address which both professional and motivational for which they received a lengthy round of applause. They both return to UEFA headquarters in August for a week's consolidation course.
The last session of the morning was conducted by Referees' Manager Rodger Gifford who showed some action clips of some really interesting match incidents which the assembled had to discuss and feed back their thoughts. Each group spokesman was from one of the Development Groups and all who reported back did so extremely well indeed. Several provocative points which created thought provoking discussion which involved everyone present.
After an excellent lunch provided by Lisa Armes and her staff at the Club the afternoon session was kicked off by Darren Adie. For anyone who had not seen Daz work before his sessions are both highly innovative and thought provoking and always based on a theme. His brief was to speak on 'Advantage' but he called his address 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly' complete with the music from the film and Daz himself dressed as Clint Eastwood which caught everyone's imagination. Again an outstanding presentation appreciated by all present.
We then came to the keynote speaker Mark Halsey, F A Premier League Referee. Mark spoke about 'A year in the Life of Mark Halsey' which was supplemented by tv footage, match day clips and observation from no less a person than Jose Mourinho. As a leading FAPL referee Mark was stunned to find that he had been diagnosed with throat cancer and he charted the year from diagnosis to remission. On top of this horrendous news his Wife Michelle was diagnosed with a form of Leukaemia which was not curable but treatable and with a three year old baby daughter you can imagine what they went through.
The address was highly emotional as could be imagined but there was an underlying theme throughout and that was never to give up, have determination however hard it may seem, remain positive and through times like these you find out who your real friends are. In between there was also several anecdotes from his refereeing career at the end of which Mark received an immediate standing ovation.
Referees Chairman John Phillips closed the day's proceedings by thanking all the presenters but paid particular tribute to Daniel and Lewiss for an address beyond their tender years before presenting Mark with a memento in appreciation of his visit and expressed the wish that everyone in attendance had found the day rewarding.
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Referees' Manager Rodger Gifford afterwards described the day; "It was one of those special occasions which makes all the hard work in producing such an event worthwhile.
"I've known Mark Halsey for 16 years and followed his career with interest. Having met him on many occasions when we've worked together on FAPL matches he has always expressed an interest in Welsh Referees and said many a time that anytime I wanted him to speak to our Referees just let him know.
"True to his word when I approached him a few months ago he readily agreed and even though he spent Friday and Saturday in London at a conference from which he returned home late on Saturday night he still got up early Sunday morning and drove from his home in Bolton to be with us. That's the sort of guy he is!"
More European appointments for Welsh Referees
Following on from last week's appointment of Welsh referee Huw Jones to the Champions League 1st Qualifying round match between FC Lusitans and Valletta FC, Wales' two other FIFA referees have recieved UEFA appointments this week.
Swansea's Mark Whitby has been appointed to a UEFA Europa League 2nd Qualifying Round in Belgium on 19th July and Llanllechid's Lee Evans has been appointed for a match in Iceland or Liechtenstein in the same competition the following week.
UEFA Europa League 2nd Qualifying Round
19 July 2012
KAA Ghent (Belgium) v Winners Q1 Match 11
Referee: Mark Whitby
Assistant Referee 1: Phil Thomas; 2: Mark Dyson 4th Official: Dean John
UEFA Europa League Qualifying Round Two
26 July 2012
Winners Q1 match 25 v AIK (Sweden)
Referee: Lee Evans
Assistant Referee 1 J B Roberts; 2 Gareth W Jones 4th Official: Bryn Markham-Jones
Welsh Referee Observers also in demand
Following on from yesterday's report regarding UEFA's requirement for Welsh Referees in Europe this month, it is also our Referee Observers who are in demand, as July promises to be a busy month for Wales' trio.
Leading the way is Ray Ellingham from Cardiff, who has three appointments.
On Thursday this week, he will be assessing on the SP La Fliorita (San Marino) versus Leipajas Metalurgs (Latvia) match in the Europa League Qualification.
Next week, he will be heading to the Faroe Islands for the match B36 Torshavn versus Linfield of Northern Ireland in the Champions League Qualification 2nd leg.
Then, on 26th July he will travel to the winners of the Elfsborg (Sweden) or Floriana (Malta) qualifier, for their next round match against Dacia Chisinau (Moldova) or NK Celje (Slovenia) in the Europa League 2nd Qualification Round.
Anglesey's Brian Lawlor has two appointments and will travel to San Marino for the Tre Penne v F91 Dudelange (Luxembourg) game in the Champions League Qualifier on 10th July.
Then, on 26th July he will be on the match between the winners of Vikingur (Faroe Islands) or Gomel (Belarus) v Khazar Lankaran (Azerbaijan) or JK Nomme Kalju (Estonia) in the Europa League Qualification.
Whilst FAW Referees' Manager Rodger Gifford travels to Slovenia on the 12th July for the Europa League qualification between NK Celje and Dacia Chisinau (Moldova) and on July 26th will oversee the winners of the Bohemians (Ireland) v Thor Akureyri (Icenand) match against Mlade Boleslaw of the Czech Republic again in the Europa League Qualification.
Cefn Druids From page 1
Cefn Druids manager Huw Griffiths said: "That was magnificent. The boys were superb and they'll thoroughly deserve the credit they will get from this. They will go down as legends in Cefn Druids' history and even to a certain degree in Welsh football history in terms of what they've achieved.
"We did create a couple of good chances and that was our aim. We've frustrated them defensively and broke very well and at times I thought we played fantastic football. But it's a totally different story when you go and play in the Europa Cup away from home."
Craig Returns to the Fold
Two former Newtown AFC Academy players back in the First Team
Craig Williams, who left to join Aberystwyth Town two seasons ago, returns to Newtown's fold this season after signing for the Club tonight. Bernie McNally has been talking to Craig over the past couple of weeks and the former right back may well return in a mid-field role where his bursts of pace and excellent crossing ability should inject some additional energy into the side. Plagued by injuries whilst at Aberystwyth, we warmly welcome Craig back to Newtown.
Also joining Newtown this season is another local player, Elliot Jones. He moves from Montgomery Town where he enjoyed a very successful season whilst also playing in the Newtown Youth team. Elliot was identified as a very promising player whilst a part of the Newtown Academy and his eye for goal will be most welcome. From a renowned local footballing family, Elliot is also welcomed back to the Club.
So far, most of last season's squad have signed new forms and Bernie is still talking to several other new players.
Lisa leaves Prestatyn Town Academy
Academy coach Lisa Brown has called an end to her stay at Bastion Gardens as under-14 coach writes James Satelle.
Lisa, who was head of youth for two years at Prestatyn, has called time on her reign and will therefore not be coaching next season with us.
She spent the last two years working with the directors to turn Prestatyn's youth set-up around in which time the academy has gone from strength to strength
Town's chairman, Phil Merrick, said: "Lisa has done tremendous work over the season through her recruitment and getting the teams some high-profile fixtures as well as arranging trips for the players and she will be missed at the club. I wish her all the best in the future."
Those comments were echoed by Academy director Paul O Neill who added Lisa and the team worked tirelessly to make Prestatyn's Academy better and everyone can see the success they have achieved.
John Roberts will take over the mantle as under-14 coach in addition to his role as Head of Youth.
"This is the start of a new chapter at the Academy and we are doing some good things - we have tripled the number of coaches and made education a priority. We are now looking for fresh new players for the under-14 squad. The door is open for all players to come down and give Prestatyn a try and we can hope that we can pick up from where Lisa left off," he said.
Saints' surprise for Woodside School
FOOTBALLERS from The New Saints dropped in to surprise some pupils from Woodside Primary School on Tuesday.
The pupils, aged between six and ten-years-old had been busy all morning painting portraits of the footballers as part of a Football Association of Wales (FAW) initiative to celebrate The New Saints winning the Welsh Cup and League title last season.
Players Aeron Edwards, Steve Evans and Alex Darlington were delighted to see their action shots turned into works of art.
Aeron said: “We’ve enjoyed coming down to Woodside today to meet the children and see their artwork, what they’ve achieved is very impressive and they have given us their support for the Champions League qualifiers later this month.”
Jon Phillips of Pippins Designs Ltd, (the Community Arts Partners to the FAW), led the art workshop and added: “We are delighted to be working with such talented youngsters, their enthusiasm and flair for art really shows through in their work. It was great that the children were able to meet some of the footballers they were painting, it truly brought their project to life.”
The New Saints face Wingate & Finchley in a pre-season friendly on the 7 July at Park Hall Stadium, kick off at 1pm.
SCORECARD
Europa League First Qualifying Round 1st leg
Bangor City 0 -
FC Zimbru Chisinau 0 -
Bangor City: Lee Idz, , Chris Roberts, James Brewerton, Michael Johnston, Les Davies, Chris Simm (Chris Jones 67’), Sion Edwards (Alan Bull 67’), Mark Smyth (David Morley 76’) , Liam Brownhill, Craig Garside, Damien Allen
Subs not used: Kyle Clancy, Peter Hoy, Clive Williams, John Owen
Red cards: None Yellow cards: Simm 8’
FC Zimbru: Nicolai Calancea, Levan Korgalidze ((Oleg Sischin 70’), Daniel Balasa, Janko Tumbasevic (Constantin Iavorschi 46’), Volodymyr Zastavnyi, Serghei Cuznetov, Oleg Molla, Radu Catan, Andriy Derkach, Akhmet Barakhoev (Eugeniu Slivca 76’), Eugeniu Gorceac
Subs not used: Mihail Paius, Alexandru Cucu, Kirill Erokhin, Serghei Gafina
Red cards: None Yellow cards: Catan 55’, Cuznetov 56’, Derkach 62, Zastavnyi 89 ‘
Attendance 1012 Referee: Christos Nicolaides (Cyprus)
Cefn Druids FC 0 -
MyPa-47 0 -
Cefn Druids: Chris Mullock, Mark Harris, Adam Hesp, Robbie James, George Hughes, Mike Burke (Warren Duckett 89’), Kieran Quinn, Josh Dures (Joe Price 73’), Rees Darlington, Gareth Edwards, Steve Jones (Tony Cann 80’)
Subs not used: Richard Ackerley, Marc Griffiths, Tom McElmeel, Jack Edwards
Red Cards: None Yellow cards:: Quinn 36’
MyPa-47: Antti Kuismala, Tommi Vesala, Niko Kukka (.Pekka Sihvola 62’), Xhevdet Gela, Riley O’Neill, David Ramadingaye, Ville Oksanen, Antti Koskinen, Tuomas Aho (Joni Vuorinien 18’), Nongotamba A Lody, Ville Saxman (Patrick O’Shaughnessy 77’)