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Just a big thank you to all the helpers tidying the stadium, looking good

Dear All, As a lot of you are aware Boris is likely to announce this week that bars, restaurants etc will be allowed to open again from Saturday 4th July with certain rules in place. As you can imagine we would like to take advantage of this announcement to try and raise much needed funds for the club and I’m sure you’re all willing to help out with that by drinking ice cold pints of beers. But with this, the government will release rules which we will be adhering to strictly. With this in mind most of the tables will likely be outside as well as tables inside being at least 2 metres apart, no crowding at the bar etc. Until the rules are officially released I am just guessing on what they’ll Be comparing them to countries such as Spain and Germany. There’ll be a limit on how many people we will be allowed into the club also so table reservations and guest lists etc will be sorted. More info on this will be posted this week but for now - Please save the date! Cheers, Luke. Any issues 07962802552

Expect changes to Division One, one club has resigned due to Corona Virus but they have still to make this information public so with respect I will not be naming them

Has left Tonbridge Angels. I'd welcome him back with pleasure but he did very well at Tonbridge at Conference South Level.

Saw this in the "Club News" section. I have a couple of questions. I don't personally know Colin Burford and I couldn't see a link or any contact information so how do I actually contact him for more information? I always stand on the West Side behind the Home dugout (Makes it easier to pass on advice to Mark but he has correctly previously ignored me at Thurrock and Waltham Abbey) so am I eligible? Can I buy a seat but never actually sit in it? Is it a contractual obligation to have my real name on the seat or can I use an amusing pseudonym (PG rated of course as Jago refused my first two or three monikers in the prediction league) If I buy a seat will it improve my chances in the 50/50 draw Will having my name on a seat improve my chances with the ladeeees? If I do choose to sit on the Eastside and someone is in "my" chair can I get a steward to remove them? (I'd bribe them with a cup of tea but I've happily been buying them tea at half time for a while now after someone suggested it would be a nice idea) Does the above apply if it is Colin or Alex (although I usually talk to them in the West Side seats) If Mikey Christou buys a seat can I pay another £5 to have it painted in the style of a TFL cycle lane? [Mikey, you know I love you to bits and yet you shred me every single game]

There are specific jobs for all, someone has to drink the beers and eat the rolls 😉

Another great effort, you are such a credit to our club, special mention to les 12 beers 5 rolls

All of the hard work is really starting to pay off. The clubs really starting to look fresh and new, something to be really proud of!

Great work guys The ground looks amazing

That's great, £54,000 isn't to be sniffed at is it: In these difficult circumstances that we are all going through it is always a real lift to hear some good news for once. The Executive Committee at Leighton Town FC are thrilled to announce that another important step towards rebuilding our club both on and off the pitch has been achieved. We received fantastic news recently that our applications for funding to carry out major refurbishment to the club’s facilities have been successful. The club is to receive £54,000 in funding, which is made up from money secured by Central Bedfordshire Council from new local housing developments and also a Community Asset Grant. The work which starts later this month will include the installation of a brand-new disabled toilet facility along with disabled access to the grounds. The other toilet facilities in the club will also be completely refurbished. The function hall will receive new flooring and the main bar will have the ceiling and lighting replaced. The club’s roof has been patched up for a long time and this funding will also help to replace the section that is close to collapsing. On top of this we hope to redecorate as much of the club as we can afford from our own resources. This was a very competitive process and huge thanks must go to Sean Downey and Steve Harris who have worked extremely hard behind the scenes to prepare the bid and establish support for our plans to access this important stream of funding. “This is great news for our club” said Director of Football Sean Downey. “At the last AGM I promised our members that we would do everything we could to access funding to improve our disability facilities and I am so pleased that we are finally able to carry out this important work. We are a community focused club and we want the best facilities possible to allow all our supporters, hirers and other users to enjoy their time at the club, whether this be playing for or supporting the teams, participating in classes and community activities or attending social functions in the hall. As the town grows it is important that we keep our social hubs strong, well maintained and vibrant. This is not just about football it is about community” Vice Chairman and Financial Controller Steve Harris added: “We would like to put on record our thanks to a number of people and organisations that have supported us in our bid. These include Councillor Brian Spurr and his excellent colleagues at Central Bedfordshire Council and the Rotary Club; their advice and support have been extremely helpful and hugely appreciated by both Sean and me during this process” Thanks in advance must also go to John Turner who will play a key role in project managing the work. Huge thanks John. Work is due to begin later this month. Our Town: Our Team: Our Community. Best wishes to all The Executive Committee at Leighton Town FC

Rhodes has always been good at spending other peoples money......

Well said Sal great day with great company, bar staff worked very hard and was much appreciated.

No tax money for the government from 15 people stood watching a game.

Ouch!

Well done to all involved, I will endeavour to make another visit when things get started again

Just a reminder for this Saturday! We have taken stock of all draught beer and bottled beverages as well as a full range of spirits/mixers

That's not very nice, calling Karen a horse.

Part of the future of the club im sure 👍

Hi All, Hope everyone is safe and well. We won't be having a clean up day this Saturday so people can enjoy the day down the club to have a pint or six. However we will be returning on the 11/7. See everyone this Saturday for a few beverages! Jordan.

👍 You know the supporter AlwaysLeighton?

Grim, I remember Potters Bar played around one of those (not 3G just Astro turf) back in the late 80’s or early 90’s.

Hi chaps, not seen this posted on here, so I thought I'd put a link on. Get your wallets out ! https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/shine-a-light-for-enfield-town-fc

Hi All, We shall be holding another clean up day this Saturday from 8.30am. Please bring garden sacks, gloves and gardening equipment as there is a lot of weeding to do alongside the painting. Also does anyone have any spare Cuprinol Ducksback Black fence paint lying around? See you Saturday. Jordan.

See u sat

Smart move putting him through the middle then. That ratio is up their with the best I can think of in recent years.

Is there any point non-league football starting without spectators allowed?

Indeed great effort at the weekend made serious inroads . Also nice to see so many old and new faces helping out. See people this Saturday if they can make it

AlwaysLeighton - How do you think Joes feels about losing Webby, it's a big body blow to him isn't it, hopefully he will come on here later to tell us and also how he plans to replace him at Bell Close but I wouldn't mind betting that he says exactly the same as you that it’s a wonderful opportunity for Webby at Hemel Hempstead Town:

Tring Athletic FCs ground is looking as nice and green as ever.

Great effort chaps

Had you done some basic detective work you would know that Park View have already completed their affiliation for next season unlike FC Broxbourne Borough. You were thrown some bait, went fishing and caught a tin can.

Firstly, apologies for no archive game last week - i just couldn't get round to it. We're back though with this game. It's the season opener from 2007 away to Ashford Town (Middx). This game briefly featured the legend that is Jim McFarlane, who got injured early on and hobbled off the field only to find out later in the day that he had broken his leg ! Enjoy ! https://youtu.be/Kb-4IAuhFg0

Come on Karen, we all know it was you, it definitely wasn’t me, so no need to scroll up and check!

SUMMARY OF FA MEETING TODAY WITH STEP 5 & 6 LEAGUES: Firstly the FA produced a series of slides for their presentation which they have said will be emailed out later today. The meeting obviously went into more details than the slides and each league was able to ask a question. Summarising the main points: THIS SUMMER Even if a league at a higher step has a vacancy caused by a club folding or requesting voluntary relegation, NO Promotion will occur and that league will run short. The FA will look at applications to enter the pyramid to fill a vacancy (AFC Bury and Isle of Mann were only ones mentioned). FUNDING The FA National Game have had a 38% cut in funding. This will impact all NLS leagues who will no longer receive FA Development funding, but they will still receive Administration grants at current level. FA Vase prize money will be reduced by approx 6% COMPETITIONS It is the FA’s ambition still to run the FA Cup & FA Vase in full, BUT that may not be possible and certainly with the FA Cup they are contractually bound to have the FA Cup 3rd Rd on the opening weekend of January, so the dates and numbers of earlier rounds may be affected by that. The non-league final day at Wembley is subject to the FA calendar given that Euro 2020 matches now have to fit into 2021. Consideration is being given to do away with Replays in both Cup & Vase to aid fitting in league fixtures. If the season does not start in August then League and County Cups cannot be run in the traditional formats during the league playing season, but possible that new ways could be found to run Cups. RESTARTING NLS FOOTBALL The FA stated that NLS will only re-start when the Dept of Media, Culture & Sport (DCMS) gives approval AND subject to any conditions that the DCMS makes. Games cannot re-start at Steps 1 to 7 of the NLS without spectators, AND ALL STEPS ARE TIED TOGETHER on a restart date (eg Step 6 cannot start whilst Step 3 is not allowed and vice versa) Football BELOW Step 7 where no admission is taken may start on a different date and is subject to specific “grass-roots” Govt guidance. The FA are working on various scenarios as to when and how it affects the programme of games, this was explained as: August – A normal season September/October – Full League seasons to be priority with NO League or County Cups November/January – Not possible for a full league season to be played and in this situation either half seasons (play each other once) or splitting divisions in half (probably on geographics) so that in our case we have 4 divisions of 10 rather than 2 of 20 Later than January – Worse case scenario with re-structure and leagues maybe held over again until 2021/22 season. Whilst NOT a commitment or guarantee by any means, the FA said the most likely current scenario would be September. Pre-Season – The FA stated a pre-season would occur before commencement of matches, but they were not prepared to say what duration in weeks that timeframe would be. End of season – Flexibility to go into May rather than the last weekend of April, but again this would really depend on the starting date of the season. Possible agreement prior to restarting so that if a 2nd spike forced another curtailment of next season, that the leagues could be awarded based on the percentage of games actually played at that time – details to follow. CLUBS The FA will require ALL CLUBS to produce and publish a Risk assessment and/or action plans to ensure they are Covid secure. This is specifically for clubs that are neither “elite” nor “grassroots” and will cover such things as: Return to full training / matches Use of facilities including clubhouses, dressing rooms etc Travel The volunteer workforce at each club The FA are currently writing a guidance paper on this and it will follow to clubs in the near future. Ground Grading: The FA have built into the temporary changes to regulations some flexibility regarding ground grading dates, whilst no specific date or rule has been changed, the FA stated that it is “Not the intention to relegate any clubs for work that Covid has meant they have been unable to do.” Next FA Leagues meeting on July 14th .

https://mobile.twitter.com/tringathletic/status/1273929565686181888

An interesting summary of this afternoon' meeting between the FA and Step 5 and 6 leagues: https://www.swpleague.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/SUMMARY-OF-FA-MEETING-TODAY-WITH-STEP-5.pdf

Looking good 👍

Hi, Just a thought, it is likely that we will be obliged to wear masks for most of next season. Can you arrange to have masks made in ETFC colours with the badge on them. I will order 3 if you do.

Likely to be Combined Counties from where they are based once the restructure (eventually) kicks in.

Winslow Boy - Thanks, is that just because I started a thread for your Birthday, I can't see myself getting many greetings today can you particularly from the likes of Karen, a certain match Official and Wisezola. Yes, all the pubs are open here in Denmark (see my local below) and football started again recently albeit restricted to an attendance of 500, I tried to get a ticket for a Danish First Division game yesterday without success. Thanks again and hope you and the family are keeping well, I expect George Tomlin is chomping at the bit to get things started again at Elmfields Gate:

I would love to see Alex back in an Urchin's shirt as he is a brilliant professional player and always had time for everyone and is a real fan favorite. I hope he finds a new challenge that allows him to showcase his talents for the new season wherever he goes.

Evening all, seems a long, long time since our last match, and a lot has happened since in these unpredictable, unprecedented times. Whilst there hasn't been any action on the pitch, there has been plenty off the field, and our Board members and Football management team have been working hard to ensure we are in the best possible shape for the re-start, whenever that may be. Knowing how tight money is for most non-league clubs at our level, it is very encouraging that our Club has embarked upon this major fund-raising initiative, and it is a great opportunity for all us Towners, local and otherwise, to contribute as much as we can afford, to show how much our Club means to us, and help finance all the improvements being planned at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium.

I see Ollie Bayliss has this picture of the Leighton Town FC choir on his twitter page 😀 ⬇️ https://mobile.twitter.com/Ollie_Bayliss

Only the one photograph but just to say that the Leighton Town Football Club sign behind the goal is heaven where taking photographs is concerned, there is actually a lot of really good signage at Bell Close, both inside and outside, which is always a groundhoppers dream and there have been plenty of those visiting over the years, sometimes you go to a ground and there are very few signs, if any, or ones that are barely visible:

Not SSML but over 100 photographs from Guildford City v Leighton Town on 20 October 2012 in a Southern League Division One Central fixture from 2012/13, Guildford City won 1-0. Leighton Town are in blue by the way as Guildford City also play in red and white stripes:

Yes I remember that from when I have been to the ground. No chance of a stand being put up over that side though? 🏏

He's been around for a while now. He always scored goals when he's been playing for Leighton Town FC.

So a great catchment area which a lot of other clubs don't have. Is there still no stand? Or anything? on the Cricket pitch side of the ground?

Yeah Leighton Town FC seem to be going in the right direction on and off the pitch. What is Leighton Towns average home attendance these days?

Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division top 5 Twitter followers gained in the last year: 1. 1.@LeightonTownFC- 1,019 2.@harefieldutd- 731 3.@ColneyHeathFC- 641 4.@tringathletic- 622 5.@nptfc- 503