The Grassroot Magazine December 2013

Call: 0800 8 20 21 22Email: [email protected]

TRAINING BIBS£8 each inc. VAT

Can have club logo printed

Pay by instalments for larger orders, call Mat for details

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

11

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

[email protected]

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:

[email protected]

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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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