PRESIDENT's PATTER for SATURDAY 15th FEBRUARY 2014.

What has everybody been doing since Christmas, the last time the main ground was played on was Dec 14th that's two months ago, the longest break since my first season 61/62, that's 19 not 18 when due to snow the league was cancelled. 
We have organised the 3G pitch for an hour a few times and some of us have met at the club on Sat afternoons for a few beers to keep the place turning over.
The fourth eleven managed to get a game in today at Firs Farm of all places and kept their place at the head of their division with a 4-2 win.
The rest of the season is going to be hectic with double headers, Sat and Sun play, games over Easter and evening games when the clocks go forward, this makes it very important that everybody makes themselves available regularly with all the games that are left to play a good season for the club is still within reach reach if we can get a couple of promotions and no teams relegated then we will have made a good start to my 3 year plan of getting all our teams in the highest division available to them. 
Due to the better weather and a drying wind over the last 24 hours a couple of our pitches probably could have been played on today lets hope our caution is rewarded with play on all pitches next week.

FIXTURES FOR SATURDAY 18th JANUARY 2014. 

We regret to announce that all fixtures for Norsemen FC, both Home & Away have been postponed.

FIXTURES FOR SATURDAY 4th JANUARY 2014. 

We regret to announce that all fixtures for Norsemen have been Postponed.
  
SATURDAY 14th DECEMBER 2013

Returned post haste from La Belle France to be at Hydeside for our last games before Christmas.The first team once again having a much changed team from last week's unlucky defeat in the cup took on Carshalton who we had lost heavily to in the first game of the season. This was a game we should have won with two defensive mistakes costing us goals and us missing several good opportunities from close range the game ended in a 2-2 draw. In the world of three points for a win draws can be costly, let's hope they do not cost us dear later in the season.
Once again I must appeal for people to be available every week. We will get nowhere without this. What's the problem, we have great facilities, we have to create an environment where people take a pride in playing for our club, feel a sense of belonging and take a pride in our successes. Maybe we would be better off with disposing with our prima donnas and only selecting players who have demonstrated their desire to play with 100 per cent effort for our club. 
The Reserves remain in deep trouble but were unlucky to lose 1-0 to the league leaders. The 3rd XI had trouble getting a representative team to travel south of the river and lost 5-1.The 4th XI had a good win keeping them top of the table, well done to them, they won the Presidents jug but as at 5.00pm there were only two present, the President decided to keep his money in his pocket the 5s & 6s were all defeated, not a good end to the year.
This is the halfway stage of the season it looks like we have a chance of one team reaching our goal of promotion to the first division and of one going down to the third division so we are just about holding our own nothing better. 
I think it is a demonstration of where we are that we have no desire from the membership to arrange games over the next two weeks, we used to have wonderful days with three games played on Boxing Day which showed a lot of club spirit and some much needed income for the bar. 
I would like to see our membership pick up the baton and get much more out of the club by way of more involvement which I am sure would lead to more success on the field 

SATURDAY 7th DECEMBER

I am beginning to think I am beating my head against a brick wall in writing this column, so far it has produced nil feedback to various discussion points that I have put forward and most people don't seem to know where to find it on the web site.
However I am not easily discouraged and will continue to write it until I can see some stirring in the heart of the club to restore it to one of the best football and SOCIAL clubs in London. 
To the playing side I watched the Reserve team go down to a disappointing defeat to fellow strugglers Old Stationers. To lose to a last minute goal after coming back from 3-1 down must have been hard to take but defensive errors cost us dear. 
The 3rd XI team had a good win against a physical and noisy Merton team and the 
4th XI continued their good form with a good win against Broomfield to remain top of the table, the 5th and 7th XIs lost their games but the winners of the JUG this week are the 6th XI who won away to Old Owens during which our fill in goalkeeper Jason Bush saved three penalties which must be some kind of record. It was good to see them return to the club to collect their jug which is the object of the exercise.
Graham Lewis was telling me that he attended a Youth Cup match between Arsenal and Torquay on Friday evening and both sides included former players from Norsemen Youth. It's good to know they are producing players of that standard hopefully a good number of those not quite up to that standard can find a home with us where they will enjoy good football, great facilities and an enjoyable day out.
Lets try and mark the upcoming two week winter break with an undefeated day next Saturday. COYN


THE PRESIDENT's JUG.

In order to try and encourage the social side of the club I have decided to reward what in my opinion is the best team performance of each week with a Presidents jug of beer. 
Any team that is in the clubhouse before I leave is eligible so if you win well away and are back at the club by 5.45 you will be eligible. 
Obviously you need to be at the Club to receive this award.
This Saturday just gone it was a split decision between the 1st & 6th XIs who both had excellent victories.

ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS ARE NOW OVERDUE.

Any member who has not paid their Annual Subs by Tuesday 12th November, will not be available for selection for games to be played on Saturday 16th November.

SUBS are as follows:

21 or Over as of 1st September 2013 = £80.00

18 or Over as of 1st September 2013 = £50.00

NORSEMEN's IAN CHARLES IS PRESENTED WITH THE 'KEITH BUSBY' MEMORIAL AWARD.

On Saturday at the President's Lunch our Hon Match Secretary Ian Charles was presented with the Keith Busby Memorial Award by the AFA.
The award is given for outstanding service to Norsemen for many years and to the 
AFA with regards to organising their Youth Cup Finals for a number of seasons. 
I'm sure you'll agree, Ian is a worthy winner of this prestigious award.

NORSEMEN FC OLD BOYS DAY / PRESIDENT's LUNCH.

This Saturday 19th October 2013, we are holding our OLD BOYS DAY in conjunction with our PRESIDENT's LUNCH. 
All former Norsemen players and friends will be most welcome to visit the club and see some old familiar faces from their playing days.
The day is being held in support of our 1st XIs AFA Senior Cup tie at home to our close friends from SOUTHGATE OLYMPIC. 
Please try and get along, the match kicks off is at 3pm.

NORSEMEN FC, SAL COLLEAGUES AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE.

Norsemen FC would like to wish their Southern Amateur League colleagues,                     Civil Service FC & Polytechnic FC every success in their fixture at Buckingham Palace today (7th October 2013) to commemorate 150 years of the FA. 
Good Luck to both teams for a great day.

OUR NEW CLUB SHOP IS NOW AVAILABLE.

Please go to the Club Shop section to purchase you new items which now carry 
the NIKE Polo Shirts and many more items.
Remember that all purchases generate income to our club and help keep the subscriptions to a minimum.

BUY NOW AND SUPPORT YOUR CLUB.

OUR PRESIDENT's APPEAL TO ALL OF HIS FORMER PLAYING COLLEAGUES

Would any of the following please get in touch as Nigel Chamberlain our new President would like to see you back at the Norsemen for a social afternoon:
Lou Rappacioli, Geoff Crosby, Derek Leech, Mike Batson, Bill Irvine, Bill Mahoney, 
John Jefferson, TK Brown, Paul Hill, Ken Groves and any other who may have played for this famous club over the years. 
You can contact us via this website.

NORSEMEN FC SEARCH FOR GOALKEEPERS

If you are a Goalkeeper and looking for a new challenge between the sticks this season, then Norsemen FC are the club for you.
Wonderful facilities in Edmonton, North London, we run 7 Adult Sides playing in the Southern Amateur League & AFA Cup competitions.
Please apply by completing the application form at this website which can be found in the 'Contact' section.

AFA Cup Draws 2013/14 Season

Senior Cup: Norsemen v Southgate Olympic - 19.10.13. KO: 15.00.
Midd - Ess Senior Cup: Hale End Athletic v Norsemen - 21.9.13. KO: 15.00.
Intermediate Cup: Norsemen Res v London Hospitals - 28.9.13 - KO: 16.00.
Midd - Ess Intermediate Cup: Norsemen Res v Hale End Athletic - 5.10.13. KO: 15.00.
Junior Cup: Old Paulines v Norsemen 3rd XI - 21.9.13. KO:15.00.
Minor Cup: Old Lyonians v Norsemen 4th XI - 12.10.13. KO: 15.00.
Senior Novets Cup: Norsemen 5th XI get a Bye.
Intermediate Novets Cup: Broomfield v Norsemen 6th XI - 26.10.13. KO: 15.00.
Junior Novets Cup: Norsemen 7th XI v HSBC - 5.10.13. KO: 15.00.

Norsemen FC elect their New President

A message from the President:

At the AGM held in May I had the great honour of being elected President of our club, 
it is a formidable task to follow in the footsteps of the four Presidents we have had in 
our history Wellesley Jack (Founder Member), Cliff Topping, Olly Lodge and Mike Denbigh. 
I have been a member for over 50 years and I am afraid to say that we are at present at 
our weakest with not a team in the first division of their respective sections. 

We have also let ourselves down on the disciplinary front with a very poor record over the 
last couple of seasons and this has been reflected by us having a poor reputation with the 
refereeing fraternity. 

We have also not done very well in our recruitment of good members which is 
demonstrated by our lack of success on the field.

At the meeting I laid out a plan that we should set our sights on achieving over the next 
three years that is all our teams back in their rightful place in the first division have the 
best discipline record in the SAL and restore our reputation as one of the leading clubs in 
the AFA. 

How are we going to achieve this. We have very good officers on the committee and 
hopefully strong captains. 

We need to recruit members who are prepared to play for the club and not a particular 
team and will take pride in playing for us as well as meeting their financial obligations, 
so if you have a friend who fits this criteria please bring him along.

I look forward to meeting all our existing and new members over a beer during the 
coming season and hope that we all have an enjoyable and successful season.
Remember let's not compare ourselves with the struggling teams. 

I would like the club to adopt the following phrase for this season
" Striving to be the best"

 Nigel Chamberlain 

Pre Season Training

Pre Season Training will commence on Tuesday 16th July 2013 and will be held on Church Street Recreation ground for the first few weeks. All 1st & Res XI players are welcome to attend from 7pm.

Club Pre Season Training will commence on Tuesday 6th August 2013.

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New Website Launch
We are pleased to announce that the new website is now live having been launched on Monday 1 July. The new site has been custom designed for us and we believe the stylish new look is fitting for our great club.
All teams have their own page showing tables, results and fixtures while you can keep track of Norsemen events via the calendar. You can fill in an online registration form to save Tony Gibbs having to type everything into a computer and 

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