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League leaders Ribbleton FC face their sternest test of the season when they meet Eleven Sports Media FC at Bamber Bridge FC on Wednesday 20 March for a place in the final of the Lancashire Football Association (LFA) Sunday Trophy.

Ribbleton under manager Tony Basil have lost just once since 26 August and that was a surprising defeat by division 3 leaders Lostock Hall in the Challenge Cup back in November. They drew 1-1 at Southport & Ainsdale Amateurs last time out and prior to that they had won 10 league games on the trot. They have a potent strike force lead by Ritchie Allen who has netted 40 goals to date, Adam Thomas has got 14 and Gary Basterfield has chipped in with 11.

Their opponents Eleven Sports Media who are currently 5th in the premier division of the Blackpool & Fylde Sunday Alliance cannot be underestimated as they beat Hunters & Ingol Rangers on penalties earlier in the competition.

The game at The Sir Tom Finney Stadium, Bamber Bridge PR5 6UU kicks off at 7.30pm. Their excellent clubhouse and well stocked bar will be open and hot snacks will be available.

Eamonn McNamara.

League Chairman Eamonn McNamara has announced his intention to retire at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) in June after giving 50 years’ service to the league.

Eamonn was elected onto the management committee at the AGM on 15 June 1970 and he has served as Assistant Secretary, Referees Manager, League Secretary, President and he has been League Chairman for 40 years.

Under Eamonn’s stewardship, the league has adopted a dynamic and radical approach. In 1973 they were the first league in the area to make goal nets compulsory and they followed this by introducing a rule that all players’ shirts must be numbered, something that we take for granted today. In 1978 the league was honoured with full membership of the Lancashire Football Association.

More recent initiatives have seen the League change its name in 2011 from Lancashire Evening Post Sunday Football League to Lancashire Sunday Football League and its footprint has widened substantially. Clubs are obliged to have a specifically stocked first aid kit, each team to have a qualified first aider and club linesmen are required to wear a hi-visibility jacket, something which we introduced and has been adopted by numerous leagues throughout the country.

The shortage of young players joining the league lead to the introduction of youth football in 2000 with a new division of 12 teams. The success of the youth section has succeeded all expectations and the management committee have been most impressed by the enthusiasm of youth club officials and the high quality of football played. The youth section is now thriving and has over 30 teams playing in three divisions.

Eamonn has always been passionate about refereeing and the development of young officials. His refereeing career saw him progress through the local leagues, West Lancashire League and Northern Premier League to the Football League List of Assistant Referees where he served for 7 years. He was elected Chairman of Preston Referees Society from 2010 to 2018 and he is currently President of the Society.

Eamonn served as a Magistrate on the Preston Bench from 1992-2011 and he is on the Board of Trustees of Heartbeat, the League’s adopted charity.

Speaking of his retirement, Eamonn said, “I have enjoyed every minute of my time with this fantastic league where I have made so many friends and worked with some outstanding committee colleagues. It is now time to pass the on the baton and I know that the League will be in good hands. I am particularly grateful to my wife Liz, sons John and David and daughter Deborah for their patience and understanding”.

Following the heavy rain this week and with more forecast it will be no surprise that both Preston City Council and South Ribble Borough Council have declared their pitches unfit for play this weekend, Saturday 16th & Sunday 17th March 2019. This means that no matches will take place this weekend on the following parks;

Preston City Parks

Frenchwood Park

Moor Park

Ribbleton Park

London Rd Athletic Track

Mill Lane

South Ribble Parks

Higher Walton Recreation Ground

Hutton Village Hall

Kingsfold (Penwortham)

Tardy Gate Recreation Ground

Withy Grove (Bamber Bridge)

Worden Park (Leyland)

Eamonn McNamara.

Sir Tom Finney FC have organised an Evening at Ashton and Lea Golf Club on Friday 29 March in support of Lenny Johnrose, who coached one of their junior teams.

Lenny Johnrose is well known in this area as a former professional footballer who played 430 league games for several clubs including Preston North End, Blackburn Rovers, Burnley, Bury, Swansea City and Hartlepool United.

In March 2017, Lenny was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) and his numerous friends have rallied to his support.

The evening, hosted by Andy Bayes of BBC Radio Lancashire, will feature PNE Legend Graham Alexander, now manager of National League side Salford City and Paul Fletcher MBE who played for Bolton Wanderers, Burnley and Blackpool.

Tickets are only £10.00 and can be obtained from Kath Mason by either phoning or texting her on 07730 570688. All proceeds from the evening, which starts at 7.30pm, will go to The Len Johnrose Trust/MND.

Eamonn McNamara.

Of the twenty-seven fixtures scheduled to be played today, just two of them were played and we lost both Syndicate Trust Youth Cup semi-finals at Lightfoot Green, Fulwood.

A pitch inspection by Fulwood Amateurs at 8.30am resulted in one game being called off and the other being given the go ahead. However, by 10.00am when both teams and referee Keith Martin had arrived, the rain had been incessant for over an hour and it took less than five minutes for the referee to call the game off. Both clubs agreed despite travelling some considerable distance. Needless to say, half an hour later the rain had stopped, out came the sun and it was barbeque time.

The two Syndicate Trust Youth Cup semi-finals have been rescheduled to be played next Sunday 17 March at Lightfoot Green, kick off 11.00am.

This is an ideal opportunity to give a massive thank you to Fulwood Amateurs FC and their officials Paul Eastwood and Paul Watson who went out of their way to get the pitches fit for the two cup matches. These two guys fully understand the difficulties caused by postponements, they always manage to come up with a solution and we are grateful to them for that.

The two games played today were both in division 2 where Blackpool Town and AFC Preston drew 3-3. AFC Preston still lead the division by one point from Sir Tom Finney who have three games in hand and their opponents Blackpool Town are on a good run having lost just twice in the league since 28 October. Andy Harvie and Andrew Azzopardi (2) scored for Blackpool, Amir Toorawa (2) and an OG got the Preston goals. Fishwick Rangers beat Gregson Lane 4-3 at Moor Park to record their first win in the league since 30 August so they will be grateful to their scorers Mohammed Patel, Kasim Siddique and Wahab Alnalhli. Ethan Morgan, Ryan Morgan and Michael Gornall were on target for Gregson Lane.

Eamonn McNamara.

Physical Training: The Society provides physical training for its members at UCLan Sports Arena Training every Monday evening between 6.30-7.30pm except on Society Monthly Meeting nights when it will be brought forward to 6.00-7.00pm.

For further details about the physical training sessions please contact Paul Marsden here.

Lancashire Sunday Football League is always happy to accept new referees to its list of officials. If you have any enquiries about refereeing on the League or would like to be added to the list of officials, please contact the League’s Referee Manager Mark Moore here.

Mid Lancashire Football League operates on Saturday afternoons for Open Age clubs and they are also happy to accept new referees to its list of officials. If you have any enquiries about refereeing on the League or would like to be added to the list of officials, please contact the League’s Referee Secretary Tony Hawkes here.