Chairman Chat APRIL

Over the seasons I have done a few , one being us as a club winning an EA Sports competition that would see Port of Bristol Youth becoming a playable team on FIFA20. Unfortunately we could only have 25 players in our squad and parents needed to put the childrens name forward...needless to say the parents didn't disappoint.

One of our U12 teams have reached the U13 BSL League Cup Final, that is being held at the GFA Headquarters in Almondsbury, Thursday 12th May 19.30 ko.

They have played at an older age group the last three seasons and have excelled during this time and will be playing against Ashley Down U13, who actually won the league this season.

Under 14s
Last Sunday, I was able to watch our U14s who were involved in an excellent fixture against Portishead, knowing if they won they would guarantee themselves 2nd spot over their opposition.

Unfortunately the boys lost 2-1 in an end to end contest, which meant they now stand 3rd going into this weekend. All is not lost though, as they know if they win against Bristol Spartak next weekend and Portishead slip up against Nailsea, they will clinch runners-up.

This is a pretty amazing achievement given that they leapt two divisions either side of Covid-19 and want to carry on their progression and go into AYL Division 1 next season.

You may of seen a video circulating of our U15 celebrating winning the AYL Division 3 title two weekends ago, with two games to spare.

Well done to everyone involved, it is hard enough to win any league in football but they have done so by staying unbeaten, going into their final game of the season.

The team are playing at home Sunday morning, welcoming 3rd place Shirehampton Colts, 11.30 ko. 

Saturday morning sees the U16s playing at home against Bishop Road with the boys needing only a point to win BSL U16 Division. 

This has been a great season for the squad who also can look forward to a league cup final at GFA Headquarters, in Almondsbury

The boys are still flying high and sitting top of the pile, 9 points clear with 5 games. They have had a fantastic season so far and still in the cup, where they will meet a team sitting top of division 1 on Sunday, two leagues above.

We are well into the planning on this and will be starting both sessions on Wednesday 27th April, 17.00 - 18.00.

It is always exciting when we start these tots sessions, but as mentioned before there is going to be a difference as the groups are planned to be segregated as we look to get our girl section up and running.

After Match Food
During last month Port of Bristol Youth & PBA came to an agreement that would allow us to trial serving sausage and chips to all players BOTH home and away teams.

The initial response has been good, but we do need to ensure that a parent or coach is serving the food and the children aren't helping themselves as the trays are hot.

We are so lucky to be able to play our football in such a nice setting and with summer training coming why not save money throughout this time buy purchasing a Loyalty Card.

People from our teams are spending more time there and generally socialising more on site since the new committee have been formed we want to keep building this new productive relationship with them.

Payment can be made directly at the bar and you will be given a loyalty card in around 7 days, but will recieve the benefits straight away. On a pint you will save around 50p (£1.00 happy hour) and receive many other benefits around hall hire and functions the PBA put on. 

This is approaching really fast, now that everyones season is coming to a close and we anticipate it to be the most successful yet. We have over 120 teams visiting over the two days, coming from far and wide...Birmingham, Devon, Somerset and Reading to name a few and we can't wait to host everybody.

We will also have for the first time, an online interactive programme where spectators and coaches can keep up to date with the tournament as it progresses throughout the day.

More updates and information will come as we get closer.

Being held slightly later than usual, Saturday 2nd July 2022, we cannot wait to celebrate our players achievements from the 2021-22 season.

As always, we want players to look the same, so no one is different and a white shirt will be expected along with their purple players tie. Coaches will be have black ties provided with the club crest on the front.

We always give back to the kids, whether its the use of the £20.50 signing fee that partly paid for a full new kit, or in previous year when it paid for a ¾ zip track jacket or training kit. Club gifts, Christmas Parties, club tie for presentation or even the Player of the Week trophies we are unique club that do thing differently to the many others, 

Some of you may of seen the below video posted a few weeks back and this was just a small insight of what people do for this amazing club to ensure it functions the best it can by volunteers.

Please support us, even if it is turning up and supporting your child from the sidelines and being positive as a lot of time and effort goes into it.

How we conduct ourselves in and around the club as parents, spectators and coaches will give the players the best chance to succeed both on and off the pitch...we are all here on this journey to better the lives of the children.

Until next time, Chris