As parents/carers may have seen from an earlier post I put on the club website, I raised concerns with Ralph Allen School last week about the gaps between the guard rails on the balcony in the sportshall, as it seemed to me that a young child could easily fall through them, causing serious injury.

The school’s initial reaction was that they would lock the door leading to the balcony to prevent access and so avoid the possible risks. I argued that it would be better to just make safe the guard rails as the balcony was a very useful facility and shutting it off would create other difficulties with more young children in the sportshall during training.

The school agreed to look into things and get back to me.They have now done that and have decided that, initially at least, the balcony will be closed off. They do intend to look further into making the guard rails safer for young children (they were apparently designed to be safe for children of 11+) , but this will have to be done in such a way that properly meets relevant health and safety regulations. Denial of access to the balcony and to the boys toilet there is a nuisance, but I really think it is a case of better safe than sorry. (There is still a toilet available for use in the Girls’ changing room downstairs. However, as this will now need to be used by males and females on training nights, would everyone please do so with discretion!)

If or when the school decides to reopen the balcony to us, parents/carers will be advised. In the meantime, if the siblings of U8s and U9s players are brought to the sportshall while training is going on, would parents/carers please ensure that they are closely supervised, so as to avoid any accidents and also avoid any disruption to training. Thank you for your assistance.

Best wishes, Tony Day Co-chairman LAYFC

As next week is half-term, there will be no training at Ralph Allen School for the U8s (or younger children).

Training will resume on Wednesday, 31 October (from 6.00 to 7.00).

But please remember the U8s’ matches on 27 October, away to Marlborough. See separate posts on this website for further details on that.

Best wishes, Tony Day Co-chairman LAYFC

The U8s’ next fixture  - for both teams - is away to Marlborough Town on Saturday, 27 October, with one team’s game kicking-off at 10:00 and our other team’s game kicking-off at 11:00. Once all players’ registration forms have been received and processed by the League, I or other coaches will confirm which child is playing in which team. Also, nearer the time of the Marlborough games, we will confirm meet and travel arrangements.

In the meantime, please put this date in your diary. A full list of fixtures will be published on this website as soon as all fixtures have been agreed.

Best wishes, Tony Day, Co-chairman, LAYFC

Just a reminder of the information phoned through to most parents/carers on Friday…..

The U8s’ first games will be played this Sunday afternoon at Kingswood School Upper Playing Fields against Melksham Park. The plan was that both our two teams - The Falcons and The Eagles - would each play a game, with the first starting at 2:30 and the second at 3:30.

That will still hopefully happen, but because several players are unavailable, it has been necessary to draft in some of the younger players who have been playing for the U9s (as they were temporarily short!). However, I believe we will have at least eight players and maybe ten. So even if we only have eight, we could still play two games with some of our players playing in both games (which are 5 a side). Steve Retford will be looking after the players and he will agree with the Melksham Park coach whether it will be best to play one or two games - hopefully two.

Please be sure to arrive by 2:15pm.  Thank you.

Best wishes, Tony Day Co-chairman LAYFC

Please note that U8s training will be at Lansdown again this Wednesday from 6.00pm to 7.00pm.

Arrangements have been made for the U8s to move indoors (to the warm!) in Ralph Allen School’s sportshall on Wednesdays from 6.00pm to 7.00pm. However, Steve Retford was unaware of this arrangement until after training last week and so advised players that training would continue at Lansdown for this week.

Indoor training at Ralph Allen School will therefore start next Wednesday, 10 October.

Best wishes, Tony Day, Co-chairman LAYFC