Sport North East ISSUE 01 | Page 5

Northumberland FA “Stelrad have sponsored the NFA Minor Cup for the last fifteen years. We first got involved through Les Todd who was a Vice President of the NFA and who had been a friend and work colleague for many years. Stelrad are pleased to be involved in supporting local grass roots football and the Stelrad Minor Cup is an ideal vehicle to offer this support. Stelrad have a good relationship with the Northumberland Football Association and have agreed future sponsorship of the Minor Cup. In recent times the NFA have been extremely professional in their approach to their sponsors and we look forward to a continuing strong relationship.” Bob Armstrong, Stelrad SNE: Can you tell you more about the Fair Play Cup Final? SNE: How would you say 2018 has gone for you? allow the Association to kick on against all key performance indicators. AC: The Reeves Independent Fair Play Cup Final was devised alongside another one of our partners, Reeves Independent, whom lend its name to the Final, with the two adult male clubs with the best disciplinary records in Northumberland across the season making it to the overall final. The underlying ethos of the project is to encourage fair play within the game in Northumberland, everyone accepts that football is a highly competitive and sometimes very emotional game, however when that emotion spills over it invariably leads to ill- discipline. Through this partnership the overall winning club will receive a cash prize from Reeves Independent to recognise their achievement. This is a long term commitment with the trophy set to run for the next three years with the prize fund growing year on year from an initial £1,000 prize swelling to a sizeable £4,000 by season 2020/2021, money which will massively help the running costs of any adult male club at that level! JA: 2018 was an interesting year for our CFA and the wider grassroots game in general. As an organisation we became a registered charity with objectives set around health, well-being and education, it is hoped this status will supplement the work we already do in our local communities through football development. On the back of the much-publicised historical child abuse regulations which surfaced in late 2016, the FA took the unprecedented step of outsourcing the assessment of its own and all 50 county FA’s safeguarding compliance. The rigorous assessment really helped imbed safeguarding processes across all that we do as a County FA and I am sure the effect was felt in the clubs and leagues which operate under our jurisdiction. This assessment is currently being undertaken annually with our next one due by the time this article is printed. Furthermore, we have put in place a new workforce structure in line with our accepted business plan for the next four years which should SNE: What are your plans for 2019? JA: 2019 should be a great year for Northumberland FA, we have some exciting and innovative plans in place to really kick on as a business and most importantly as a facilitator of the game. At the end of the current season the Association will be hosting its inaugural grassroots football awards evening at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on 31st May. Two of our county cup sponsors, Reeves Independent and Techflow Marine, are kindly supporting the event alongside the hotel. It is also our privilege to be raising funds on the evening for the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, Sir Bobby is and always will be synonymous with football in the North-East therefore it seemed the logical choice to approach the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation in regards to fundraising on their behalf. AC: I believe 2019 will see Northumberland FA grow as a charity, for example, we are currently negotiating to provide free scholarships for 16-19 year olds across Northumberland. This would see the #REEVESGRASSROOTS Investing in the future www.reevesifa.com www.sportip.biz 5