League Statement Regarding Fixtures

This is an open letter to a small number of teams/individuals within the Norfolk Women’s and Girls Football League, following the release of the fixtures this week.

The NWGFL committee were left feeling dismayed and disillusioned following comments from certain quarters on social media. The committee have given up large portions of their summer to ensure the entire league setup is geared up for the new season; by way of creating fixtures, hosting meetings to discuss rule changes and a variety of other tasks that needed completing.

Not least of all contending with an ever-changing landscape; teams dropping out, teams wanting to enter after the constitution has been agreed or others wanting to move divisions. Rather than refusing these requests, the league committee do their very best to accommodate requests and try to fulfil our main objective – to nurture and grow the girl’s and women’s game in Norfolk.

Sometimes though, we have to say no. Either the request simply will not be feasible, or it’s too close to the start of the season and further amendments will delay the season even more.

On this occasion, the three Ladies 11’s divisions were reduced to 8 teams in a division due to late dropouts. Whilst not perfect, the decision was made within the committee to leave it as three divisions for a number of reasons:

• There are the Women’s Cup, League Cup and Plate competitions to add in
• Unfavourable winter weather nearly always results in several postponements every season, often making it incredibly difficult for the season to finish on time due to a fixture backlog.
• The last two seasons have been curtailed due to the ongoing pandemic, and there is no guarantee that this season will start and finish unaffected by COVID. Games may be postponed due to positive cases or isolation reasons.

By having some free weeks towards the end of the season, this gives flexibility should either of the bottom two scenarios become an issue.

The personal attacks on the character and integrity of the league and its committee members has left us saddened and angry, and furthermore were completely unnecessary. We recognise that not every decision we make will please everyone all the time, but there is absolutely no need for some of the comments that have surfaced over the last few days.

Not long ago the footballing community came together for a social media blackout to highlight the serious issue of online social media abuse. The very same teams and individuals that more than likely honoured that blackout were clearly happy to dish out abuse of their own when it suited them, with no regard to their intended targets.

Like any organisation or individual, we welcome constructive feedback. Together, we can continue to improve and grow the NWGFL into something we are all proud of.

NWGFL Committee