Some changes at Asterix Reds...

This mail is to inform you of a couple of changes at the club.

Confirmation of Andy Johnston as Team Coach

I have decided to hand over my coaching responsibilities to Andy Johnston.  The reasons for this are two-fold.  Firstly, Andy does not fulfill the age requirements and is unable to play in league and cup games this season.  He does though, want to be involved in the team.  Additionally, I am recovering well - albeit very slowly - from my injury and hope to be able to start playing in January.  To play and coach the team would be too much.  I discussed this with Ian and we agreed that having Andy as coach would be the right thing to do for Andy and for the team.  I've enjoyed my brief spell doing the warm ups and shouting from the sidelines (don't expect the latter to stop) but I am pleased to hand this to Andy.  As you know Andy is a qualified Football Association coach and will be a great asset to our team.  I'll continue to manage the league matters, match reports and send the invites etc but will hand over the warm ups, team talks etc to Andy.  Andy will also select the team along with the captain, vice captain and me.

Player departures

We'll be very sorry to lose two members of the squad at the end of this year.  Stef will relocate to Beijing with his family.  Tony Prove will repatriate with his family to his home town of Maryborough in Queensland.  Both have been stalwarts for the Asterix Reds.  Stef joined us last season and was like a rock at the back; always competitive and never giving an inch to an opponent.  Tony has had 3 or 4 seasons with the Asterix Reds and has been voted player's player of the season for the past two years.  This sums up his massive contribution to the team.  Most importantly, both were complete gentlemen and a pleasure to play alongside.   We'll be sorry to see them both go and wish them and their families well.

However, every cloud has a silver lining.  And in this case it's a massive night out on the beers.  In Tony and Stef's honour we'll organise a leaving party.  The date shall be Friday December 14.  We'll seek to play a friendly that evening (Tony and Stef will both play up front) and have a team night out afterwards.  Mark your calendars.

Nominations for Vice Captain

Tony's departure not only deprives us of a great player but also our Vice Captain.  The vice captain plays a leadership role on the field, selects the team and captains the team when the captain is not playing.  I'd like to ask the players to send nominations to me for Vice Captain.  I'll share the nominations with Ian and Andy  and we'll appoint the Vice Captain accordingly.