Thanks to everyone who attended our AGM this evening. It was a very positive and productive meeting and we appreciate the input and support from everyone who took part.
Leixlip United AFC AGM 14th June 2023 - Chairman’s address
Another AGM comes around and it does not seem like a year has passed since the last one. This time last year, we were looking forward to the commencement of work on our second astro pitch and the refurbishment of our existing astro. Twelve months later and we are still looking forward to work commencing on our second astro!
A combination of different things resulted in the work on the second astro being delayed but thankfully work finally recommenced this week. The planned completion date for this work is late August/early September but as we have seen in the last twelve months this is not an exact science. What we can say with certainty is that the second astro will be a huge plus for us with training and games.
I would like to thank Dave Dolan and Paula Flood in particular for the huge amount of time and effort they have put into this project over the last 18 months and also to Joe McGing for all his work obtaining the loan and sorting out issues with trustees.
There is no doubt this last season has been very challenging for us all; from a lack of space for training to not enough pitches at weekends for home games to be played. I would like to thank all of our managers for your patience and cooperation during this time. It has not been easy and we have had a few contentious moments borne out of frustration but we got through it. In that regard I must put on record our thanks to Colaiste Chiarain for the use of their 9-a-side pitch and their indoor facilities for training during those dark evenings of winter.
On the pitch we had a mixed season in the senior men's section, our first team were relegated, our second team won their league and our third team struggled for much of their season but did reach the semi final of their league cup only to lose out by the odd goal in three. Our first team manager left midway through the season and his replacement was left with a difficult situation that despite his best efforts he was unable to lift us out of the relegation places. He has also decided to step away from the first team at the end of the season. I would like to put on record the club's appreciation for the efforts of Brendan Boylan and Justin Mason in managing the first team this season. We are in the process of appointing a new first team manager at this time and we hope to make an announcement very shortly. It will not be easy to do but we are determined to put a competitive team on the pitch in the coming seasons.
Our schoolboy section did very well in some areas. We won leagues at 12C and 14B which were great achievements. Our 17B team won their league cup and just fell short by one point to take the league title. Our 8s and 9s were very competitive in their leagues and we look forward to seeing how they progress next season. On the down side, unfortunately none of our premier or A sides were competitive in the cup competitions or in their leagues. In fact, quite a few of them were in relegation battles. I know how hard it is to be competitive in these higher divisions but for a club that has won two All-Ireland cups in the last five years this has to be considered a major disappointment. We will renew our efforts to help our Premier and A teams be more competitive.
We now have two senior ladies teams and again like the senior men it was a mixed season. The first ladies team suffered relegation but the second team reached a cup final only to lose narrowly to our arch rivals Liffey Bank. We do have a lot of young players coming through in the ladies and we would hope in the coming years we would be in a much stronger position.
Our schoolgirl section has simply exploded and with the upcoming world cup we can expect another Influx of young girls. Our under 15 girls had a very successful season and have won promotion to 16A next year. The 17s also had a very good season getting to a cup final and also achieving promotion. Our younger girls were all very competitive in their respective leagues and I think we can look forward to a few more leagues and cups coming our way.
We have some great managers and coaches in both boys and girls but as always, we need more support, so please encourage any potential Pep's or Vera's to get involved. As stated, the building work has started this week and with that comes the restrictions on training and so forth. This is officially the off season for schoolboys, schoolgirls and the senior men so maybe consider taking a little break until at least July to give us a chance to do some remedial work on our grass areas.
I personally want to thank each and every one of our Executive Committee, our managers and coaches for all their hard work over the last12 months. To our Fixtures secretaries Martin Scanlon, Austin Hutton, Dave Kelly, Naomi Curran and Deirdre Chamoui for all their hard work over the last 12 months.
This is a great club with great people in it and long may that continue.
