The home leg will be played on the 30th May, with the goal of playing in the Aviva Premiership, as the prize. London Welsh have already passed the minimum requirements to allow them to gain promotion, should they win the play-off. The first leg will be played on the 23rd May with both kick offs at 7.45. Both games will be shown live on Sky Sports.

London Welsh will lay on special travel arrangements for their own supporters for this final game of the 2012/12 season.

If London Welsh do get promotion, it is looking increasingly likely that the Kassam Stadium could become their new home. This is likely to upset many of their existing fans but, on the flip side it will open themselves to a whole new set of supporters. Currently the nearest two clubs to Oxfordshire are London Irish and London Wasps. The Kassam Stadium holds in excess of 12,000 supporters and has potential to expand, as it currently only has 3 stands.

Rugby has already been played at the Kassam before, as it hosted the Amlin Challenge cup finals back in 2002 and 2005. Firoz Kassam, who owns the stadium, has tried unsuccessfully, to lure London Wasps to have their base at the Kassam and would love to increase his revenue by having Welsh in Oxford.

The 2011/12 season will without doubt go down as the most memorable Premiership on record. It even surpasses the thrilling finish when Arsenal won the title at Anfield in 1988/89. Manchester City’s season swung dramatically in the final 3 minutes, giving them their first title in 44 years. But, how did your club do? Did your manager meet expectations or was he a complete flop?

1    Manchester City         Roberto Mancini    Job Safe     9/10
2    Manchester United    Alex Ferguson        Job Safe     8/10
3    Arsenal                         Arsene Wenger      Job Safe     7/10
4    Tottenham                   Harry Redknapp   JobSafe      8/10
5    Newcastle                     Alan Pardew          Job Safe     9.5/10
6    Chelsea                         Roberto di Matteo Caretaker  9/10
7    Everton                        David Moyes           Job Safe     9/10
8    Liverpool                      Kenny Dalgleish     In Talks     5/10
9    Fulham                         Martin Jol               Job Safe     8/10
10  West Brom                   Roy Hodgson          Departed   8.5/10
11   Swansea                       Brendan Rodgers   Job Safe    9.5/10
12   Norwich                       Paul Lambert         Job Safe     9.5/10
13   Sunderland                 Martin O’Neill         Job Safe     8/10
14   Stoke                           Tony Pullis              Job Safe     8/10
15   Wigan                          Roberto Martinez  Job Safe     9.5/10
16   Aston Villa                  Alex McLeish          Sacked        3/10
17   QPR                             Mark Hughes          Job Safe      7/10
18   Bolton                          Owen Coyle            Job Safe      5/10
19   Blackburn                   Steve Kean              In Doubt    4/10
20   Wolves                        Terry Connor          Replaced    2/10

All three sides that got promoted last season, from the Championship, will be enjoying life as a Premiership team in the 2012/13 season. So, their managers were over achievers but, will expect life to be a whole lot tougher next year. Their boards are likely to sanction larger transfer budgets, which will raise expectations. If they are hovering near the relegation zone around Christmas, expect to see some casualties.

Three men have already left their posts, Hodgson (England), McLeish (Sacked) and Connor (Sacked). Wolves have already appointed the relatively unknown Stale Solbakken. West Brom and Villa are on the hunt for a new manager, with Martinez likely to be at the top of most clubs list.

The highest achiever was undoubtedly Alan Pardew at Newcastle. How he has won over the fans is nothing short of a miracle. Voted the Barclays and LMA manager of the year, his value has clearly gone up but, he would be a fool to consider leaving St. James Park and taking on a bigger job.

Wigan have achieved the impossible and live to fight for another season. The role that Martinez has fullfilled, cannot be underestimated and Dave Whelan expects to be under pressure to retain his services, this Summer.

David Moyes is another that will be offered many top jobs, over the next few weeks. To help Everton finish 7th and above Liverpool, was remarkable. With no real transfer budget to speak of he unwittingly has added even more pressure on King Kenny at Liverpool.

Football is a funny game but, we expect to see Dalgleish stand down, with Martinez taking over the reigns. Steve Bruce will be the new Villa boss and West Brom will appoint Claudio Ranieri , Whilst Wigan will take their time before appointing an ex-player to take over.

The deputy CEO Paul Hunt, has seen his letter, sent to the club owners back in December, become available to the media. Is this a move to ensure he has a better chance of surviving the cull, which is sure to hit the Championship side? The letter expresses an urgent need to move Steve Kean out of the hot seat, in order to give Blackburn a better chance of survival.

The letter reads ….”Publicly I have been asked to support the manager and I always have as I personally like Steve (Kean). I have supported him from the start and have been desperate for him to do well. However, I am now of the opinion that it isn’t working and he is ready to go. He has lost the crowd and as a result of this game (at home to Bolton) has lost the dressing room as well – the players no longer want to play for him. It is a shame and disappointing but we must act now to save the club. The board should be asked their opinion in who should be the new manager.”

The one astonishing claim in this letter was that Kean had the support of the crowd. Through no fault of his own, he did not have the honeymoon period that other managers tend to get. The failure of the Venky’s to secure the services of a big name to replace Sam Allardyce, was always going to add further pressure on Steve Kean.

Now the fallout has begun, claims in today’s papers suggest Blackburn Rovers are very close to entering administration. If this is true, we find it almost impossible to imagine them returning to the Premiership at the first attempt. Lets hope we do not have another Premiership club that follows the route of Portsmouth. Blackburn will lose some of the big name players as they attempt to cut costs. They will surely depart with Steve Kean this Summer but the fans want and expect, the Venky’s to sell up too. That might be more difficult as the lure of buying a Championship club for £30 million is far less attractive than it was two weeks ago, when they still had a foot in the Premiership.

We found that asking the bowlers to quicken their approach or arm speed we lost accuracy and direction. In some cases we even decreased the pace at which the ball was being bowled. We then asked the players to revert back to their normal, rhythmical delivery approach and delivery, the accuracy returned. We hadn’t solved the problem of increasing the speed of delivery though.

We are big supporters of fast bowling guru Ian Pont and have delivered many a coaching session, based upon his findings. One main point we emphasize is to get the back leg working for the bowler. We used to suggest they should drive their back leg through during the delivery stride but, now feel it is more useful to stress the importance of driving the hip through. This ensures the back leg drives through, maintaining the energy during delivery. This one tip has helped our bowlers increase their pace without compromising their accuracy.

Secondly, we introduced the Platypus Speedball, to our elite and county players training sessions. Over 3 weeks, we used this ball, at the beginning and end of our sessions, to record the speed each player was capable of. Whilst working on the specific action and drive through of the hip, accuracy of length had to be maintained to record an accurate measurement. Couple this with the competition of wanting to be the fastest in the club, we were able to improve every players recording.

Our fastest bowler at the start of the 3 week course, was consistently recording speeds around 70mph (113kph). After week 3, we had improved that to an average of 76mph (122kph) and one delivery was recorded at 79mph. With more sessions and a little fitness work the high 70′s will be his normal delivery speed. We then work on trying to get him to bowl in excess of 80mph. This improvement was mirrored throughout the squad.

When the rain stops we may get to see these young fast bowlers, showing batsmen how quick they really are.

When we watch fast bowlers performing at the top of the game, we marvel at the accuracy and pace they can bowl at. We have tried to bowl fast in the nets but, always seem to get some sort of niggle that ensures the next few days are spend in agony. We do wonder though, how we compare to the speeds recorded, by our sporting heroes.

Most test sides have bowlers that bowl in excess of 90mph (144kph, effortlessly. So how close do we get to the likes of James Anderson and Stuart Broad. It may be our quickest delivery is struggling to beat the pace of Monty Panesar but, how can we check?

If you are friendly with a local traffic cop you may be able to get him to visit your club and speed check your clubs bowlers. This will likely be a one off as he is more likely to need his speed gun, to carry about his normal duties. Now there is another way of finding out how fast you bowl and you could do it every day of the week.

The new Platypus Speed Ball Cricket Ball is the very latest ball to hit the UK. It has a built in speed sensor that can record every delivery bowled. The ball has a fantastic raised seam to give the bowler the feel of a real cricket ball.

How does it work? First off set the distance you expect to pitch the delivery at. Then grip the ball and just bowl as fast as you can. The ball registers how fast from leaving the bowlers hand, to landing on the ground. If you have landed the ball around the area specified then the accurate speedo will register your speed in kph.

Many clubs are using this new ball as a training aid, to try to get more out of their fast bowlers. So, how fast can you bowl?

Look at the plight of the bottom 5 sides in the Premiership QPR, Wigan, Blackburn, Bolton and Wolves. Only 2 of these have changed their manager this season, of those that bit the bullet one has already been relegated, with the other surprising everyone. Wolves decided the services of Mick McCarthy, were no longer required and lined up a replacement. The unnamed replacement decided he didn’t want the job after all, so the Wolves owners had to go to assistant coach Terry Connor. This i am sure they regret as Wolves were relegated at the weekend. QPR surprised everyone when, in January, they sacked Neil Warnock and quickly appointed Mark Hughes. This has had a positive response from the fans and players with QPR now a few points above the relegation zone.

So mixed results prove that it doesn’t always work. Ask any Wolves fan and they will tell you if McCarthy had been in charge until the end of the season they would have stayed up. Although they weren’t saying that after the 5 nil home defeat to WBA. We will never know that to be true but, he did have more presence than his successor.

But what of the other teams in the relegation dog fight? Blackburn fans wish Steve Kean had been sacked long before Christmas and as the team were bottom of the table at Christmas, it did seem inevitable. The board decided to avoid the culling of the top man and it would seem, are quite happy to get relegated, with Kean in a strong position to bring Blackburn back up next year. Bolton and Owen Coyle, had the tragic circumstances of losing Fabrice Muamba for the remainder of the season, at least. This sympathy will help Bolton legend, Coyle retain the job into next season. How long he and Kean last depends upon the start they get next season.

Sunderland, did also make a dramatic sacking early in the season, when the board lost patience with Steve Bruce. They replaced him with Martin O’Neil and have had such a run of results that they still have an outside chance of a place in Europe. If they hadn’t made the change then would they also be in relegation battle? Footballs a funny old game.

If you are trying to get new or retain old sponsors, give a thought into why they should be involved with your club. Why not the club down the road? What benefits do your club offer to the sponsors? Before pursuing new deals, have a look at your existing ones and look at it from the sponsors perspective. Are THEY getting value for money?

Whether your club is involved in netball, football, rugby, cricket or any other sport, it is important to interact with the sponsor. Our local cricket club has just signed a new deal for Tiffins Tandori to become the main sponsor, for the next 3 years. The club get a 4 figure sum paid each year of the deal, so benefit from a cash injection and towards the huge costs of running a cricket club. Our sponsorship committee didn’t stop there though. They also asked one vital question…….What can we do for our sponsor?

Out the outset it was agreed to have the Tiffins logo on the front of match shirts.

It was also agreed to provide 2 advertising boards, at the ground and a weblink from the home page of the clubs website. It didn’t stop there though. The club asked the restaurant to provide food for the May bank holiday sponsored walk. Tiffins agreed to provide a buffet style menu and will charge a nominal amount to cover costs. Win/Win for both parties so far. Next, Tiffins came back to offer all members 20% off all food from the restaurant, eat in or take away. The club emailed this offer to all members and Tiffins foot fall has increased dramatically.

They have now agreed to fund a trophy for the new 6 a side tournament in June. So you see how a relationship can develop. Tiffins are extremely happy with the deal as are Abingdon Vale Cricket Club. Now the club must ensure they give maximum exposure to their main sponsor to help when renegotiating the contract in 3 years time.

So you see, by nurturing a relationship with local companies can reap huge rewards for your club. It also helps when talking to other sponsors as you have a proven track record and can show it is not a one way deal.

Finally, last week, AVCC went to the restaurant and presented the owner with a brand new match shirt, which they will get framed and hang just inside the entrance.

The 2011/12 Premiership would appear to be a 3 horse race, with Man City, Man Utd and Spurs all in contention. We have already spoken of how City might find it difficult to stay the pace and how Balotelli could either wreck or secure the Premiership for the first time. We still think United will end up on top, as many of their injured players are either returning to fitness or form. With Spurs though, they have already pushed harder than we could have expected. Their season could however, be changed today, as we await the verdict from Harry Redknapp’s trial.

With Fabio Capello voicing his anger of the removal of the captains armband, from John Terry, by The FA. It is evident that the press and certain quarters of The FA, are raising their campaign to have Capello removed from the hot seat. If they succeed, Redknapp will be the obvious choice as his replacement but, only if a not guilty verdict is returned from Southwark Crown Court. The FA are desperate for him to come out as a cleared man, as they have no viable alternative to succeed Capello following the Euro’s, this Summer.

If proven guilty, Redknapp will lose his chance to become the England manager at any time in the future. He may even be asked to stand down from his post at Spurs. If found to be not guilty however, the world is his oyster.

We also turned our thoughts to how only 2 managers have lost their job this season, in the Premiership, Steve Bruce and Neil Warnock. At this point, in past seasons, at least a quarter of the teams had changed manager. This year however, the chairmen seem to have exercised caution and patience, before changing the man in charge. We were sure there would have been 2 more during the transfer window, with Blackburn and Wigan both being prime candidates. But with the economy as it is, maybe the football chairmen are sticking with their current leader to save a multi-million pound settlement deal. Remember how important it was to get Villas Boas to the helm at Chelsea, it cost them £30 million. These were costs associated with paying off the outgoing manager and his current contract, maybe that is why Abramovich is sticking with him now.

Time will tell, whether they have made the right decision but, we do think it is refreshing that football managers are being given more time before the trigger is pulled.

The fund will have £50 million available over the five windows of application. Funding is available for projects which improve facilities for existing club members and it is not essential to show you will increase your membership base, when the project is complete. Grants of 20K to 50K will be awarded to any project proven worthy. This video shows how the Inspired Facilities scheme works and also has some insightful tips on how to structure your application

Inspired Facilities

The fund will have 5 rounds of applications, the 2nd of which opens for new applications on the 1st February 2012. It might be wise to have a look at the Inspired Facilities website to see how to make a worthwhile application. 

If you are looking for support with balls for your club, we are still running a very successful scheme called, Free Balls For Clubs. Many clubs need help with new equipment and this scheme is designed to support clubs when they are looking to buy new balls for matches or coaching.

England, over the last few years have proved time after time they have the skills and mental spirit to get through some tough challenges. They will have to dig deep now to be able to come out and compete in the 2nd test in Abu Dhabi, starting next Wednesday. They will need to bat better in that game. So, what do the team do in the 5 scheduled days before the start of the next test? With the early finish of the first test, they now have 7 days to work on a batting plan and to get themselves back into form. Geoff Boycott has suggested they are under prepared and should now quickly arrange one or two games in the hope our top six can return to form in a matter of days.

Time spent in the middle is far more relevant than nets. You can net for hours, days and weeks yet when your wicket is at risk, you bat differently. So i agree with Boyc’s, Andy Flower should be on the phone now hastily arranging venues and opposition, to ensure England can go to the final game with a chance of winning the series.

England have been well served by the top order, over the last few years and i fully expect them to come good. Fair play to Pakistan though, how they have transformed their side from the shambles that toured England back in 2010, is quite remarkable. England have always struggled to win cricket matches in the sub-continent, that is well reported, now we will find out how good they REALLY are. If they are the best test team in the world they will surely show that in the next two matches.

On a lighter note, whilst listening the David Lloyd on Sky he came out with this typical nugget. “Whilst flicking through the channels trying to find one of his favourite programmes, the Flinstones, he found out from a friend, that people in Dubai didn’t like the Flinstones. It ok though because Abu Dhabi Doo” As Bumble would say ‘Start the car’