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LEIGHTON AND DISTRICT SUNDAY LEAGUE
It's Sunday morning, freezing cold, rain lashing down, just the sort of weather which sees most sensible folk shiver and turn over for their well-deserved lie-in. But in the Leighton and District Sunday League around 600 foolhardy souls are all raring to go, putting up nets, getting the kit together, the PR spray, liniment, half-time orange juice and dashing round town to drag the reluctant few out of bed and at half-past 10, referees flex their little red and yellow cards then blow those shiny metal whistles for the first time of the day and the parks burst into life.
The League's five divisions are made up of 50 teams which cover all aspects of Sunday morning football. Pub teams, works teams, mad mates, serious athletes, those looking for any excuse for a kick about and those who really want to go pot-hunting, the action centers on Leighton Buzzard and stretches out to Aylesbury, Milton Keynes and Dunstable and all the places in between. And generally a good time is had by all the players, refs, club officials, supporters, league officers - even the poor soul lumbered with unrolling the mud-encrusted socks and gingerly picking out the sweaty jockstraps before shoving the whole kit in the washing machine doesn't mind all that much!
From the day in the summer of 1969 when a group of chaps sat round the table in Jack Jones' kitchen deciding which post each would have on the committee of the new league, it has gone from strength to strength.
Such is the league's reputation as a friendly organization, run by a dedicated executive committee who are strict but fair, that both teams and referees are clamoring to join with some from the wilds of Luton now sneaking over the border to take part.
One particular strength is continuity, with the late Jack Jones immortalized by giving his name to the League Cup competition, and Alan Richardson, who started off as league secretary then became the long-serving chairman, is still here 33 years later and has just taken the opportunity to put his head in the firing line and become league chairman again, and Pete Matthews, the man who built the league's enviable reputation for looking after the chaps (and chapesses!) players love to hate during more than 20 years as match and referees' secretary, is also still very much in contact as a life vice-president. Even league treasurer Terry Turrell has been looking after the finances for a quarter of a century and "new boy" Dennis Jackson has been vice-chairman and chairman for almost a decade! And has just become the first president of the league after stepping down from his chairman’s role.
Many of the clubs have kept faith with the league too Oldhill Glider and Houghton Park to name but a few.
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LEAGUE CREST
League Sponsors:
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