This week I mopped up dogs wee, got angry with a learner driver and took a mud bath

There were unfortunately no Six Nations matches this week, so no Saturday drama. You would have expected then, that with a bit more free time on my hands that I would have got a few things done, maybe do some shopping or go out etc. But instead I stayed in, forgot to do my fantasy team, forgot to watch United’s defeat at Everton (spared I think!) and instead marvelled at the ski-jumpers on the red button, one of which had the unfortunate surname that you only seem to get in the summer or winter Olympics. I’ll leave his name to your imagination, but based on his poor overall ranking, his surname reflected his performance.

Mid-week training this week was relatively uneventful with no Monkey Matt antics to be seen anywhere. We did have a lights out moment, where the WIS accidentally turned off the floodlights, which seemed to work in our favour as we managed to get nearly 2 hours in total on the pitch. Two of the newer dragons weren’t bothered by the power shortage though and continued to play in the dark, I actually thought they played better than usual! It also didn’t go unnoticed in the fitness section that half the squad avoided doing the last sprinting repetition. Extra sprints this week I think!

The highlight of the week was clearly the match v London Falcons, who seemed to take in their stride the fact we changed venues, treated them to a Cardiff mud bath and had no showers for them at the end. I suppose they knew what to expect as the last encounter in Cardiff was equally as messy. It was a shame about the result on the day and it was unfortunate that we really couldn’t play any of the football we are capable of on such a muddy pitch, but there were some positives on the day. For one, I don’t think i’ve ever seen a goalkeeper save two penalties on their debut. Big thanks to all the supporters, players, the Falcons and the backroom staff who made the day a little bit better and many thanks to Jerry for getting his shoes muddy to help get the nets down.

Congratulations this week go to Darrin ’15-1′ Hughes who won the King’s Cross Monday night quiz. I wasn’t actually present so he may have had a little bit of help from some other people but well done Darrin on your victory. Spend your £25 in the King’s wisely! I’m hoping to get down to the quiz this week, but after writing this, I doubt the other team members will let me!

David Keith had the unfortunate job of washing the kit this week after that very muddy event that was apparently a football match. The thought of an angry Scotsman cursing at whoever decided to get white shorts and socks whilst scrubbing muddy gussets is one which will stay with me forever! Unfortunately, there will have only been very mild cursing as David took the easy way out and took the kit in for a service wash.

Muzz

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News

An eventful week on the pitch this weekend saw Dragons loose 2 – 0 to London Falcons FC on what can only be described as a mud bath!! A fantastic effort was made by the whole team in what is the worst result for Falcons this season. They are currently running away with the league and remain undefeated. Everyone played their hearts out in very difficult conditions and we should all be very proud. Jason’s match report will shortly be uploaded to the new website. Keep your eyes peeled for the managers viewpoint.

A special mention has to go to Chris Brook who made his first appearance in goals for the Dragons and capped off his Dragon of the Day performance with not one but two amazing penalty saves. Well done Chris!!

The match had to be moved to another pitch at very short notice due to the University Fields being called off. A big thank you to Muzz, Dave Keith, Dave Amos and Jason Cousins for dealing with this quickly under difficult circumstances.

EGM, Due to the match being cancelled at the University Fields and the subsequent hunt for an alternative pitch, the EGM unfortunately had to be postponed. I am sure you can all appreciate under the circumstances this could not be helped.The EGM will take place again shortly. More information regarding this will be sent out by the Chairperson, Ray Wilson in the coming week. If you have any questions about this please email Ray ( chairperson@cardiffdragonsfc.co.uk )

Kit Check,We are about to carry out a full check of all our kit (shirts, shorts, socks and gloves) to ensure that we haven’t lost any over the last few matches. We’ve accumulated a significant amount of kit in our 18 months of existence – 38 shirts, 37 pairs of shorts, and 74 socks – and it’s not easy keeping track of where everything is.

It would therefore be much appreciated if all members could check if they have accidentally taken any club kit home with them. Kit should always be returned immediately after use, but there may be the odd bit that you’ve stuck in your bag by mistake. If you have any, please return it (cleaned) to David Keith at training this week.

On the plus side, the kitbag has managed to mysteriously acquire a grey pair of pants and one black sock. If anyone would like to claim these, please see David this week or they will be disposed of in a way that minimises harm to the environment.

Dave Keith ( treasurer@cardiffdragonsfc.co.uk )

Jerry and Graeme are shortly off to Newcastle to represent Cardiff in the 10 a side Hadrians Cup. Jerry also would like to thank the Dragons for boosting numbers at rugby training recently. Cardiff Lions are our equivalent for rugby (and very good too) and if anyone is interest in joining them please speak to Jerry or Graeme and they will be happy to help.

Football News

Thurday 25th February 2010 – 9:30pm – Training @ Gol

Training this midweek takes the form of 5 a side. We have booked GOL at Lawrenny Avenue, Canton, Cardiff. CF11 8BR. On Thursday 25.2.2010 from 9.30pm to 10.30pm if possible try and be there for 9.15pm

Sunday 28th February 2010 – 1pm – Training @ Blackweir Fields

Training will be back this Sunday at Blackweir Fields. Come for training and a kick-about and stay for a drink in the Blackweir Tavern afterwards. Training will run until approximately 4pm, and it will be great to see as many of you as possible there.

Sunday 14th March 2010 – Leeds 5-a-side Tournament – DEADLINE SUNDAY

This is the final week for members interested in going to Leeds. We have two teams entered and there are still places left, so get your forms in. Players will first of all be chosen on a first come first served basis, so get your form in NOW. The availability form is attached. Please return this form to Murray (afm11s@cardiffdragonsfc.co.uk). The deadline for returning forms for this tournament is Sunday 28th March 2010

Sunday 4th April 2010 – GFSN League: Edinburgh Hotscots v Cardiff Dragons FC @ Edinburgh – DEADLINE SUNDAY

The minibus is nearly full, and we need to know what those still deciding are doing This Week. David Keith is collecting deposits of £10. The form is attached and should be returned to Murray (afm11s@cardiffdragonsfc.co.uk) ASAP. By Sunday 28th February (STRICT DEADLINE), we want to have all forms returned and ALL deposits paid. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any issues you wish to discuss regarding the trip.

We will be travelling up on Saturday and returning on Monday (2 nights). We have decided to take a minibus for this trip as it will keep costs down. The expected cost of the minibus will be £30 each (if full) and the expected cost of accommodation will be £48. If we don’t hear from you this week then you may have to make your own arrangements.

31st July – 7th August 2010 – Gay Games: Cologne

We have had a few offers this week of places in teams in Cologne, please contact us quickly if you are interesting on joining up with another team. Please contact Murray (afm11s@cardiffdragonsfc.co.uk) or Ray (chairperson@cardiffdragonsfc.co.uk) for further details as we can help you get to Cologne.

In Other News

Get Well Soon goes to Jim who unfortunately broke his leg in a training session. We all wish him a speedy recovery and hope to see him soon.

Social

This Monday saw some Dragons take part in Monday Night Quiz at Kings Cross again.

For the third week running Dragons took part in this quiz. This time taking our impressive run of two second places to two second places and Winners!! That’s right, we won!! If you would like to come down and join in the fun then please do. We meet at the Kings Cross around 8:15 ish every Monday. Will be great to see more people down there and maybe get a two Dragons teams down there competing with each other. Also a congratulations to Jordan Wall on winning himself a bottle of Bacardi!!

We are going to be having a coffee night at A Shot In The Dark, on City Road, on 24th March. Jason did have a bit of a mix up on Wednesday nights training and announce this for the 24th Feb. If anyone fancies holding an unofficial social that night as well please do. It is a nice relaxed social event. Details to come nearer the time.

Please get in touch with Richie Jones( welfaresocial@cardiffdragonsfc.co.uk ) for more information or to put forward your ideas and suggestions for future socials.

Fundraising

With no special events until Easter, why not treat yourself to a pressie (or buy me one!). Don’t forget to buy through http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/cdfc .You can register free, select Cardiff Dragons Football Club as the organisation you wish to support and shop at all your favourite online shops. A donation is made to the club from the shop with every purchase you make at no extra cost to yourself.

Featured shop of the week is:

Raise funds with Tesco Groceries

£2.50 Donation

£10 OFF From TESCO GROCERIES

Get £10 OFF your first online shop when you spend £50 or more on Groceries! Enter the eVoucher code ‘XXAFFT’ at checkout.

OFFER EXPIRES: 28-February-2010

You can also choose from over 2000 of the UK’s best-known retailers including many popular names such as Next, Argos, Debenhams, John Lewis and HMV

Don’t forget John Bladen is now in charge of fundraising so any ideas or suggestions for fundraising then please feel free to email him ( financefundraising@cardiffdragonsfc.co.uk )

In Other News

Captains Log

“This week I mopped up dogs wee, got angry with a learner driver and took a mud bath”

Muzz’s Captains Log will be uploaded weekly onto the new website www.cardiffdragonsfc.co.uk. Check it out there.

Video of the week:

The fantasy football, well done to Ed Lyons for being the highest scorer this week with 56 points, extending his lead at the top of the league. I think he is cheating somehow, he must be!! No six nations this week so Mark is still top of the Six Nations Prediction Game, leading from Jerry in second place.

Have an awesome week!!

Anthony Read

Press & Marketing

pressmarketing@cardiffdragonsfc.co.uk

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After a last minute venue switch the Dragons entertained London Falcons in what was the Dragons first GFSN League match of 2010.

The game was played in difficult conditions on a very muddy pitch and thus it was a struggle for both teams to play much cohesive football.  This was evident from the first few minutes with both sides trying to get the ball wide to make best effect of the playing surface. Both teams had early chances the visitors testing Chris Seabrook who was making his debut  but he was equal to the task. At the other end Chris Crimmins headed just wide from a good cross from the left. As the game settled the Falcons began to put together some good moves down both flanks and it was from one of these that they took the lead. The goal resulted when a deep cross from the left wing was not dealt with by the Dragons defence allowing a Falcons forward space to place a good header into the opposite corner of the net. Dragons had a great chance to level a few minutes later from one of many forceful runs from Stefan Morgan which found him in on goal but although his shot found the target it was well gathered by the visiting keeper. From the restart Dragons could have found themselves 2-0 down following a penalty award for a trip but Seabrook gathered well from the spot kick. Both sides forced corners towards the end of the half but there was no addition to the score line as Falcons went into the break 1-0 up.

The second period was a scrappy affair as the pitch continued to cut up badly but both sides persevered in the conditions. The visitors gained the crucial second goal midway through the half when a low ball across the box was not cleared allowing a Falcons player to shoot low into the corner. With the conditions causing mistakes there were further chances for the Dragons from Stefan and Chris C who shot just over from a free kick and for the Falcons with Seabrook making a couple of good blocks then saving his second penalty of the afternoon late in the game. There was no addition to the scoring however as Falcons maintained their winning run at the top of the League.

Thanks for another excellent turn out of Dragons supporters who cheered the team on throughout.

Dragons : Chris Seabrook, Amy Johnson, Murray Harvey (capt), Germain Cedric, Ray Wilson, Stefan Morgan, Edwin Lyons, Samuel Ashton, Anthony Read (vice capt), Mark Biggs, Chris Crimmins, Hywel Jones, Aris Dasilva, Lucas Owen, John Ainsley, Darrin Hughes.

Front page image courtesy of Matthew Latham

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News

Website: This week has seen the launch of our brand new shiny website. Our very own Matt Jones has committed a lot of time and skill in doing this and has done an absolutely amazing job.

Over the coming weeks we will be uploading more and more content. If you have any suggestions or ideas please drop me a line ( secretary@cardiffdragonsfc.co.uk )

This week Kick It Out have launched a film aimed at tackling homophobic abuse in football. Made in Conjunction with The FA and produced by Ogilvy. I am sure this is an issue close to many of our hearts and it is great to see initiatives taken to try and stamp this out. After all, we all just want to enjoy the beautiful game!! Please check it out here:

http://cardiffdragonsfc.co.uk/?page_id=236

(Warning contains language and gestures some viewers may find distressing or offensive)

EGM: Don’t forget an EGM has been called for the 21st Feb, before the London Falcons game. This is to elect a new secretary. The application forms for this role have been sent out, If you did not receive this then please get in touch ( secretary@cardiffdragonsfc.co.uk ) and I will send you out one. If you would like more information regarding the role, please get in contact with anyone from the committee who will be happy to help.

Football News

Wednesday 17th February 2010 – 8:30pm – Cardiff Dragons FC Team Meeting and 11-a-side Match @ Sophia Gardens

This week we will be preparing for the match against London Falcons and we require everybody’s help. We will be conducting a team meeting at Y Mocyn Ddu pub at 8:30pm in the Sophia Garden complex where we will discuss the game and tactics for the weekend. We will then be aiming to play an 11-a-side match against each other on the AstroTurf at 9pm onwards. We need everybody available to make their way down for the 11-a-side game. It will be a fun game and a great opportunity to enjoy and to impress the management team in a match situation also. If you do not wish to attend the team meeting, then the match will begin as soon as possible after 9pm. We understand that on Wednesday it is Champions League 2nd Round, but please do your best to make it down, we all will miss it too!

Next week we will be working on 5-a-side training at Gol Centre on Thursday night ahead of the Leeds Tournament on March 14th.

Sunday 21st February 2010 – 2pm – Cardiff Dragons FC v London Falcons – GFSN League @ University Fields, Llanrumney

Cardiff Dragons will be playing our first match of 2010 vs London Falcons, the current league leaders. We would love to see as many members there as possible to support us. We will also be out in town on Saturday night having a few drinks and unwinding before the big game, meeting in the Kings Cross at 8:30pm. The plan is to meet for the match at Uni Fields at12:30pm as we will also be conducting an EGM to elect a new club secretary. To cover the cost of the pitch and referee we will be asking for £5 subs. Further details of the day will follow.

Sunday 14th March 2010 – Leeds 5-a-side Tournament

Availability forms are now out for the Leeds 5-a-side tournament weekend. We haven’t had much response at present so could people try to get forms back ASAP. We are hoping to field 2-3 teams as we did last year, the event is good fun and the night out on Saturday is also worth attending. The availability form is attached. Please return this form to Murray (afm11s@cardiffdragonsfc.co.uk). The deadline for returning forms for this tournament is Sunday 28th March 2010. We may be limited to the number of teams we can enter so please respond as soon as possible before the deadline to guarantee your place in a team.

Sunday 4th April 2010 – GFSN League: Edinburgh Hotscots v Cardiff Dragons FC @ Edinburgh

We are still awaiting on quite few availability forms for the trip to Edinburgh. The form is attached and should be returned to Murray (afm11s@cardiffdragonsfc.co.uk) ASAP. By Sunday 28th February, we have to have all forms returned and a deposit of £25. David Keith will start collecting deposits on Wednesday night. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any issues you wish to discuss regarding the trip.

We will be travelling up on Saturday and returning on Monday (2 nights). We have decided to take a minibus for this trip as it will keep costs down. Big thanks to Amy who has volunteered to do the driving for this event.

We are encouraging people to support the minibus as the more people we can get onto it, the cheaper it will be. The expected cost of the minibus will be £30 each (if full) and the expected cost of accommodation will be £48. This should be the big event in the Dragons year, an outing to Scotland, hopefully as many people as possible can attend.

31st July – 7th August 2010 – Gay Games: Cologne

We will not be sending a team to Cologne this summer. If individuals are interested in travelling to Cologne and either supporting or participating in the tournament, they will ultimately need to make their own arrangements. Please contact Murray (afm11s@cardiffdragonsfc.co.uk) or Ray (chairperson@cardiffdragonsfc.co.uk) for further details as we can help you get to Cologne. We are confident we will be able to hook people up with other clubs from the GFSN to compete in the event.

Other

We will be trialling 5-a-side on Tuesday night in the coming weeks, the idea being to offer 5-a-side on a Tuesday and 11-a-side on a Thursday.

Kit Check – we are carrying out an equipment and kit check this week, if you have any items hanging around by accident please make us aware.

We have selected the squad for the London Falcons match, the squad and team will be announced in the next few days.

Social

The Dragons had their first Anti-valentines social on Saturday night, when a selection of sad, single Dragons went for a curry at Radhuny, on City Road. A good night was had by all (and far too much food!). These events give everyone an opportunity to relax and have fun so please come along whenever your free to our many social nights.

Last Monday, Jason led a Cardiff Dragons Quiz team at the Monday Night Quiz at Kings Cross. They managed to come in second place, if anyone thinks they can help them win or just wants to take part, then meet the team at Kings Cross at 8pm

We are going to be having a coffee night at A Shot In The Dark, on City Road, on 24th March. It has been over a year since we were last there, but it is a fun night and a great chance to chat. Details to come nearer the time.

Please get in touch with Richie Jones( welfaresocial@cardiffdragonsfc.co.uk ) for more information or to put forward your ideas and suggestions for future socials.

Fundraising

Valentines day has gone. Now you can spend your hard earned money on the most important person, yourself. Don’t forget to buy through http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/cdfc .You can register free, select Cardiff Dragons Football Club as the organisation you wish to support and shop at all your favourite online shops. A donation is made to the club from the shop with every purchase you make at no extra cost to yourself.

Featured shops for this week are:

Right now many of the big name car insurers are offering some fantastic deals matched with some very generous donations so whether they’re still driving round in their old banger or have splashed out on a brand new motor, your supporters can find the best deals and the biggest donations with easyfundraising.

Offers include:

• Churchill – save 10% online…£35 donation
• Direct Line – 52 days worth of free cover…£35 donation
• Aviva – 12 months car insurance for the price of 10 and an increased donation of £42.50 until the end of February
• HSBC Car Insurance – £30 cashback plus £20 donation

You can also choose from over 2000 of the UK’s best-known retailers including many popular names such as Next, Argos, Debenhams, John Lewis and HMV

In Other News

Full credit has to go to Matt Jones this week. For not only has he done the new website, but on Wednesday night he became GI JONES!! After a ball cleared the fence at training Matt crawled on all fours through the undergrowth and scaled trees like they were nothing in a bid to retrieve said ball. With helpful assistance of myself and Dave Keith (we pointed and laughed!!) Matt managed to come back with three new footballs (unfortunately not the original one) and no injuries!!

Captains Log

“This week I rescued a homeless person from the cold, had a conversation about welsh poetry and got flashed by a speed camera going 34mph”

Muzz’s Captains Log will be uploaded weekly onto the new website www.cardiffdragonsfc.co.uk. Check it out there.

Video of the week:

Fantasy Football: Well done to Mark Biggs for being the highest scorer this week with 50 points. At the top of the league Ed is now only 98 points ahead from Anthony Read (Me)!! I think he is starting to worry!! And another well done to Mark, this time he is first place on the Six Nations Prediction Game, leading from Jerry in second place.

That’s all for this week folks.

Have an awesome week!!

Venido en Dragones!!!

–

Anthony Read

Secretary

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This week I rescued a homeless person from the cold, had a conversation about welsh poetry and got flashed by a speed camera going 34mph

Matt Monkey Jones was reunited with nature on Wednesday when he went to try to find a lost ball in the bushes, somehow he managed to find 3, all of which were rubbish and not the ball he was looking for. Credit goes to Mark for the wayward shot!

On Sunday we had valentines training in the sun, we were uncertain of turnout, so we had another cone / pole fest and put up the two nets, one of which we didn’t use at all! We had a good session though, one member clearly has issues with the way the club is run, as he injured the chairperson not once but twice.

Had an amazing afternoon on Saturday, when Wales were getting beaten by Scotland. After losing to England the previous week, it felt as though we were back to our old ways after a decent couple of Six Nations seasons. I’d given up on the game and briefly gone elsewhere in the house, but thought i’d sit back down just in case. Little did I know what was to unfold, Shane Williams scoring in the 82nd minute in dramatic fashion to win the match when we looked dead and buried. My Scottish roots count for nothing when Wales are playing believe me!

In the evening I joined the other sad and single members of the club for an Anti-Valentines dinner. We eventually went to a curry house on City Road, after having to wait 45 minutes for a table. We had a nice meal and a good night. Nearing the end of my meal I looked to my left and saw what looked like a couple who had had a valentines dinner, but clearly had nothing to say to each other, both staring into space uninterested. Clearly Jason and Amos have no spark for each other at all!

On Sunday afternoon we had a very difficult football meeting,  where we had to select the squad for the Falcons match. To do this we had to chose 16 from 21 interested members. As the numbers are growing at the club, it is becoming an increasingly difficult role to do, but so long as we continue to provide something for everyone, then we should be able to deal with it. In the pipeline is Tuesday night 5-a-side, a Sunday lunchtime skills session, more second eleven style fixtures and training when squads are at matches. It’s really important to me and the club that we can get football for everyone, so please don’t get disheartened if you don’t make this squad or you feel you aren’t getting a lot of competitive football. We are trying our best and as long as we remain organised then every member of the club can enjoy their time here to the full.

The club had some news this week which is yet to be announced or confirmed so I can’t mention it, but in terms of committee work at present everyone is really working hard and should be applauded for doing so. The fabulous Dave Kelly and Lucas Owen who led the club in the early days should be very proud of what they have created and should be even more proud of the way things are going with the current committee so keep up the good work guys.

Muzz

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The Kings Cross (our principal sponsor) holds a quiz every Monday evening and this week Jason and a few others attended and narrowly missed out on the first spot coming second!  The quiz starts at approx. 8.30pm and it would be good if we could make this a regular event.  If you would like to go this coming Monday please just turn up and lets show everyone just how brainy us Dragons are!!!

–
Richie Jones
Welfare and Social Secretary
Email: welfaresocial@cardiffdragonsfc.co.uk

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A film from Kick It Out aimed at tackling homophobic abuse in football. Made in Conjunction with The FA and produced by Ogilvy. Warning contains language and gestures some viewers may find distressing or offensive.

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We will be meeting in the Wetherspoons pub at the end of City Road at 7pm on Saturday evening and then go for a curry.  If you are interested and can attend please contact  myself. We have been unable to book a table due to the rugby but there are lots of curry houses on City Road so don’t worry!

–
Richie Jones
Welfare and Social Secretary
Email: welfaresocial@cardiffdragonsfc.co.uk

Curry, Social Hide

This week I was almost killed by a micro digger, fell asleep in the bath for 2 hours and managed to forget to bring my phone to training in case a new member was going to ring!

Wednesday night saw a return to training at Sophia Gardens and one of the best attacking displays I have seen from Dragons players. The passing, movement and link up play was excellent and gave us poor defenders a very hard time.

On Sunday we were well prepared for the recent high numbers and set up training accordingly. We had expected over 20 members, but at 1pm there were only about 12 members present, it was an absolute cone-fest! The numbers did improve as there had been a few people out the night before who clearly couldn’t face doing any sprinting, so we were able to have a bit of a game on the 11′s pitch at the end.

It’s been a bad week for us Wales supporters, beaten by the old enemy on the weekend in the first round of Six Nations fixtures, followed by the unsettling news of being paired up against England in the upcoming Euro 2012 Qualifying Group Stage. I actually think the Wales v England matches in the Euro’s could be really entertaining games and could be a great opportunity for our young, talented, promising side to take on the established enemy from across the border and possibly get a result. Could Wales actually qualify for a major tournament for the first time in 54 years?

Being around so many different nationalities at the time of the Wales defeat got me on to thinking how incredibly diverse the Dragons as a club is. In my previous teams I have played alongside friends, friends of friends and associates, so the formation of Cardiff Dragons has been incredibly successful bearing in mind that almost nobody knew anybody to begin with.

The make up of the team is quite intriguing, I would have imagined that had the Cardiff Dragons been established in the late 1980s – early 1990s then almost all of the squad would have been Welsh with a few imports, but due to the boom Cardiff has seen since these days we have a very cosmopolitan squad. Of 54 past and present Dragons members 29 are Welsh, 16 are English, 2 are Scottish, 2 are Irish, 2 are Spanish, 1 Frenchman and 1 Romanian.

I think something which makes the club special is that within the squad and its supporters we have a huge variety of people from all walks of life. We cater for all sexualities, genders, backgrounds, affluence, educations, jobs, abilities, ages, heights, weights, ethnicities, ambitions, ideals and beliefs. And the fact that in general everybody gets along with everybody without too many issues is really quite impressive and pays testament to the great attitude everybody has at the club.

Muzz

Assistant Manager (11-a-side)

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News

Committee: A big congratulations to John Bladen on being co-opted onto the committee as the Finance and Fundraising Secretary. This is a very important role for the club and I am sure John will be fantastic at the job. He has lots of great ideas that should help the club achieve more of its aims. If anyone has any suggestions on possible fundraising ideas, please get in touch with him. Also, Anthony Read has been appointed as temporary Secretary up until the EGM of 21st Feb.

EGM: You all should of received an email on Saturday regarding this. An EGM has been called for the 21st Feb, before the London Falcons game. This is to ratify a new Management Policy and to elect a new secretary. The application forms for this role were attached to that email. If you did not receive this then please get in touch ( pressmarketing@cardiffdragonsfc.co.uk ) and I will send you out one. If you would like more information regarding the role, please get in contact with anyone from the committee who will be happy to help.

From the football management team: “David Keith and Darrin Hughes have officially been appointed as coaches and will be helping Jason, Dave A and Murray in future training sessions. Please treat them with respect (as you always do) and feel free to work with them in order to help your game. Due to increasing numbers we felt it best to expand the coaching team in order to enable training sessions to run smoothly and in order to support and help the players progress as footballers”

The Fantasy Football: A big congratulations to Anthony Read (ME!!) for having the highest score this week with a huge 85 points!! Ed  however, is still out of sight in first place. Also, both me and Ed are tied in first place on the Six Nations Prediction Game, having guessed the outcome correctly for all three of this weekends matches.

Social

It has been a slow January after Christmas and what with the weather but now we are gonna kick start the socials again. This weekend Cardiff Dragons will be celebrating Valentines Day with a anti-valentines dinner,all single members (and couples!!) are invited to attend a curry night followed by a night in town.

This week, Jason led a Cardiff Dragons Quiz team at the Monday night quiz at Kings Cross. The team finished an impressive 2nd place!! We think this could be a fun venture and would like to make it a regular thing, so we invite all members to attend any week they are available. The quiz starts around 9pm, but the plan is to meet at 8pm.

Finally, we are going to have a coffee night at A Shot In The Dark, on City Road, on 24th March. More details nearer the time.

Please get in touch with Richie Jones( welfaresocial@cardiffdragonsfc.co.uk ) for more information or to put forward your ideas and suggestions for future socials.

Fundraising

Valentines day is this Sunday (Don’t Forget!!). If you are struggling to buy your other half or your secret love a gift them why not go online and buy them something through http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/cdfc .You can register free, select Cardiff Dragons Football Club as the organisation you wish to support and shop at all your favourite online shops. A donation is made to the club from the shop with every purchase you make at no extra cost to yourself.

Featured shop for this week is:

Interflora

3% Donation

10% OFF At Interflora

Interflora are giving you 10% OFF when you spend £25. Enter eVoucher code ‘loveeasyfund’ when prompted. Donations have increased to 3% so raise even more for your cause.

*Minimum product value of £25 applies – excludes overseas and value range orders.

OFFER EXPIRES: 13-February-2010

You can also choose from over 2000 of the UK’s best-known retailers including many popular names such as Next, Argos, Debenhams, John Lewis and HMV

Training

Wednesday 10th February 2010 – 9pm – Cardiff Dragons FC Training @ Sophia Gardens

Training continues on Wednesday at Sophia Gardens this week, though we will be going back to Thursdays soon, so please remember to check this weekly e-mail for details. Training officially begins at 9:30pm but we ask that people aim to get there for 9pm so that we can start early if possible.

It has also been agreed to introduce 5-a-side training on a Thursday night every 4 weeks or so, to be held at a venue TBC. With the aim to eventually provide 5-a-side training on a Tuesday night and 11-a-side training on Thursday night.

Sunday 14th February 2010 – 1pm – Cardiff Dragons FC Training @ Blackweir Fields

Sunday training also continues at Blackweir Fields at 1pm, turnout has been excellent of late so please continue to attend and enjoy.

Fixtures

Sunday 21st February 2010 – GFSN League: Cardiff Dragons FC v London Falcons @ Cardiff

Availability forms are now out and need to be returned to Murray (afm11s@cardiffdragonsfc.co.uk) by Sunday 14th February. There are still a lot of people to complete their forms so please get them in now. The form is attached for those who need to fill them out.

Sunday 20th February 2010 – Exeter 5-a-side Tournament

The decision has been made by the club not to enter a team for this tournament, hopefully next year we will be able to take part in this competition and bring home some more silverware.

Sunday 14th March 2010 – Leeds 5-a-side Tournament

A message from Dave Amos ( afm5s@cardiffdragonsfc.co.uk )

“Hello Dragons,

In just under 5 weeks we have our first 5 a side tournament of 2010. What we are trying to do is give you plenty of warning to start thinking about whether you wish to attend. Realistically its probably best to go up on the Saturday and stay over night ready for the tournament on the Sunday, but I realise not every member can achieve that so if you wanted to travel up on Sunday let us know and we will try our best to help.

With an over night stay there is a cost but we will try and get the best deals available for transport and accommodation so get saving the pennies now.

I would love as many members as possible to attend hopefully 2 or 3 teams and make the tournament enjoyable for all whether it be you want to be competitive or be part of a social team but we can only achieve both of those goals if enough members attend.

So please have a think about it now and we will have the usual forms out within the week to 10 days.

Dave Amos (Ass Manager 5’s)”

Availability forms are now out for the Leeds 5-a-side tournament weekend, the estimated costs for staying over should be around £20-30 minibus and £15-20 hotel, these will be considerably cheaper if we decide to travel on the day. The deadline for returning forms for this tournament is Sunday 28th February 2010

Sunday 4th April 2010 – GFSN League: Edinburgh Hotscots v Cardiff Dragons FC @ Edinburgh

The date of this match has been confirmed as Sunday 4th April. We will be travelling up on Saturday and returning on Monday (2 nights). We have decided to take a minibus for this trip as it will keep costs down. Big thanks to Amy who has volunteered to do the driving for this event.

We are encouraging people to support the minibus as the more people we can get onto it, the cheaper it will be. The expected cost of the minibus will be £30 each (if full) and the expected cost of accommodation will be £48. We have put a firm deadline of those interested of Sunday 28th February for notification to the club and to submit a deposit of £25. This should be a really good event, its a long journey but we will have a very good time and going on past away trips everybody will enjoy the experience.

31st July – 7th August 2010 – Gay Games: Cologne

The decision has been made by the club not to enter a team for this tournament, we will be working at getting the club to next years tournament. If individuals are interested in travelling to Cologne and either supporting or participating in the tournament, they will need to make their own arrangements, but we hope we will be able to find teams for individuals to play for. Please contact Murray (afm11s@cardiffdragonsfc.co.uk) or Ray (chairperson@cardiffdragonsfc.co.uk) for further details.

Have an awesome week!!

ALLEZ LES BLEUS!!!

–

Anthony Read

Press & Marketing

Email:   pressmarketing@cardiffdragonsfc.co.uk

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