Officials of the Severn Valley Youth Football League will be hoping that the curse of ‘second season syndrome’ does not befall them.

The league was formed only last summer following the merger of the Gloucester Youth League and the Stroud Youth League and enjoyed a stellar 2016/17 campaign.

So good in fact that the embryonic set-up won the GFA Charter Standard League of the Year award.

Severn Valley League official Adrian Smith, who looks after the league’s website, said: “The award shows that the league is very well run and very organised. Some leagues are good and some are even better.

“We worked very closely with the Gloucestershire FA when the two leagues merged and the rewards are obvious.”

Indeed they are with the league having 2,000-plus players registered last season from under-8s through to under-16s and even more expected to be registered for the 2017/18 campaign which gets under way on the weekend of September 9th and 10th.

“Our teams are predominantly from the Gloucester, Forest of Dean and Stroud areas but we’ve got a big geographical spread,” said Smith. “We’ve even got a team from Clevedon playing in the league this season.”

While it’s clearly a happy Severn Valley, there is still plenty more that could be done to improve even further the footballing experience of the youngsters playing in the league, according to Smith.

“The league has got a very good committee but we are always looking for new members,” he said. “And we always need more volunteers. We are working with the University of Gloucestershire to try to get one or two students involved.

“It’s ideal material for anyone studying sports science or sports administration.”

Last season Smith was also the league’s welfare officer – he is the assistant welfare officer for 2017/18 – and as you would expect from someone in these positions it is a cause very close to his heart.

“Every club in every league have to be on top of their game welfare wise,” he said. “There has been a big improvement right across the board and any parent looking to put their child into football should be aware that it is a very safe environment.”

Smith, 59, used to be a player himself back in the day when he played in the North Berkshire league although he has also refereed for almost 40 years. He still referees the youngsters today and in his prime refereed at Gloucestershire County League level and ran the line in the West Midlands League.

“I love the game,” said Smith. “I keep fit to referee and referee to keep fit.”


The league is also playing its part in developing young referees having partnered with the Gloucester Referees Association on an education session at the start of last season to bring all officials up to date on law changes and looking at case studies from televised matches.


With people like Smith on board it’s not difficult to see why the Severn Valley Youth Football League has been so well received.