Middlesex Senior Cup 2023/24 Draw

[TW3 Beaver]

https://twitter.com/middxfa/status/1687 ... 56/photo/1

Good to see that the Middlesex FA still have us Borough.

[BeaverWatcher]

They, as well as the FA and league, will continue to do so as it is still the club's official name.

There are only certain times you can apply a name change, usually when affiliating for the coming season, and I would expect that there are more hoops to jump through for a senior club than for a Sunday or Youth club. For example when Hampton Youth changed our name to Hampton & Richmond Borough Youth all we needed to do was amend the name on our affiliation application to Middlesex FA and advise the leagues we play in of the new name.

So, barring anything unexpected, should we gain promotion this season or win any cup competitions the record books would show it as Hampton & Richmond Borough FC. After that, who knows?!

[Tony]

From what I can find, any change of name must be applied for under FA Rules by 31 December for the following season, subject to agreement by the FACouncil. So this would have had to been applied for by 31/12/22 to apply to this season.

[EastTerracer]

From what I can find, any change of name must be applied for under FA Rules by 31 December for the following season, subject to agreement by the FACouncil. So this would have had to been applied for by 31/12/22 to apply to this season.

Is any fan consulatation required for name changes ?

[Tony]

Not under current FA Rules at Step 2 although the request seems to need FA approval, I believe. I have no idea of what the decision making process would be at the FA. Dropping "Borough" might not seen as all that controversial. Something more radical might prompt a differing response but not clear from the Rules on what basis a decision would be made in favour or against. I guess that if enough fans and other stakeholders mounted objections to the FA then that would be taken into consideration but I am just guessing.

[TW3 Beaver]

Not under current FA Rules at Step 2 although the request seems to need FA approval, I believe. I have no idea of what the decision making process would be at the FA. Dropping "Borough" might not seen as all that controversial. Something more radical might prompt a differing response but not clear from the Rules on what basis a decision would be made in favour or against. I guess that if enough fans and other stakeholders mounted objections to the FA then that would be taken into consideration but I am just guessing.

What was the process that was gone through to add and Richmond Borough in 1999?

[Tony]

It was the idea of the then Chairman Bob Hayes to attract wider support for the club. I don’t remember it being put to a vote of members ( the club was not a limited company at the time) but could be wrong. There was less focus on heritage asset issues in those days and only the beginnings of the idea for the need for fan engagement. There was no supporters club or any such organisation at the club to consider consulting. I think most supporters thought the Richmond Borough idea was probably unlikely to change things that much but let Bob go ahead and see if he could make it work.

[Jamie]

Tony,
Don't pretend this is a surprise, at the Supporters Trust meeting where the brothers did a presentation, they kept missing out the word Borough, and I raised the issue.
Afterwards, I queried it, and you personally responded about losing Borough with "does it really matter".
The issue is, you as the "advisor" to the Trust board, and the Trust board, must have been aware of these plans with all the special meetings you had and all the confidentiality documents you said were involved.

Just be man enough to say you knew it was going to happen but YOU didn't care about such changes.

It is an utter disgrace these things are being pushed through the back door, done in a sly way.
The only reason the name hasn't been officially changed, it the new owners clearly didn't get stuff done in time and missed deadlines, just like the 3G pitch, just like the floodlights, just like the building work, just like not maintaining the playing surface.

We hear about how behind the times the club was, and yes, let's be honest things could have been improved years before, but this new regime is anything but experts in non league football, and continually the evidence is for all to see.
People need to stop burying their head in the sand, wake the hell up, and make a bloody stand..... because at some point if the success doesn't come, the money and investors will dry up and get bored, and what happens to the club then? Too many other clubs have disappeared because people just let someone new who can do a Powerpoint presentation take full control.

We had a Supporters Trust with around 25% shareholding for protection, and Tony Nash, Phil Weller, and the Trust board, scared members into having to vote for this. The supporters trust is not running to the rules in place, won't hold elections for things, it's a disgrace, and you the Trust board should all be resigning.

Tony, hold your hands up. You made a bad call. Just own it.

[EastTerracer]

Not under current FA Rules at Step 2 although the request seems to need FA approval, I believe. I have no idea of what the decision making process would be at the FA. Dropping "Borough" might not seen as all that controversial. Something more radical might prompt a differing response but not clear from the Rules on what basis a decision would be made in favour or against. I guess that if enough fans and other stakeholders mounted objections to the FA then that would be taken into consideration but I am just guessing.

Middlesex FA have not received any application for a name change as yet.

[TW3 Beaver]

Middlesex FA have not received any application for a name change as yet.

Has the National League and The FA?

[Tony]

Tony,
Don't pretend this is a surprise, at the Supporters Trust meeting where the brothers did a presentation, they kept missing out the word Borough, and I raised the issue.
Afterwards, I queried it, and you personally responded about losing Borough with "does it really matter".
The issue is, you as the "advisor" to the Trust board, and the Trust board, must have been aware of these plans with all the special meetings you had and all the confidentiality documents you said were involved.

Just be man enough to say you knew it was going to happen but YOU didn't care about such changes.

It is an utter disgrace these things are being pushed through the back door, done in a sly way.
The only reason the name hasn't been officially changed, it the new owners clearly didn't get stuff done in time and missed deadlines, just like the 3G pitch, just like the floodlights, just like the building work, just like not maintaining the playing surface.

We hear about how behind the times the club was, and yes, let's be honest things could have been improved years before, but this new regime is anything but experts in non league football, and continually the evidence is for all to see.
People need to stop burying their head in the sand, wake the hell up, and make a bloody stand..... because at some point if the success doesn't come, the money and investors will dry up and get bored, and what happens to the club then? Too many other clubs have disappeared because people just let someone new who can do a Powerpoint presentation take full control.

We had a Supporters Trust with around 25% shareholding for protection, and Tony Nash, Phil Weller, and the Trust board, scared members into having to vote for this. The supporters trust is not running to the rules in place, won't hold elections for things, it's a disgrace, and you the Trust board should all be resigning.

Tony, hold your hands up. You made a bad call. Just own it.

What? Because the club has altered the name on its badge and twitter to Hampton and Richmond and made no announcement (possibly because there has been no application to change the name)the whole deal is a disaster? I am not here to defend the new owners but how different is it if they decide not to invest any further than any previous regime?

[RogerB]

The only reason the name hasn't been officially changed, it the new owners clearly didn't get stuff done in time and missed deadlines, just like the 3G pitch, just like the floodlights, just like the building work, just like not maintaining the playing surface.

We hear about how behind the times the club was, and yes, let's be honest things could have been improved years before, but this new regime is anything but experts in non league football, and continually the evidence is for all to see.
People need to stop burying their head in the sand, wake the hell up, and make a bloody stand..... because at some point if the success doesn't come, the money and investors will dry up and get bored, and what happens to the club then? Too many other clubs have disappeared because people just let someone new who can do a Powerpoint presentation take full control.

I don’t join in the denigration of Tony’s rôle in the takeover but I do think most of this is spot on (though, for any name change to have gone through for this season, the application would have had to go in before the takeover.).