John Lilburne has worked to improve the Stafford and District Sunday Football League over the past 3 years. He improved communication with member teams, overhauled the league website and social media presence, worked to reduce cancelled matches due to weather, better managed fixtures, and built partnerships to address issues like dog fouling on pitches. Anthony Dale recommends John for his vision and strategies that have helped grow the league from a period of decline.

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Anthony Dale
01785 619308
01785 619419
adale@staffordbc.gov.uk
JL/July2015
29th
July 2015
Dear Sir
Testimonial for John Lilburne
I have known John for a number of years I starting working alongside him approximately 3
years ago within my role at Stafford Borough Council and due to his expanding role within
the local Stafford and District Sunday Football League.
The league had been in decline for a number of years, morale was low and member teams
were not happy with a few aspects of the league and the service they were receiving from
the league and its committee. As a player within the league John had a good grasp of what
was wrong and what was needed to push the league forward and stop the decline in the
number of league members and increase growth.
A vital part of any organisation is communication and John very quickly improved the
communication lines with the members and gave teams the opportunity to feedback directly
to the committee and feel that their views counted. This gave the members a feeling of
ownership and that the league was their league and that they were important. This allowed
for more a more positive relationship and for both parties to work together.
One of the major communication issues was the existing league website and the use of
social media. This was being poorly managed and teams were not fully engaging with it due
to this reason. John put himself forward to oversee this element of the project and with his
grasp of social media he improved the look and the content and made the website much
more customer focused. This has had a positive impact on the members and increased use
of the website significantly.
One of the major issues for the league was cancellation of the grass pitches due to
inclement weather. This decision was taken by a grounds maintenance arm of the local
authority and member teams felt the decision was quite often a poor decision and were
getting increasingly frustrated by prolonged bouts of cancelled fixtures. John recognised the
issues and contacted myself to discuss. As an employee of the local authority and as an ex
player of the league I understood both sides of the argument and John proposed an

2. alternative method to review pitch conditions and for myself and John to liaise more closely
on these decisions. This has helped reduce the number of cancelled matches during a
season and has thus helped temper teams’ frustrations.
Another frustration for the league members was the ad-hoc way that fixtures were being
managed. Teams were sometimes going for weeks without a fixture, being given the wrong
fixtures and sometimes even having to sort out their own fixtures. John took over the role of
fixture secretary and ensured that fixtures were looked at much more closely and managed
in a more hands on manner. This has helped drastically reduce the number of complaints
from teams in regards to fixtures and also resulted in teams having less midweek games
and the season closing earlier than in previous seasons.
John has also been instrumental in building relationships with partner agencies and this
resulted in the league being involved in a project to tackle dog fouling issues on local
football pitches. By linking up with SBC leisure officers, SBC environmental officers and the
local county FA the league were an integral part of an initiative where banners were
produced, text written in paint on touchlines and member teams issued with corner flags
promoting ‘ no fouling on our pitch’ campaign. This was a first across the country and
received a lot of local media coverage which showed the league as a forward thinking
league.
John continues to work hard to promote and push the league forward. As it becomes
increasingly hard for teams to get sponsorship he is continually looking for ways to help
reduce or spread costs for teams and offers advice to all new teams on what costs they will
incur through a season and how to best manage their finances to run more efficiently.
John actively encourages teams to communicate with the league on all aspects including
their financial situation. This has helped reduce the number of teams folding during a
season due to financial constraints and has therefore helped John in his quest to grow the
league and secure its future.
John has vision and has the ability to put strategies in place to achieve his aims. The
league is in a much healthier state since John got involved and I have no doubt the league
will continue to grow under John’s guidance.
I have always found John a pleasure to deal with and therefore would have no issue in
recommending him to your company.
Yours Faithfully
Anthony Dale
Head Parks Facilities Officer
Stafford Borough Council
Tel 01785 619603