Welsh Schools Football Association

WSFA Chairman’s Message

Through the qualified teachers in our schools the WSFA aims to provide football for boys and girls aged four to eighteen via the curriculum and on a voluntary basis with after school activities

During my two-year term of office my main aims are:

To make every effort to continue to develop the role of the WSFA within Welsh football and follow the good work of those who have held office before me in providing the appropriate environment for school children to enjoy their football and to develop and to maximise their talents.

To help inspire, inform, educate and provide learning opportunities for the school children of Wales through the medium of football and healthy competition.

To work with fellow officers and the WFT to ensure a top quality event when the Schools’ Football International Board holds its Annual General Meeting in Wales in September 2010 and the individual schools United Kingdom Championship in June 2011.

To work with my fellow officers to ensure that the WSFA celebrates its centenary during 2011 in a fitting fashion bearing in mind that there will be constraints because of limited financial and manpower resources.

To encourage more teachers, both young and not so young, to become involved in the WSFA activities on both a local and national level.

To finalise a review of WSFA Officer job descriptions and WSFA procedures, documentation and forms that I instigated during my term of office as Vice Chairman.

To work with fellow officers in attempting to attract sponsorship of our Under 18 National Squad, various competitions at Inter School & Inter Association levels and other WSFA activities.

To investigate the possibility of the WSFA introducing an individual player awards scheme.

To promote and enhance the WFT/WSFA Partnership.

David Nickless
Chairman WSFA
10th July 2010

WELSH SCHOOLS’ FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION
DAVID NICKLESS CHAIRMAN 2010-2012

David Nickless was born and educated in the border city of Chester. A Cestrian by birth he is proud of his Welsh ancestry through both the maternal and paternal sides of his family. His paternal grandfather was born in Holywell and his maternal grandmother was born in Ruabon. On leaving school he worked in local government in the Children’s Department of Cheshire County Council before moving in 1970 into the field of Purchasing and Supply, firstly with Cheshire County Council and then with Clwyd County Council. In 1990 he was appointed as Principal Client Officer in the LEA of Clwyd County Council. He was also employed as a lecturer at the Carlett Park College of Technology on the Wirral in its Business Studies Department. David was an active member of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply and served as Chairman of its Technical Committee and on its Education Committee. In 1984 he became the youngest person to receive the Institute’s meritorious award for his services to the activities of the Institute. Besides playing football in the Cheshire and Wirral areas he played cricket for his village cricket team of Hoole in the Cheshire Association and the Chester Area Midweek League and represented both leagues as an all rounder. He continues to follow cricket as a member of Colwyn Bay Cricket Club, Lancashire County Cricket Club and watches Glamorgan when they play in North Wales and when time permits on his visits to Cardiff. A keen swimmer, he organised the Cheshire County Council Staff Swimming Club and its galas for a number of years in the sixties and seventies.

David has been heavily involved at all levels of youth and schoolboy football in the Principality for thirty years. During this period he has gained great experience not only in the team management & coaching sides of football but also in its administration and organisation. In 1982 David joined the Deeside Primary Schools’ FA which later changed its name to Flintshire Primary Schools’ FA. During his twenty-eight years with the Association (which he still manages) and his time with the Flintshire High Schools FA, Clwyd (North Wales East) Regional Association and the North Wales Schools FA he has held a number of officer and managerial posts and supported other team managers in carrying out their responsibilities. He has managed the various Associations to success in the Tom Yeoman Shield, the David Nickless Shield and the F.J. Ball Competition. In 2005 David received an award from the Chairman of Flintshire County Council in recognition of his great and valuable services to the local community. He became a Council Member of the WSFA in 1990 and took Office as the Under 16 National Squad Secretary in 2004. He has taken a keen interest in the development of the WSFA and in particular its grass root, competition and international activities.

Because of the vast experience and knowledge of players that he had gained over many years David was elected as a Welsh Schools’ FA national selector twelve years ago. He holds an FA Learning Certificate in Talent Identification in Football. He intends to retire from the selector role when he takes the Chair as he feels that he will not be able to find the time commitment to carry out the activities of both roles effectively. David considers it a great honour for him to be the Chairman of the WSFA during its centenary period and he will strive to build on the work of his predecessors to cement its place in supporting football development in the Principality and to take the WSFA forward into its second century on a sound and stable foundation.

David Nickless
Chairman WSFA
10th July 2010.