There is every chance that by this time next week, the Peter Morrison Trophy will be cancelled for the season. To abandon the Jewish FA Cup competition would be major news but should come as no real surprise as the writing has been on the wall for several weeks now with the winter weather, as I have documented in depth, leaving the season in crisis.
The problems are two-fold. There are still teams that have outstanding first-round matches and being a national competition, it’s a logistical nightmare with the likes of Glasgow Maccabi and South Manchester Maccabi 1st still involved.
I’m led to believe that there will be no Morrison ties before early to mid-March, and that’s only if the weather picks-up and allows teams north and south to play some football. It comes as no surprise that Nigel Burns, Fixture Secretary of the JC MSFL, has arranged only league matches for the next three weeks. Only four matches were played last weekend with the entire Manchester Jewish Soccer programme wiped out for another week. Something has to give and it would make sense to lose the Morrison.
Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv are competing in the Euroleague Junior Basketball Qualification tournament being held at the Goresbrook Leisure Centre in Dagenham, between February 18 and 20. One of nine teams, MTA won the prestigious World Invitational Club Basketball Championships at Crystal Palace in the 1980s. Abbey Academy Director Mark Clark said: “To welcome Maccabi Tel Aviv to London is a great honour. As a coach at Crystal Palace in the 1980s seeing Maccabi Tel Aviv was one of the highlights of the year. To have a team from that club competing at our tournament is absolutely tremendous.”
There were some familiar faces on show in Tuesday night’s Ryman League Division One North match involving Wingate and Potters Bar Town. Lining up against the Blues were Guy Helman, along with three non-Jewish players, while Adam Lee, the former manager of Wingate, Ashley Fisk, Lee’s assistant, and coach Andy Zeller sat in the dugout. Mark Martyn, the ex-Wingate chairman, was also present. He is now a Director at PBT. Maccabiah stars Craig Ellis and James Gershfield helped Wingate wrap up a 3-1 victory.
Having recently returned to London Maccabi Lions from Montana Boca United, striker Andrew Binstock will be sidelined for several months because of a grade 2 tear of my anterior cruciate ligament after getting injured 20 minutes into a match for the club’s C team. Binstock said: “It’s soul destroying. If I don’t get to play again it has to be the shortest spell at a club ever.”
FC Team B have signed Alex Emmanuel following a two- year stint in Japan. Former A team winger Darren Freed has been appointed joint assistant-manager. Centre back Adam Newsome has also dropped down. Keeper David Gordon is set to return to action for the first time since November 22.
Maccabi GB have been invited to defend the European Maccabi Football Trophy in Spain in May. The position of team manager is up for grabs for the tournament that runs from May 27-30.
Faithfold A have signed Dan Perkins, the former Bafana Bafana winger. Joint-manager Daryl Phillips said: “We’re very excited about this good, young player.”
