Salaamun Alaikum,
Thank you all for the opportunity and your trust in me to serve as Head of SJ Football for the next two years. I am truly humbled by the support and encouragement from the players, parents and community members to take on this responsibility. A thank you also to the previous team for all their efforts in carrying the torch of this community treasure over the last two years, we are all indebted to you.
SJFC is an amazing football club with a legacy of talented players, life-long bonds of friendships and a cabinet full of silverware! This remarkable institution has been a pillar for the community, spanning multiple decades, providing aspiration for our youths and exemplary achievements that serve as inspiration and motivation to our peers globally.
However, this is also a football club that is ready for the next phase. The vision for the next two years is to awaken the untapped potential that clearly exists in the youth teams. It is time for these youth teams to embark upon their journey as the next round of Stanmore Jafferys’ legacy. Starting at football training every Sunday, competitive participation in external leagues / tournaments, seamless graduation to the adults teams and further – onto the global stage. Of course this task requires a dedicated core team but also the sacrifice from parents, the desire from players themselves and the support from the community in general. I look forward to receiving this support from you all in the years ahead inshallah.
It is my pleasure to introduce to you here, the core team –
Head, SJ Football – Murtaza Janmohamed
Assistant Head – Shahbaz Janmohamed
Club Secretary – Jameel Walji
Assistant Club Secretary – Zia Dewji
League Secretary – Fazalabbas Fazel
Assistant League Secretary – Sabir Datoo
Treasurer – Murtaza Merali
Operations – Raza Jaffrey
Welfare Officer – Munawer Jaffer
Welfare Officer / Club Advisor – Mohammed Valjy
Club Advisor – Hussein Pirbhai
To see the personalities behind the titles, keep an eye out on the Instagram pages over the summer!
The team has been carefully selected to provide the platform for the following:
Empowering new coaches
We are currently drafting in some young and talented coaches to refresh and rejuvenate the training sessions.. The lead coaches will all take their FA Level 1 Badge, First Aid Training and have the opportunity to benefit from continuous technical development with external FA & UEFA qualified coaches both pre-season and throughout the season. These coaches are will serve as the backbone of the club and role models to the youth teams.
Transition of existing coaches to supporting roles
We are indebted to the efforts of the existing coaches, many of whom have served our community and SJFC for a number of years. A large number of these volunteers – who are so passionate about the future of the youths’ football development – have again pledged their commitment to the club. From the start of the season, this will be in a supporting and advisory capacity, allowing a smooth transition for the new coaches to take their much needed step forward into leadership roles at SJFC.
Development of our Youth
The investment in our coaches is the stepping stone to developing the youths further. We want to focus on all players including goalkeepers to be making year-on-year progress. There will be a clear structure for our boys to progress from community, all-inclusive football to a competitive meritocracy through the tiers which will mirror the FA’s guidelines for player development. In the younger tiers we will be introducing and planting the seed for love of the game of football. As the players progress through to the higher tiers we will be coaching and encouraging the players to compete against their peers at all levels of ability.
League Participation
One of the great success stories of SJFC in recent years has been the involvement in the Chiltern League. The commitment, team spirit, bonds of friendship and competitive play enjoyed by the young players and witnessed by us as parents and coaches are all fundamental requirements to the growth of players’ abilities. Continued commitment on Saturday mornings and participation in this league for our youth teams is a huge advantage from a development point of view and from a fulfilment point of view. The youth teams will, on this platform, be able to put into action the training from Sunday afternoons.
Tournaments
Tournament football is a place for players to showcase their talent. SJFC will endeavour to host and participate in as many tournaments as we can accommodate for. This will be starting at the younger tiers and running all the way through to the adults football. With the annual success of the Community Cup and participation of tournaments abroad, the adult football has already set the bar high on desire to participate and compete. With renewed efforts for seamless transition between youth football and adult football, the culture will inshallah run through the whole club and the output will be the new legacy of players.
We have some exciting developments already that will be announced in the near future, but in the meantime I humbly request your trust, patience and ongoing support to breathe some new life into our beloved SJFC.
Enjoy the Euros and inshallah see you for the 2024-2025 season!
Murtaza Janmohamed
Head, SJ Football
