The Arthurian Southern Amateur League Representative Team take to the field next Tuesday, 26 November, against the Arthurian ​ League at Maccabi London in Arkley. The game is the first in this season's Argonaut Trophy where the best players in each league battle it out for the title.

The Arthurian League come into the game fresh from their UEFA Regions Cup adventure where they narrowly missed out on qualifying for the final tournament, finishing unbeaten in the qualifying group in Finland. They qualified for this by winning the FA Inter-League Cup with a 1-0 win against the West Yorkshire League at Lincoln in May.

​The SAL won the competition at the first attempt in 2008, and have come close on several occasions since while the third team in the tournament - the Amateur Football Combination - have reached the semi-finals twice, so this competition will showcase some of the best amateur players in England.

The Southern Amateur League kicked off a brand new Podcast this evening with the first ever episode featuring a discussion with the Representative Team Manager Bob Leeds about his time at Old Finchleians to joining the League Committee as Rep Team Manager. ​

Bob shared his stories about his first season in charge and his thoughts going into the 2007/08 season when the League went on to become National Champions winning the FA Inter League Cup that year. 

We spoke to Daryl who is our new Social Media Officer at the Southern Amateur League and he had the following to say;

"Since joining the League as Referee Secretary a couple of seasons ago I have had a number of plans to increase the engagement online and away from the pitch. Taking on the role of Social Media Officer gave me the opportunity to do this by launching a brand new podcast and it only felt right to have Bob as our first ever guest! As President of the League and also as Representative Team Manager he had a number of stories to share, so much in-fact we have made it a two part episode. 

We have some great guests lined up and eventually when we are able to get back out there playing football I will be ground hopping around the League reaching out to Managers, Players, Club Volunteers and 80% of the content we record will be done out at the clubs making the podcast more grassroots. Im looking for more people to get involved, come on and have a chat, egg on your upcoming opponents and in general just have a good laugh!"

The SAL Podcast is available on our website and from the Spotify app on your smartphone. To get involved drop Daryl an email - [email protected] 

Polytechnic midfielder Tom Lancaster is out of the squad to travel to Jersey in the FA Inter League Cup in two weeks time after suffering ligament damage during training on Wednesday.

Manager Bob Leeds remains buoyant however despite the loss of such a key player. "We do have cover in our ranks, but we will certainly miss Tom’s involvement".

Looking ahead to the game which is being played on Saturday February 29th at the Springfield Stadium in Jersey, Bob added, "we know we have got to be at our best on the day. they beat the AFC in the last round who we lost to earlier in the season in the Argonaut Trophy". He went on to say "we are up against it, Most of the Jersey players are playing regularly at Step 6 with the Jersey Bulls in the Combined Counties League while all of ours operate at Step 7".

But if we can maintain the form which saw us overcome the Thames Valley Premier League and the Essex & Suffolk Border League then we have half a chance to progress into the semis.

Bob has a wealth of experience in this competition and has been involved in it seven times winning it once and losing in 3 semi finals..

"This years squad has a great camaraderie and we have had the opportunity to train together regularly despite coming from all four corners of London and the Home Counties and we aim to give it our best".

The SAL representative team defeated the Thames Valley Premier League 4 - 0 yesterday (28 Sep) to progress to the last 16 of the FA Inter-League Cup. Two quick-fire first half goals from Owen Bradley (Alleyn Old Boys) then Josh Thompson (Old Owens) from the penalty spot gave the SAL a comfortable half-time lead. Thompson then slid in the third early in the second half before Lee Raji (Polytechnic) rounded off a convincing performance with a lovely spin finish to make it 4-0.

The next round sees the team away to the Essex & Suffolk Border League in a tie which is due to be played by 29 November. The ESBL defeated the Southern Combination (former Sussex County) League 1-0 at Harwich & Parkeston, a former SAL member.

Elsewhere, our AFA colleagues at the Amateur Football Combination progress in a 2-1 win against the Essex Olympian League and will host the Jersey Combination in the next round.

The SAL rep team begins its 2019-20 FA Inter-League Cup campaign on Saturday with a trip to Reading to face the Thames Valley Premier League. The Rep Team first entered the competition in 2007-08 and won it at the first attempt following a penalty shoot-out against the Midland Combination at the Ricoh Arena and will be keen to repeat the feat. Although the SAL has not managed to get back to the final, it has reached two semi-finals in 2012 - losing 1-2 away to the Isle of Man League - and 2016 - losing 0-1 at home to the Teesside League.

Manager Bob Leeds and the players welcome all support for the game which kicks-off at 3.00pm at the Rivermoor Stadium, Scours Lane, Reading RG30 6AY.

The squad chosen to represent the League is listed below:

Come on you Reds!!!