FC Irlande – Player’s Manual

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Introduction

This document provides key information about how FC Irlande works, as we well as what is expected from you once you become a club member.

The Club

FC Irlande is an amateur club, composed by 4 men’s teams, 2 men’s veteran’s teams (38 years and above) and 3 women’s teams. The men’s teams play in the ABSSA league, while Ladies’ play in the Belgian championship under the Union Belge.

The club is not a traditional football club. Football is, of course, at the heart of our club, but at our core, we are a social club, your “home away from home”.

FC Irlande is an English-speaking club. Our players come from more than 50 different countries. While English remains as the main language, we speak a lot of different languages!

FC Irlande is a self-organized club, run by its members. That means that when you join the club, you’re required to participate in the life of the club, in the organization of your team and other club related activities. You will be asked to do small or bigger tasks, and as a player, captain, or coach, you’re expected to help. Helping with the club management is a fundamental part of the club spirit, which is a very important value for us.

We are a big club with over 200 members and we only operate due to the volunteers who come forward to take on the specific activities. No one working for the club is paid, even if there are numerous activities that need to be performed both at training, match days and general management and organisational activities. Some club members give a lot of their spare time to help run the club. Keep that in mind when you’re asked for help or be proactive and offer help in areas where you think you can assist.

We have a strong social spirit that goes beyond football and we have a lot of off-the-pitch activities (which mainly involve food and drinks).

 

Club Management: The Club Committee

The club is run by the Club Committee, which is a council formed by players and ex-players. They are all volunteers, dedicating their time to club.

Club committee members work with captains and coaches to identify helpers from all teams to support their areas of responsibility. Every team is asked to appoint helpers when asked by committee members to assist with projects or events.

  • Dave Verdon, President
  • Mariana Ferrugem, Vice-President
  • Paul Staunton, Director of Football (DOF) Men’s
  • Vacant, Treasurer
  • Jeff Bridoux, Men’s Secretary
  • Vacant, Director of Equipment and Logistics
  • Greg MacDonald, Legal Adviser
  • Ben Kras – Communications Officer
  • Magda Zielonka – Committee Member without Portfolio
  • Martin Stobbs – Committee Member without Portfolio

    The Lady’s section has a management team to look into matters that concern Ladies’ football only

    • Mariana Ferrugem, Vice-President

    What is asked of you as a club member:

      • To abide by the FC Irlande spirit of inclusivity, openness, fun, camaraderie, competitiveness and fair play.
      • To help with club and team activities when asked, or volunteer to perform tasks you feel you have the skills to do so. Everyone involved in the organization and running of the club is an unpaid volunteer. Our club relies entirely on its members to function. This means that every player is asked to contribute in one way or another.
      • To respect teammates and the club management. Club spirit and reliability are very important values in our club. Because this club is managed by its own members, it is essential that we are understanding, respect their work and help them pro-actively.
      • All players are strongly encouraged to participate in the AGM. This is an annual meeting held once a year, around mid-May and where the club’s running is discussed
      • The participation on club events is encouraged. We organize 2 main social events per year
      • Christmas dinner in December.
      • Player of the Year (POY) event at the end of the season.
      • Wash your team’s kit 1-2 times per season.
      • Think about what you can do to help your club and your team.
      • Remember that you are joining a club. You will be assigned to one squad, but you may be asked to play games or train with another squad and all members are expected to show some flexibility in this respect.This is essential to the proper functioning of our numerous teams and the club as a result.
      • Youare also joining a club… as a member and not a customer. The coaches and team captains will have match-selection decisions to make on a weekly basis, depending on the priorities of the day, which may not please everyone. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask your coach or captain or the Director of Football but note that while payment of the club fee guarantees participation in training sessions, match selection is down to the coach/captain’s discretion.
      • To pay the club fee on time, following the instructions:
      • Standard Fee – 200 Euros for the men’s section and 190 for the ladies’ section (if anybody feels that they can contribute even more up to a max of 240 Euros then this will be welcomed, and the person’s name will remain anonymous).
      • Student and unemployed can pay half-fee (100 euros for the men’s and 95 for the ladies’)
      • Social Fee – 70 euros. This allows you access to training and club events and to play up to 4 matches per season.

      Pay your subs into the FC Irlande bank a/c by the first week of September, or when you join the club (if after SEP)

      FC IRLANDE ASBL

      BE39 3631 3123 8919

      BIC : BBRUBEBB (If paying from abroad)

      Avenue des Sittelles 58 1150 Bruxelles

      Make sure your name is mentioned and which team you play for.

      • Special note: You might be eligible to a partial reimbursement from your mutuelle depending on their conditions. If you’re entitled to that, please download the form on your mutuelle website, fill it in and contact the Vice-President, Treasurer or Club Secretary to have it signed and stamped.

        Communication

        There are several tools used for internal and external communication within the club. Here’s a list of the different platforms with a short description of what they are used for.

        SportEasy Instructions

        Most teams train twice per week during the regular season, with the exception of the Vets who train only once per week.

        Ladies: Stade Communal d’Auderghem, Chaussée de Wavre 1854, 1160 Auderghem

        Men : KV Woluwe – Eversestraat 96, 1932 Zaventem

        Follow SporstEasy for instructions and location. The day of the week and time your training takes place will vary depending on which squad you train with (will be visible on SportEasy).

        Coaches and captains prepare trainings based on the numbers of players who confirmed their attendance. It is very important to have reliable information on your availability.

        Club Members are expected to show respect to the effort and preparation that team captains and coaches place in carrying out trainings. They should avoid cancelling attendance at the last minute. While the men’s teams don’t have a formal deadline for updating sporteasy, at the ladies’ section it asked that players indicated attendance 48 hours before the training. 

        If you marked yourself as available and you have some last-minute problem, contact the coaches or captains directly as soon as you know you’re going to be late or unable to attend. Please avoid sending a message 5 minutes before the training or communicating that on the various WhatsApp groups.

        Attendance to training and reliability are criteria that will be considered for match selection.

        Everyone is responsible for club equipment. It’s asked that everyone pays attention and ensures that no equipment is lost at the end of trainings, and that it is stored correctly.

        At the ladies’ section, each team will have a person designated per practice to be responsible for training equipment. Please help this person bringing equipment to the pitch and back to the storage. The responsible for the equipment will oversee the counting of balls before and after practice and ensure balls and other equipment are not lost.

        Note: Pre-season sessions may have special locations and dates, such as the VUB. Instructions will be provided by coaches and captains in due time.

        Matches

        Match selections are made by coaches/captains based upon established criteria such as: training attendance, reliability, player skill level, players available per position, opponents and performances during training and previous games. The criteria may vary slightly from team to team, so ensure to have conversations with your captains/coaches if you have doubts about that.

        To allow the coaches and captains enough time to plan and coordinate, we ask players to indicate their presence to games 3 weeks before the match.  

        Ladies’ home games are played in Auderghem:

        Ladies I play on Saturdays 17:30 pm on pitch 2 (synthetic)

        Ladies II play on Saturdays 19:30 on pitch 4 (synthetic)

        Ladies III play Sundays at 14:00 on pitch 4 (synthetic)

        Meeting time is always 1.15 hrs before kick-off.

        The selection and important information are shared on SportEasy, on the forum of the game as well as whatsapp groups.

        Men’s home games are played on Saturdays in Nossegem:

        Men’s I play at 14:00

        Men’s II play at 12:30

        Men’s III play at 12:30

        Men’s IV play at 14:00

        Vets I play at 15:30

        Vets II play at 15:30

        Away games

        Lifts are typically organised through the website/app: www.groupcarpool.com. Alternatively, they are organised by the teams themselves. Please contact your captain and coach for more information.

        Links will be added on the forum of the game for away games. Please fill it in ASAP if you have a car or if you need a ride. 

        It’s extremely important that all players take ownership of the club’s equipment and understand the importance of taking appropriate care of it. It’s asked that everyone pays attention and ensures that no equipment is lost at the end of matches or trainings, and that it is stored correctly.

        Jerseys, shorts are always kept together in the kit (it is forbidden to take home individually!) and are washed in turn by players. Socks are sold to the players for 5 euros each.

        White socks for games can be purchased for 5 euros.

        A bib will be given to each new player (once when they first join the club, upon payment of the fee).  Please always bring it to training! 

        Please avoid injuries by wearing adapted shoes for running tracks during pre-season and for different type of grass:

        Contacts Men’s Section

        • Dave Verdon, President
        • Paul Staunton, Director of Football (DOF) Men’s
        • Jeff Bridoux, Men’s Secretary

        Contacts Ladies Section

        Vice-President & Ladies Secretary

        Mariana Fissel Ferrugem – 0499247847 – mariferrugem@hotmail.com

        Ladies’ Coaches:

        Ladies 1 – Ben Wilder & Helene Bille Albrechtsen

        Ladies 2 – Martin Stobbs, Sunny Park & Julian Rueda

        Ladies 3 – Francesco Naccarato, Richard Rak and Marie Bande

        Ladies’ Captains

        Ladies 1 – Sophia Mueller & Isabel Roche

        Ladies 2 – Anna Joyce, Jenny Vuorenlinna & Marianne Van Weyenbergh

        Ladies 3 – Sophie Lopez, Marilena Zammit & Alex Maccaffery 

         

        Ladies Section History

        The first FC Irlande Ladies era took place between 1982-1998. We had then a 10 years hiatus when finally in 2008, under the leadership of Marilena a ladies team was re-founded. Later Anna came onboard and became captain. She led the team through some difficult times of re-construction and improvement, until the winning of the final of the KBLVB cup in 2014. 

        That same day marks the start of a new era for FC Irlande Ladies, with legendary Anna and Paddy stepping down as captains and coaches. 

        After that, Virginie became the captain of FC Irlande Auderghem and Fabien and Karim, our coaches.  

        That year it was decided that the “Girls in green” would join the Belgian Union in 3rd provincial for the 2014-2015 season. A second position in the ranking allowed us to climb in P2 for the 2015-2016 season, year of our first championship title ! The following year (2016-2017) our 1st team was promoted to 1st provincial. In view of the ever-increasing number of players wishing to join us, in 2017, we created a second team thanks to Karl who coached Ladies 2 in P3. 

        In 2017-2018 the provincial female level was split between ACFF and Voetbal Vlaanderen. Ladies 2 played in P2 while our first team won the provincial first championship!  

        In 2018-2019 our first team is thus called to evolve into the 2nd national division! 

        The Ladies 3 was created in 2019 for season 2019-2020 while our second team joined first provincial level.