And the data provided by the 810 respondents has been collated with the results to be used as discussion points between the zone and football supporters during the 2016 season.

The respondents represented 395 parents of players, 152 players, 103 coaches, 96 club volunteers and 21 match officials.

According to FMNC chairman Mike Parsons, there were many highlights in the results of the collated information from the survey.

"This information was provided in basic form to the November annual meeting, but FMNC is now in a position to drill down further into the results," Parsons said.

"Interestingly, 84 per cent of respondents were either fairly, very or extremely satisfied with the services and support provided by FMNC.

"And while we were pleased with this result we also acknowledge that we can continue to do more in 2016.

"Other results of note were, 69 per cent of respondents prefer to receive information from FMNC via email, with only nine per cent and four percent choosing the website and facebook respectively. We will utilise email wherever possible as the primary means of communication to clubs, coaches, players and match officials. We will back this up with information on our website and facebook page.

"A total of 91 per cent of respondents were either fairly, very or extremely satisfied with the services and support provided by your respective football clubs. We have provided this feedback to club presidents and have encouraged them to keep up the great work.

"In all 63 per cent of respondents prefer to receive information from their football club via email, with only 12 per cent and nine per cent choosing SMS and facebook respectively.

"We will be encouraging clubs to utilise email wherever possible as the primary means of communication to their coaches, players and volunteers. They should back this up with information provided via SMS and their Facebook pages."

Three further key points raised in the survey results were that, in respect to referee retention, a significant proportion of respondents felt that FMNC needs to be harsher/stronger in placing and enforcing sanctions on players/clubs for poor or negative behaviour to referees.

"We will communicate this to clubs throughout the year and look forward to their support in respecting our match officials,'' Parsons said.

"As well, while there was not an absolute majority of respondents who expressed support for a merged north and south competition for the older junior age groups, the largest sub-group of respondents (37 per cent) did support this proposal.

"To this end, we will pilot a merged finals series in the 17/18 age groups in 2016, and we will provide clubs with detailed information regarding this change prior to the commencement of the 2016 season.

" There was good support for an over 35s competition in the north and this will come to fruition in 2016."

Parsons said that while there was other useful information contained in the survey, which can be drawn upon in the future, he believes that the points reflect the priority areas for this year and FMNC will look forward to working with the clubs, coaches, players, parents and match officials to help make 2016 an extraordinary season.