Cheltenham League Meetings

CHELTENHAM ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL LEAGUE

Minutes of the Management Committee Meeting at the Victory Club Cheltenham on Wednesday 5th January 2005 at 7-15pm

Attendees: G Cook, J Crowther, R Attwood, N Oram, L Fisher, A.Stiley, J Hunt, P Tustain, B Hill, G.Morrison, R.Overington

Apologies: D Barrett, T Onions, P Newcombe

Introduction of New Management Committee Members Mr Glenn Morrison and Mr Bob Overington were introduced to the Committee by the Chairman and both new members were presented with a Centenary League Tie.

Minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday the 24th November2004 were read and accepted

Matters Arising.
Appeal by Elmbridge Old Boys against the fine imposed upon them at the last meeting for not providing an assistant referee. They state that for this match, against Cleevonians in Div 5 on 23rd October, they had 11 players and 4 named substitutes and give details of every player who took the flag that afternoon. They also claim that there was a dispute with the last person to act as assistant referee and that Cleevonians remonstrated with him, so they are likely to be able to corroborate this appeal.
The meeting noted that Elmbridge Old Boys had been awarded a mark of "0" for the performance of their Assistant Referee in this game, the mark required when no Assistant Referee is provided. It was confirmed that this was the reason that the club were charged and then subsequently fined under rule 13( c). In the light of the evidence presented by Elmbridge Old Boys, however, it was felt likely that "0" had been awarded as several different people performed the task. Therefore, the appeal was upheld and Elmbridge's appeal fee was not forfeit. It was agreed to monitor the award of "0" marks for Assistant Referees in the future.
Appeal by Brockworth Albion against the fine imposed against them at the last meeting for being in contravention of rule 13c, no assistant referee. The match in question was the Div 2 game at St Marks on 13/11. Brockworth write that they had 12 players that day and that their substitute performed the duties until he had to replace an injured player, who was unable to take over the flag because of the nature of his injury.
The meeting believed that Brockworth were in contravention of rule 13( c) as an Assistant Referee was not provided for the duration of the match and the situation in which their only substitute was performing the duties until he replaced a player too injured to take over from him was not reasonable mitigation as each side is required to provide an Assistant Referee for the whole game. The Appeal was, therefore, unsuccessful and the appeal fee was retained
Appeal by Winchcombe Town against the fine imposed at the November meeting for telephoning a late result. They admit to not phoning the result of their Senior Amateur Cup tie but claim mitigation. They were drawn away to Bishops Cleeve Reserves and checked in the handbook to see which Cleeve sides played in the Cheltenham League. The handbook says Bishops Cleeve seconds and thirds play in the Cheltenham League. Thinking that this meant that they were playing a Cheltenham League side, the Winchcombe secretary did not instruct the team manager to phone in the result. It was only after the game was postponed and rearranged to be played under lights the following week that the truth became evident.
After careful deliberation, the committee voted in favour of upholding this appeal. The fine is therefore to be rescinded and the appeal fee is not forfeit.
Appeal by Hi Tec Rangers against a fine imposed at the November meeting for not providing a teamsheet in the match between Hi Tec Rangers and Bredon on 23rd October 2004.
Appeal by Bredon against a fine received for not submitting a teamsheet on 23/10/2004. Bredon state that their division four team manager is adamant that he handed the teamsheet in prior to the start of the match. No cheque was included with this letter.
The meeting considered both of these appeals at the same time as they referred to the same match and upheld each of them. In both cases the fine is to be rescinded and the appeal fee will not be forfeit

Correspondence:

Letter from Dave Watts informing the League that Andoversford are still using old style hooks on their goal frames to secure their nets
Email from Cheltenham Civil Service highlighting a discrepancy in Charities Cup rule 8a which stipulates that kick off times will be 30 minutes before league kick off times and that this is not borne out by kick off times in December & January, which are 1.45 pm. Also enquiring as to whether or not the practice of not conforming slavishly to the rule relating to informing the league about postponements will be continued.
Also informing the league of a change of colours for their 2nd team, who will now play in Blue and Black stripes.
Email from Smiths enquiring as to the reasons why Bredon III had not been fined and deducted points for cancelling the league game against Smiths on October 9th.
Follow up email from Smiths stating that, if Bredon are not fined and docked 3 points, Smiths want their money and their points back from when they were charged with the same offence.
Email from Bredon forwarding the mail that had been sent to Peter Jurd on Monday, October 11th, explaining that 12 players travelled to Old Trafford to see England play Wales and that this, plus injuries, left the third team with only 6 players.
Having considered each of these communications, it was agreed that Bredon should be charged with having failed to fulfil a fixture in agenda item (6) - rule offences.

Email from Bishops Cleeve detailing the circumstances surrounding the postponement of their Div 2 match against St Marks on December 18th, when only 7 players turned up, for a 2.30 pm kick off, some of whom left when they found out that they could play the fixture with only 7
Letter from St Marks, received on the day of the meeting, admitting liability for the postponement of this fixture but claiming that they were not given the option to play the game with only 7 players or to play a shortened match so that general concerns about the fading light could be taken into account.
The meeting considered both communications very seriously and deliberated carefully over the issues that they raised, specifically taking into account the information provided by the match referee in a telephone call that was made from the pitchside on the day in question. Following these deliberations, the Committee believed that the circumstances dictated that a more severe penalty should be imposed than the imposition of a £15 fine and the loss of three points. The reason for this was the acknowledgement that this would be the same as the penalty that would have been imposed had the match been called off at any time during the course of the previous week. Consequently, it was proposed that St Marks be charged under rule 10(f) and that they should be fined £15, have three points deducted from their Reserve team's total in Division Two, that the game should not be rearranged and that Bishops Cleeve III should be awarded three points. This was agreed unanimously.

Letter from Robin Morris highlighting the difficulties that referees can often face in acquiring their match fee and asking the League to point out that Match Officials should be paid promptly after the match.
The Meeting agreed that this should be included in the next newsletter and brought up at the next Clubs meeting whilst noting that League Rule 13(e) stipulates that the home side shall pay the Match Official before the match.

Letter from Hatherley Rangers accompanying a donation made both by themselves and referee Dave Watts following the recent Senior Charity Cup Match against Newton Heath. The League extended its thanks to both parties

Fixtures:

John Hunt, the League's Assistant Secretary, reported that there were no outstanding fixtures to be rescheduled at the current time. This was in spite of the difficulties that had been caused by the clash of the Quarter Finals of the County Cups with the same stage of the Senior and Junior Charity Cups, on January 8th.
The Assistant Secretary reported that the Division One match between Rowanfield United and Shipton Oliffe would be rescheduled for later in the season.

Rule Offences:

Due to the enforced absence of the League's Registration Secretary, no fines relating to Result Cards or player eligibility were presented to the meeting.

The Following clubs have been fined in accordance with rule 5h
i) Late payment of invoices: Fine £15: Finlay Rovers, invoice number 27C for £20.00 - due 14/12/04, paid 21/12/04, Northleach Town, invoice number 22 for £40.00, due 14/12/04, paid £15.00 21/12/04, £25.00 still outstanding. Outstanding amount to be paid by 12/01/2005

ii) Failure to respond to notification of fixture change: Fine £15 for each occurrence: Woodmancote, Cleevonians x 2, Northleach Town x 2

The following clubs have been fined in accordance with rule 10b: -
i) Late start
Home Club: 04/12/2004- Senior Charities Cup - Prestbury Rovers (15 minutes late) : fine £12.00, Northleach Town (25 minutes late): fine £12.00
Away Club: 18/12/2004 Star Reserves: Fine £5.00

ii) No First Aid Kit - Fine £5: 04/12/04 - Div 3, Phoenix United

The following clubs have been fined in accordance with rule 10e for playing with insufficient players: Fine £3 per missing player. 27/11/2004 - Div 5, Stanton 8 players, fine £9. 04/12/2004 Phoenix United 10 players, fine £3

The following clubs have been fined in accordance with rule 10f
i) For breaking a fixture: Fine £15 and 3 points deducted: 09/10/2004 - Div 4 Bredon III,
Fine £15, 3 points deducted, 3 points awarded to opposition (Bishops Cleeve III) and match not to be rearranged: 18/12/2004 - Div 2 St Marks II.

ii) Failure to notify the Assistant Secretary in writing of the reasons for a postponement: Fine £15: Cleevonians x2 20/11/2004 and 18/12/2004. Charlton Kings And Falcons on the 20/11/2004. St Marks 18/12/2004(late)

The following clubs have been fined in accordance with rule 11b - failure to phone in a result. Fine £10: 27/11/2004 - Div 2 Belmore Jags, 04/12/2004 - Div 3 Northway, Div 5 Stanton, County Cup Charlton Kings, Moreton Rangers. 11/12/2004 - Div 3 Charlton Rovers.

The following clubs have been fined in accordance with rule 11f - no teamsheet. Fine £10.00 27/11/2004 - Div 24 Bourton Rovers, 04/12/2004 - Div 5 Finlay Rovers 11/12/2004 - Div 4 Bredon, Charities Cup Andoversford Nomads 18/12/2004 - Div 3 Star (late),

The Following clubs have been fined in accordance with rule 13c - No Assistant Referee: Fine £5.00: 27/11/2004 - Div 5 Stanton, 04/12/2004 - Div 3 Phoenix United

The Following clubs have been fined in accordance with rule 13J - No referee's Card: Fine £5.00: 04/12/2004 - Div 5 Finlay Rovers

Agenda For Clubs Meeting

The meeting was asked to suggest items for the agenda for the clubs meeting on January 26th 2005. A number of items were forthcoming and it was confirmed to the meeting that the clubs themselves had until January 12th to put forward items that they wished to discuss.
It was confirmed that those clubs that were in possession of League Trophies would be asked to take advantage of this meeting to return them, as all trophies must be returned by January 31st. Ben Hill and John Crowther volunteered to inspect the trophies on their return in the presence of the club responsible for them.
Phil Tustain volunteered to conduct the roll call.
It was suggested that an supplementary supply of Referees Cards, Result Cards and Teamsheets would probably be welcome and it was agreed that the Registration Secretary should be approached to see if this might be possible.
All committee members were reminded that their help on January 26th would be invaluable, particularly as there will be a financial statement and membership forms for next season to hand out.

Any Other Business:
The Chairman, Mr Gordon Cook, reported that, in the absence of a committed response from the GFA on the matter of festive bouquets for the widows of former officers of the league, he had sent a bouquet to Mrs Kit Meadows, whose husband, Bill Meadows, had given lengthy service to the League. This action was endorsed by the Committee and Mr Cook was able to confirm that Mrs Meadows had been delighted with her flowers and that she had passed on her grateful thanks and best wishes to all concerned with the Cheltenham League.

The League Treasurer, Mr Les Fisher, reported that a Cheque for £100 had been sent from the Benevolent Fund to Mr Phil Dike

Mr Fisher also reported his concerns with apparent departures from usual practice in the League's dealings with Cheltenham Borough Council. Contrary to expectation, no mid season invoice had been received from the Council by the League for payment of the pitches that the League hires, en bloc, from the Council and then sub-lets out to Clubs as required. Further to this, some member clubs had reported to Mr Fisher that they had been invoiced directly by the Council. Mr Fisher confirmed to the meeting that he was in the process of invoicing clubs for the second half of the season and that he had spoken to a contact at Cheltenham Borough Council in an attempt to get to the bottom of this matter. It was agreed that it was in the best interest of the League for the current arrangement to be maintained.

John Hunt, the League's Assistant Secretary, brought the meetings attention to the fact that venues had been identified in advance for the finals of the Charity Cup competitions but that the semi finals still needed to be sorted out. It was agreed that this matter would be resolved once the Quarter Finals had been completed.

Mr Hunt also passed on to the meeting the thanks of Phil Dike to everyone connected with the Cheltenham League for all the help and support that had been offered over the last month.

Mr John Crowther, the Vice-Chairman, suggested that a donation should be made by the League to the Relief fund established in the wake of the recent Tsunami disaster. It was agreed that £50 would be donated to this fund.

NEXT MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MEETING WEDNESDAY 26th JANUARY 2005
COMMENCING AFTER THE CLUBS MEETING

For your Diary the remaining meeting dates are:,
2005 Feb 23rd, Mar 30th, April 27th, May 25th.
CLUB MEETINGS: 26th JANUARY 2005.
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING JUNE 8TH 2005.