Cheltenham League Meetings

Minutes of the Management Committee Meeting at the Victory Club Cheltenham on Wednesday 26th January 2005 at 8-00 pm

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

Apologies: P Tustain, G.Morrison D Barrett,

Minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday the 5th January 2005 were read and accepted

Hearing - Northleach Town

The General Secretary, Nick Oram, informed the meeting of how concerns have been growing over the course of the season about the state of the administration of Northleach Town. Northleach Town run two teams in the Cheltenham League, a first team, which competes in Division Two, and a reserve team, which is in Division Five. Until the beginning of this season, Northleach Town Reserves competed in Division Five as a separate club, known as Northleach Rangers.

The meeting was informed that Northleach Town had become serial non payers of invoices and that their second team has now failed to fulfil a fixture on 4 separate occasions. The first was at the beginning of the season, when they told the league that their second team had reached a cricket final. The second was on October 30th, when they eventually informed the league that their mini bus had broken down on the way to play Tewkesbury Dynamos. On the third and fourth occasions, they simply failed to turn up for games against Cleevonians on November 27th and Star on January 15th. On the first occasion, Northleach made no attempt to inform Cleevonians that they were not coming. On the second occasion, Star were informed that Northleach only had six players at 1.45 pm (kick off was due at 2.00 pm). Northleach also said that they would send those players that they had but no one ever arrived, even though the first team had 13 players that day. The game was abandoned at 2.45 pm.

In addition, the League has become concerned about the situation that existed between Northleach Town FC and Northleach Sports & Social Club, the headquarters of which was based at King George V playing fields in Northleach, which is where the football club play their matches. This situation had deteriorated to the point at which the League had been made aware, by persons connected with the Sports & Social Club, that Officers of the football club had become persona non grata at the Social Club. Confusion had been caused by the number of conflicting telephone calls that had been received, by Senior Officers of the League, from persons connected with both entities in Northleach. In light of this and the concerns over the manner in which Northleach had been conducting themselves as members of the League, it was decided to request their attendance at this Management Committee meeting in order that the League could ascertain whether or not the continuance of Cheltenham League Football at Northleach was viable.

The three representatives from Northleach identified themselves as Gary Evans, Les Smith and John Robson. Gary Evans informed the meeting that he was the duly elected Secretary of Northleach Town whilst Les Smith informed the meeting that he was both the Club chairman and, also, the secretary for the second team. John Robson identified himself as the second team manager.

The League Chairman, Gordon Cook, thanked them for attending and informed the representatives that, whilst they might consider Mr Smith to be the Secretary of the second team, Northleach Town were now one club with two teams and not two separate entities. This meant that the League would continue to only deal with Gary Evans on all matters relating to League business. The representatives acknowledged this. The General Secretary then detailed the concerns of the League with regard to the conduct of Northleach Town and Mr Cook then expanded on these to explain the reasons for the Club being called in to the meeting.

The meeting was informed that the club had experienced a number of difficulties following the amalgamation, in the summer of 2004, of Northleach Town and Northleach Rangers that, in essence, saw Northleach Rangers become the reserve side of the newly merged club. It was hoped that these difficulties would be overcome now that the previous 2nd team manager had been replaced by Mr Robson, who had sacrificed his place in the 1st team in order to help the club out. The clubs representative's used this opportunity to issue an apology to all the clubs they had inconvenienced in the past few months.

Mr Arthur Stiley, the League's Referees Secretary, reminded the representatives that referee's were effected by teams being unreliable too. Mr John Hunt, the Assistant Secretary, pointed out that when he had been in attendance at a match at Northleach the previous weekend, the referee had been compelled to go in search of his fees. The meeting was informed that a process had now been devised by which the referee would be paid by the bar staff in Northleach Sports & Social Club, a receipt completed and the money then repaid by the football club. Assurances were issued to the effect that this arrangement would not be affected by the currently delicate relationship between the football club and the sports & social club.

The meeting was assured that the seriousness of the situation in which the club found itself had been rigourously impressed upon all players currently registered with Northleach Town. In answer to a question from Peter Newcombe, the meeting was assured that the club had sufficient players to continue and meet all fixtures and that no large exodus was expected in the wake of the departure of the previous manager.

The General Secretary welcomed the laudable commitment and intent shown by the three representatives of Northleach Town but pointed out that, even if they, individually, could not have done any more to make sure that the reserve team fulfilled its fixtures, it had been within the remit of each of them to ensure that notification had been sent through to the league about each postponement. This was acknowledged and assurances were issued to the effect that this would not happen again.

The representatives of Northleach Town were then asked to retire whilst the meeting considered the action that was required. It was felt that the commitment shown by each of the three representatives was to be applauded. However, certain measures were felt to be necessary and once the representatives had been recalled, these were detailed thus
· Northleach Town must provide, on Club Headed notepaper, full details of all elected officers of the club to the League Secretary
· Northleach Town must hold monthly Committee meetings, produce minutes from these meetings and send a copy of these minutes to the League Secretary until further notice
· Northleach Town should be reminded that, at any stage, the League could require the production of club accounts for scrutiny.
· Written Notification of the reasons for the two unfulfilled fixtures with Cleevonians and Star to be sent to the League Secretary
It was agreed that details of these requirements would be sent to the Secretary of Northleach Town by the League Secretary within 72 hours of the completion of the meeting.
An email has been received from Star FC in which they claim £93 expenses from Northleach Town for the cancelled fixture on January 15th

Matters Arising from the minutes.

The meeting was informed that an Email has been received from Andoversford Nomads assuring the league that they will be taking the necessary steps, on Saturday, January 22nd, to ensure that the closed cup hooks on their goal frames are replaced. Confirmation that this action had been taken had been received in person from the Secretary of Andoversford Nomads immediately before the meeting began.
A Letter has been received from Brockworth Albion expressing their disappointment both at the League's failure to uphold their appeal at the January 5th meeting and also at the fact that the league retained the appeal fee
Appeal by Bredon against the fine imposed for the contravention of rule 11(f) - no teamsheet at the January 5th meeting. Bredon claim that this was handed to the referee and the Kings manager at the same time, as they were in conversation at the time. Fine relates to the match on 11/12/2004. Appeal fee received
It was confirmed to the meeting that the referee on this date was not an officially appointed referee but a member of Kings AFC. It was confirmed to the meeting that a teamsheet from Kings had been sent in but not from Bredon. It was agreed that, as there was no evidence to support Bredon's Appeal, the appeal was unsuccessful but that the appeal fee should be returned.

Appeal by Bourton Rovers against the fine imposed at the last meeting for not handing in a teamsheet before the game against Belmore Jags on December 4th. Bourton Rovers say that their manager claims he handed it in, that Belmore Jags confirm that they received their copy and that they have spoken to the referee, W Wain, who told them that he had not reported anyone all season for not handing in a teamsheet.
The appeal was upheld.
Appeal by Cleevonians against the fines imposed at the last meeting. 2 fines were imposed for failing to report postponements to the Assistant Secretary and two were for failure to respond to fixture changes.
Cleevonians point out that officers of the club were on holiday from 17th July to 3rd August and that they responded to emails from Peter Jurd as soon as they returned.
With regard to the failure to report postponements, Cleevonians stress that one of the dates for which they had been fined - 20th November - had previously been discussed by the Management Committee at its meeting on November 24th and it had been decided not to take any further action against Cleevonians in regard to this matter. The second incident related to the Div 5 game against Tewkesbury Dynamos on 18th December which was called off by P.Langley. Cleevonians claim that as it was not them, but the referee, calling the game off the rules do not require them to inform the league.
The meeting agreed that appeal against the fine issued with relation to the match on November 20th should be successful. However, the fines relating to failure to acknowledge notices of rearrangement of fixtures related to emails sent in December so the appeals against these fines were dismissed. In consideration of the final matter, the League considered that it had made it clear that it was the responsibility of clubs having matches called off on their home pitch to inform the League no matter who or what had caused the game to be postponed. Therefore, this appeal was also unsuccessful and the appeal fee was retained.

Correspondence:

Email from Star FC claiming £93 expenses from Northleach Town in relation to the Division Five fixture that Northleach Town failed to fulfil on Saturday, January 15th, 2005. After examining this claim, the league agreed that £58 of this claim was reasonable and asked the General Secretary to pass this decision on to Northleach Town when he wrote to them

Email from Belmore Jags complaining that the changing rooms for their home game against Moreton Rangers in Division Two on Saturday January 15th at Naunton Park were not opened. Both sides had to change in their cars and were unable to shower after the match.
The league noted the difficulties experienced by Belmore Jags and agreed that the club should not be charged for the use of the facilities for this match. The League Treasurer was instructed to ensure that this amount was recovered from Cheltenham Borough Council. The meeting was also informed that new telephone numbers had now been issued to clubs who play on Borough Council pitches to help to alleviate these problems

Email from Woodmancote drawing the leagues attention to the fact that they were not provided with a copy of Tewkesbury YMCA's teamsheet for the Junior Cup Quarter Final on January 15th. A copy was given to Referee Len Cole. Woodmancote assert that YMCA brought on a player, Stuart Barnes, as substitute who is not registered to them and who is a Winchcombe player. They have confirmed with Phil Comfort, of Winchcombe, that no transfer form has been completed.
Mr Arthur Stiley produced the teamsheets from this match, which had been provided by the referee. Stuart Barnes was not listed as a substitute for Tewkesbury YMCA. It was agreed that the Secretary would write to Tewkesbury YMCA and ask them if they had played Stuart Barnes in this match. A report would be delivered at the next meeting.

Fixtures:

John Hunt, the League's Assistant Secretary, informed the meeting that he had nothing further to report above and beyond that which had been reported during the club's meeting earlier in the evening..

Rule Offences:

The Following clubs have been fined in accordance with rule 5h
i) Late payment of invoices: Fine £15: Cleevonians, Northway, Andoversford Nomads, Rowanfield Utd
ii) Failure to reply to League Correspondence: Fine £15: Northleach Town

The following clubs have been fined in accordance with rule 10b - late start
Away Club: 08/01/2005 Charlton Kings: fine £5.00

The following clubs have been fined in accordance with rule 10f
i) For breaking a fixture: Fine £15 and 3 points deducted: 27/11/2004 - Div 5 Northleach Town, 15/01/2005 - Div 5 Northleach Town

ii) Failure to notify the Assistant Secretary in writing of the reasons for a postponement: Fine £15: Northleach Town x 2, 27/11/2004, 15/01/2005

The following clubs have been fined in accordance with rule 11a - Result Cards. Fine £5 for each offence:
No Score: 11/12/04 Div 3 - Northway,15/1/05 Div 2 Brockworth Albion
No Referee Details 20/11/2004 - Div 5 Finlay Rovers (J Coombs), 11/12/2004 - Minor Charity Cup Cheltenham Civil Service (J Marston) 08/01/2005 - Div 4 Falcons (N Peters), 15/01/2005 - Div 2 Newton Heath (W.Gibbard)
Incorrect Referee Named: 27/11/2004 - Div 5 Finlay Rovers (stated Perkins when N Peters),11/12/2004 - Junior Charities Cup Charlton Rovers (stated W Gibbard when J Carbin), 8/1/2005 Div 5 Star (Stated R Morris when M Davies), 15/01/2005 Div 3 Star (Stated L Cole when S.Oakey)
No teams stated: 11/12/2004 Div 3 - Northway
No referee's Marks: 20/11/2004 Div 5 -Finlay Rovers, 27/11/2004 - Div 5 Finlay Rovers, 08/01/2005 - Div 1 Northway, 15/01/2005 - Div 1 Northway
No Registration Numbers 11/12/2004 - Div 3 Charlton Rovers, 08/01/2005 - Div 3 Northway
Incorrect Result: 15/01/2005 Div 3 - Finlay Rovers stated 4-2 when 3-2

The following clubs have been fined in accordance with rule 11b - failure to phone in a result. Fine £10: 08/01/2005 - Intermediate County Cup St Marks

The following clubs have been fined in accordance with rule 11c - No Result Card Fine £10: 08/01/2005 - Div 5 Finlay Rovers, Northleach Town

The following clubs have been fined in accordance with rule 11f - no teamsheet. Fine £10.00 15/01/2005 - Div 5 Finlay Rovers, 22/01/2005 - Div 2 Cheltenham Saracens

The Following clubs have been fined in accordance with rule 13J - No referee's Card: Fine £5.00: 15/01/2005 - Div 5 Finlay Rovers

The meeting felt obliged to note, with some disappointment, the number of fines that were being imposed in avoidable circumstances, particularly the naming of the correct referee. All clubs were asked to exert a little extra care when completing Match Cards for submission to the referee to attempt to ensure that these unnecessary fines were avoided.

Any Other Business:
The meeting was informed by Mr Ben Hill that the only trophies that had not been returned to the League were those in the possession of Rowanfield United, Phoenix United and Referee Mick Huck. It was noted that League Rules require the return of trophies by clubs by January 31st. Arthur Stiley agreed to contact Mick Huck with regard to the referee's trophy

The meeting was informed that a number of cards had been received from the family of Wayne Dike, thanking the League for its help, assistance and sympathy in the aftermath of Wayne's death.

NEXT MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MEETING WEDNESDAY 23rd FEBRUARY 2005

For your Diary the remaining meeting dates are:,
2005 Mar 30th, April 27th, May 25th.
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING JUNE 8TH 2005.