Cheltenham League Meetings

CHELTENHAM ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL LEAGUE

Minutes of the Management Committee Meeting at the Victory Club Cheltenham on Wednesday 25th October 2006.

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

Apologies: None

Minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 27th September 2006 were read and accepted

Matters Arising from the minutes.

The Secretary confirmed that a letter had been sent to the GFA regarding the difficulties that were being experienced with the communication of County Cup Draws and that 2 replies had been received from David Neale, the Chief Executive, in which assurances were issued that an investigation into the matter was being carried out.
It was reported that Bishops Cleeve Parish Council were extremely grateful and appreciative of the actions taken by the League in respect of the recovery of the fees owed by Gaffers FC.

Correspondence & Referees Reports:

Correspondence Reported for Discussion

Letter from Endsleigh bringing the League's attention to various concerns that the club has with regard to playing matters in League Matches
The comments made by Endsleigh were noted and the Secretary was asked to write to the club in confirmation of this
Letter from Andoversford Nomads informing the League that they were unable to forward an Official Referee's Match Result card for the Charity Cup Match with Prestbury Rovers as the referee refused to return it to them. Andoversford Nomads state that they believe that this might have been as a result of a disagreement in respect of the expenses that the referee attempted to charge.
It was noted that the distance quoted by Andoversford equated to a single, and not a round, trip from the referee's home town to Andoversford and that referees were entitled to expenses that covered their whole journey to and from a match. The Referee's Secretary informed the meeting that he had been unable to speak with the Referee for the match in question as he was currently on holiday but confirmed that he would be contacting him as soon as possible to ascertain the location of the referee's card.
It was also noted that, in difficult circumstances, Andoversford Nomads had acted in an entirely appropriate manner with regard to this matter and the committee commended their approach
Letter from Referee Marek Jagus, containing a donation, equivalent to his fees and expenses for the match between Charlton Rovers and Tewkesbury Dynamos on October 14th, to the Charity Cup fund.
The League registered its gratitude for the generosity of the referee in this instance and commended the actions of an official who was new to the Cheltenham League this season
Email from Alan Clayton asking for further details of the vacancy on the Management Committee
The Secretary was asked to confirm the requirements of the position to Mr Clayton and to set up a date for interview if appropriate.
Email from Referee Keith Iles, containing a copy of a letter sent to the Referees Secretary, explaining the reasons for his non attendance at the match between Brockworth Albion and Northleach Town in Division Two on Saturday, 21st October.
The League commended Mr Iles for his honesty and the efforts that he had put into attempting to locate the ground on a day when it would seem that the fates had conspired against him. It was also noted that Mr Iles had taken wholly appropriate action in contacting the League to explain the difficulties that he had experienced.
Email from Sherborne Harriers, informing the League that their pitch had been subjected to an act of vandalism that was currently under police investigation.
It was noted that Sherborne Harriers did not have a home game until 11th November and that, in the meantime, developments would be monitored. It was also agreed that the League's Chairman, who had conducted the original inspection of the facilities at the Sherborne National Trust Estate, would make independent inquiries as to the extent of the damage caused.

Correspondence Notified to the Meeting but not discussed

Email from Broadway United relating to the fines imposed upon the club at the last meeting in respect of a failure to enter registration numbers. The club state that they had no record of these numbers and that they had asked the registration secretary, by email, for a copy of all their registration numbers, which had not been provided.
Reply sent advising the club that this matter would have to be raised as an appeal and asking them to lodge the appeal fee with the General Secretary as soon as possible if they wished to proceed.
Letter and email received from Smiths Athletic, informing the League of a change of colours. Due to a new sponsorship deal, the new colours for the club's Cheltenham League Division 4 side would be sky blue and claret shirts, with claret shorts and claret socks. The change colours for this team would now be white and blue shirts, claret shorts and claret socks.
Email from the Stroud Branch of the referees association with details of the fact that the branch's President, Mr Don Collings, died on September 29th.
Email from FC Barometrics, stating that the score of the match between the club and Tewkesbury YMCA, played on Saturday, 30th September, was 4-0 to FC Barometrics and not 4-1 as stated on Full Time
Reply sent by email stating that 4-1 was the score reported by Tewkesbury YMCA and that confirmation would be awaited from the referees card
Email from Whaddon United in response to correspondence relating to the reports received from an official Match referee that the goalposts at Priors Farm had cup metal hooks. Whaddon United assured the league in their email that they would look into this matter
Reply sent referring the club to the response from Cheltenham Borough Council and informing them that they should take no further action unless they were able to substantiate the report from the Referee.
Email from Star FC giving notification of a change of secretary. The new Secretary is Matt Harvey, whose address is Stables Cottage, Christowe Lane, Cheltenham, Gloucs, GL53 7BY and whose telephone number is 07771 763943. Matt was the alternative contact for Star FC so this is now Mark Elliot, whose telephone number is 07748 325385.
Email from Smiths Athletic requesting permission to sign on Mike Powell to play for the club in the Cheltenham League. The club requests permission because Mike Powell was a player in the club's Division Two team squad last season. At the Management Committee meeting held on September 6th to hear the appeal lodged by Smiths against the decision of the Committee to only permit the club to withdraw its Division 4 side from the League, it was agreed that Smiths would not sign on any players who had made a significant number of appearances for the Smiths Division Two side in season 2005-06
Reply sent informing Smiths that it did not seem within the jurisdiction of the General Secretary to make a decision on this matter and that it would have to be referred to the next meeting of the Committee on October 25th
Email from Tivoli Rovers requesting confirmation that there was no objection to the kick off of their Division 4 match with Belmore Jags being brought forward to 2.00 pm on Saturday, October 7th, 2006. The Referee and the opposition had already been contacted and agreed to this change
Reply sent by email confirming that there was no objection to this change of kick off time
Email from Finlay Rovers stating a desire to appeal against two fines that the club had received at the meeting held on September 27th, 2006
Reply sent stating that an appeal fee of £10 had to be lodged with the General Secretary for any appeal to be considered
Email from Elmbridge Old Boys congratulating Cheltenham Civil Service on their excellent facilities and the superb playing surface that is maintained at the Civil Service Club. The email also details the fact that the club secretary will be unavailable from October 22nd to November 3rd. The alternative contacts at this time will be Jon Chandler on 07801 496633 or Lee Ritchie on 07977 039614
Letter from Jim Harding giving details of the latest Referees Training Course that is being held in Cheltenham. It starts on 21st November and is being held at the Park Campus
Acknowledgement from the GFA in reply to the email sent expressing the League's concerns over the non-arrival of the notification of GFA Cup Draws to numerous of the League's clubs
Letter from the GFA containing details of the draws for the next round of the GFA County Cup Competitions
Email from Smiths Athletic withdrawing their request for permission to register Mike Powell
Letter from Bishops Cleeve Parish Council containing an invoice for £40 to cover the hire of a pitch at Bishops Cleeve Playing Fields by Gaffers FC. The invoice indicates that the amount is paid
Letter from Northleach Town containing the minutes from the club meeting held on October 11th. Next meeting scheduled for November 8th

Referees Reports reported for discussion

Finlay Rovers v Bredon Res, Div 2, Sat 07/10/06: Referee N Newport-Black reports that two pairs of boots were stolen from the changing rooms after the game, including his own, and wished to pass on a warning to all teams playing at Blackbridge to be on their guard against similar incidents
It was agreed that this problem, as reported by the referee, should be highlighted to all clubs, especially those in Divisions Two and Five.
The Secretary was also asked to write to Mr Newport Black and apologise for his loss on behalf of the League.
Smiths Athletic Res v Tivoli Rovers, Junior Charity Cup, Sat 14/10/06: Referee J.Harding reports that he donated £5 of his match fee to the Charity Cup Competition.
The Leagues' Treasurer acknowledged that he had received the monies in question and the committee recorded its thanks to Mr Harding for his generosity.

The following details, with regards to the number of cards received from referees for each match day, were also reported to the meeting.

Match Day Breakdown

23/09/06: 34 matches, 19 with referees, 14 cards received.
30/09/06: 7 matches, all with referees, 4 cards received
07/10/06: 13 matches, all with referees, 5 cards received
14/10/06: 25 matches, 21 with referees, 12 cards received

The committee noted that this meant that approximately 50% of cards were being returned and the General Secretary and the Referee's Secretary were asked to monitor the receipt of Referee's Report cards in order to identify referees who persistently failed to return the cards. Mr John Crowther suggested that referees who consistently failed to return cards should be disciplined, possibly by being denied significant appointments within the League, and this was noted.

Referees Reports Notified but not discussed

Dynamos v Hatherley Rangers, Div 1, Sat 23/09/06: Referee M Ball reported that the dressing rooms at Dowty Rotol were not opened until just before kick off and that all teams were obliged to change at the pitch side
Endsleigh v Shipton Oliffe, Div 1, Sat 23/09/06: Referee L. Cole reports that he was required to separate the two sets of supporters and that this was not a very enjoyable match to referee.
Bredon Reserves v Finlay Rovers, Div 2, Sat 30/09/06: Referee D Watts reported that the Finlay Rovers goalkeeper was wearing all black.
Email sent to Finlay Rovers reminding them of the requirements of League Rule 9(a)
Tewkesbury YMCA v FC Barometrics, Div 2, Sat 30/09/06: Referee M.Malin reports that Tewesbury YMCA were responsible for the game kicking off 8 minutes late and that they did not provide any corner flags
Charlton Rovers v Tewkesbury Dynamos, Junior Charity Cup, Sat 14/10/06: referee M Jagus reports that one goal net was poorly secured to one post

Rule Offences:

The following clubs have been fined in accordance with rule 5i: Late Payment of Invoices. Fine £15

i) Invoices due 16/10/06: Whaddon United (invoice 88, £5, paid 23/10/2006 )

The following clubs have been fined in accordance with rule 10b:

i. Failure to play a match in accordance with the Laws of the Game: Fine £5: 30/09/06 - Div 2 Tewkesbury YMCA (No corner flags)

ii. Late Kick-offs (Home Team). 16/09/06 - Div 3 Belmore Jags (5 minutes late - fine £7.50). 30/09/06 - Div 2 Tewkesbury YMCA (8 minutes late - fine £7.50).

The following clubs have been fined in accordance with rule 11(a) - failure to complete Result cards correctly. Fine £5 for each offence
Late Cards: 07/10/06 - Div 4 Naunton Park; 14/10/06 - Junior Charity Cup Belmore Jags, Northway
Incorrect referees Name: 23/09/06 - Div 3 Belmore Jags (stated club referee when S.Oakey); 14/10/06 - Div 1 Endsleigh (stated M.Barnes when P.Barrett)
No Referees Marks 30/09/06 - Div 3 Broadway United
No Score given: 07/10/06 - Div 3 FC Electrics;
No registration Numbers: 23/09/06 - Div 3 Broadway United, Falcons (one missing); 30/09/06 - Div 3 Broadway United; 07/10/06 - Div 5 Charlton Rovers
Wrong Date: 30/09/06 - Div 3 Broadway United (no date given);
Wrong Opposition: 07/10/06 - Div 4 Kings (state opposition as Charfield when Brockworth Albion)

It was noted that Broadway United had received numerous fines, both at this meeting and at the meeting held on September 27th, for not submitting Registration Numbers. The General Secretary referred the meeting to the email sent by Broadway United, as detailed in the Correspondence Reported but not discussed section of these minutes. In this email, the club reports that it has made several unsuccessful attempts to obtain the Registration Numbers from the Registration Secretary, as they had no record of these numbers themselves. Mr Terry Onions, the Registration Secretary, informed the meeting that he had received no request for registration numbers from Broadway United.

The following clubs have been fined in accordance with rule 11(b) - Notification of results or postponements to the Results Secretary:
Fine £5 (first offence). 30/09/06 - Div 2 Brockworth Albion (late result - 5.32 pm), Tewkesbury YMCA (no result), County Cup Gaffers (No result), Northleach Town (late 5.55 pm); 07/10/06 - County Cup Bishops Cleeve (No notification of postponement); 21/10/06 -Div 3 Belmore Jags (late 6.20 pm)
Fine £10 (second offence). 30/09/06 - County Cup Phoenix United (no result), Brockworth Albion (no result); 07/10/06 - Div 4 Charlton Rovers (late result 7.20 pm); 09/10/06 - County Cup Bishops Cleeve (No notification of postponement); 21/10/06 - Div 2 Tewkesbury YMCA (no result);

The following clubs have been fined in accordance with rule 13J -Submission of referees cards & teamsheets.

i. Submission of an incomplete or incorrect Club Referee's Card. Fine £10: 23/09/06 - Div 5 Cleevonians (incorrect card), Sherborne Harriers (incorrect card).
ii. Failure to submit Referee's Card within 5 days of the match. Fine £10: 23/09/06 - Div 1 Belmore Jags, Div 4 Belmore Jags, Tewkesbury Town; 07/10/06 - Div 1 Naunton Park
iii. Failure to submit Referee's Card within 10 days of the match. Additional Fine £10 & Club suspended. 23/09/06 - Div 1 Belmore Jags, Div 4 Belmore Jags, Tewkesbury Town; 07/10/06 - Div 1 Naunton Park
iv. Failure to submit Teamsheets within 5 days of the match. Fine £5 for each missing teamsheet: 23/09/06 - Div 1 Belmore Jags (both sheets missing), Div 4 Belmore Jags (both sheets missing), Tewkesbury Town (both sheets missing).

Treasurer's Report

Mr Les Fisher, the League's Treasurer, reported to the meeting that he had received numerous payments for invoices since the start of the season that had been accompanied by notes, of a sarcastic nature, complaining about the imposition of the fine. Mr Fisher asked for confirmation, from the meeting, that the committee required him to report all rule violations that he encountered at the appropriate meeting of the Management Committee. This was unanimously confirmed by the meeting, which endorsed Mr Fisher's practice of reporting each and every rule transgression that he experienced in his dual role as League Results Secretary. In addition, Mr Fisher was asked to ignore any comments that accompanied payments that were made in response to fines that were imposed by the committee but to make sure that he reported any that he felt to be abusive. This was agreed.
Mr Fisher then reported that Naunton Park were currently suspended from the League as they had failed to send an Official Referee's Result Card for their Senior Charity Cup match on Saturday, 14th October. This was noted.
Mr Fisher concluded by reporting that donations to the Charity fund had been received from Winchcombe Town, Smiths Athletic, Hatherley Rangers, Andoversford Nomads and Brockworth Albion following the recent round of Charity Cup matches and the League recorded its gratitude for the generosity of all these clubs.

Club Review

The meeting was reminded that it had been agreed, at the July meeting, to review all three clubs currently on report to the League at the October meeting. These clubs were Northleach Town, Finlay Rovers and Belmore Jags.
The Secretary reported that, so far this season, Northleach Town had received 5 fines, at an average of 1 per month since July, Finlay Rovers had received 4 fines at an average of just under 1 per month, whilst Belmore Jags had received 27 fines, at an average of just over 5 per month. It was further reported that minutes from committee meetings had been received from Northleach Town each month throughout the whole of the summer and into the early part of the season, with the latest minutes from the October meeting having just arrived. Finlay Rovers, however, had not provided the League with any minutes since 24th June, when the club held its AGM. The meeting was reminded that no such measures had yet been placed on Belmore Jags but that the club had incurred a £250 fine, suspended indefinitely, following its numerous rule violations at the beginning of the season.
It was recommended to the meeting that Northleach Town FC should be released from the special requirements placed upon it at the meeting of January 2005 and that the club's committee and body of officers should be congratulated for having made significant improvements. It was further recommended that Finlay Rovers be fined £50 for failing to satisfactorily attend to the business of the League, following its failure to hold committee meetings since June. It was further agreed, however, that this fine should be suspended until the end of the calendar year, pending a further review of the club's affairs and in the expectation that they would use this time to recommence the convening of meetings and the submission of minutes. It was noted that the suspension of this fine, rather than its immediate imposition, was in recognition of the progress and improvements that Finlay Rovers had made, particularly in the matter of avoiding rule violations. This was agreed
Finally, it was agreed that Belmore Jags should be compelled to hold regular monthly committee meetings and that they should be required to submit a copy of the minutes from these meetings to the League Secretary. It was also agreed that Belmore Jags be required to submit an up to date balance sheet to the League within two weeks of the meeting and provide the League with a definitive list of current club officers. It was acknowledged that Belmore Jags' new secretary had a difficult job and that he was in need of the League's support but that, also, the League could not fail to act in acknowledgement of the fact that the club had already incurred 27 fines this season.
The Secretary was asked to write to each of the clubs concerned to confirm these decisions.

Review of "Kick It Out" Day, 21st October 2006

The Secretary reported that, following the distribution, to all clubs, of a letter addressed to the match referees officiating in fixtures under the League's control on Saturday, 21st October, in which requests were issued to all clubs and referees to report any instances of racism immediately, there had been no such reports received. It was noted that this was a very pleasing outcome and in keeping with the expectations of the Cheltenham League, which had a proud record of being fair and equable to all players.
The Secretary reported that two emails had been received with regard to the League's actions in relation to the Kick It Out campaign's week of action. Cheltenham Civil Service had enquired whether or not the measures put in place on Saturday, October 21st could become normal practice. Sherborne Harriers, meanwhile, commented that they were not surprised that there had been no reports of racism, as it was their experience that racism was not a problem in the Cheltenham League.
The comments from Cheltenham Civil Service were noted but the meeting felt that there was already well established practices in place that would allow clubs to contact the League to report instances of racism and that these should be followed in the event of any incidents occurring in the future. It was felt that the comments from Sherborne Harriers endorsed the committee's beliefs that racism was not a significant problem in the Cheltenham League. It was also felt that this endorsement was enhanced by the fact that it had been received from a club that was relatively new to the League, following several years as a member of another competition.

Fixtures

John Hunt, the League's Assistant Secretary, informed the meeting that he was still not happy with the situation with regard to the communication of County Cup draws by the GFA, especially as all these competitions were drawn to their conclusion at the beginning of the season. Mr Arthur Stiley and Mr John Crowther confirmed that the matter had been raised at a recent County Cups Committee meeting and that this body had issued assurances that the matter would be dealt with. However, concerns were expressed that administrative difficulties were being experienced at the GFA and that these might be the cause of the problems. It was noted that the GFA currently sent out details of the draws to the General Secretary and the Results Secretary and it was agreed that the GFA should be asked to send a copy to Mr Hunt, the League's Fixtures Secretary, instead of Mr Fisher, the Results Secretary.
Mr Bob Attwood asked if there was a reason why details of referee appointments had not appeared in the Gloucestershire Echo over the last few weeks. He was assured that the details were being sent to the newspaper and that, unfortunately, they were not being printed. It was also confirmed that League tables were also not appearing. Mr Cook, the Chairman, confirmed that he would raise this matter with Mark Halliwell, the sports editor at Gloucestershire Media, at the earliest opportunity.

Any Other Business:

The Secretary reported that he would be unavailable from Thursday, 26th October to Monday, 30th October inclusive
Mr John Hunt informed the meeting that FC Electrics had reported that they had changed the colour of their shorts to green. This was noted.

There being no further business, the meeting closed at 8.35 pm

NEXT MEETING - WEDNESDAY 29th NOVEMBER, 2006

AT 7-15 PM