Cheltenham League Notice Board

  • 13/09/2005 - August 2005 Newsletter

It is the purpose of this Newsletter to communicate items of interest to Clubs and, in particular, their Secretaries, that were not necessarily discussed at the monthly Management Committee meetings. If anyone has anything that they would like to include on this newsletter, which will be circulated to all clubs and which will also be posted on the Leagues Web site, they are advised to contact the League's General Secretary by the Monday that immediately precedes the monthly Management Committee meeting, at the latest

Apologies that the Newsletter is a little late this time around but the General Secretary has spent most of the last 3 weeks away on holiday and this necessitated the rescheduling of the August meeting to September 7th.

1) Fines

The numbers of clubs who have failed to pay League Invoices within the stipulated time has, recently, reached almost epidemic proportions and this is wholly unacceptable. Each invoice that is sent out by the League's Treasurer has a date written upon it by which payment must be received. Ideally, these invoices would be paid by return post, thus making everyone's lives easier, but in the absence of this utopia, everyone must make it a priority to pay by the due date at the very latest. These dates are usually very generous - 14 days in most cases - and the extra work that is caused by a failure to pay on time makes it inevitable that any club that fails to meet the dates set will be fined. They will also face the prospect of being suspended from the League and having any games that were scheduled for the period that elapses before the suspension is raised, postponed with a probable loss of points
The futility of failing to pay League invoices on time was emphasised fully at the last Management Committee meeting. 6 clubs failed to pay their for their books of registration forms or their subscriptions to either the League or the Charities Cup competitions by July 31st, despite the fact that the invoices were released in early June. The lowest fine incurred because of these transgressions was £55, and the highest a gargantuan £95

2. Car Parking at Winchcombe Town

Winchcombe Town have asked us to point out to all clubs that there is a no parking policy in force in Mill Lane, which is the road that leads to their ground.

3 Registration

Clubs are reminded that they should check with Terry Onions before contemplating signing anyone who's name appeared on the CDP2 form. Numerous of the names have now been removed from the CDP2 list and up to date information is only available from Terry.
In addition, will clubs please note that it is not acceptable to agree to countersign a registration form, as a witness, for an opposing team on the day of the match, as per the stipulations of rule 8(b), and then withdraw that agreement when it actually comes to putting pen to paper. Any such instances that are reported to the League will be dealt with at the discretion of the League's Management Committee. It should also be noted, however, that all matters that relate to

registering a player in this manner should be completed before the start of the match.

Players reported as having paid the debts that were reported on the CDP2 form are as follows

Player DOB

Bridgeman, Andrew 02.01.71
Brown, Simon 06.11.75
Buckland, Ashley 19.06.86
Buckland, Neil 03.06.58
Childs, Spencer 13.11.86
James, Charlie 16.08.87
Mahon, James 04.12.84
Sheerin, James 10.04.88
Smith, Darren 25.05.77
Smith, Gavin 04.10.80
Surman, Alan 27.02.70

4 Clubs Meeting 28th September 2005

The next Clubs meeting will be held at the Victory Club on Wednesday, 28th September, 2005, starting at 7.15 pm. Attendance at this meeting is not obligatory but clubs are advised to send a representative if at all possible, for a number of reasons. Firstly, the meeting provides a forum at which issues can be discussed and possible resolutions to any problems can be identified. Secondly, it acts as an information exchange, at which reports are made by the League's Officers and help and guidance is offered with regard to matters concerning League affairs. Thirdly, each club's allocation of Result Cards and hand books will be available for collection on the night.
All clubs are urged to attend if at all possible. Anyone who has anything that they would like to include on the agenda should send the details through to Nick Oram, the League Secretary, by Tuesday 20th September at the latest.

5 Referee Availability

All clubs are reminded of the changes that were made to rules 10(B) and 13(J) at the last AGM, with regard to the provision of stand in officials should no referee be officially appointed to a game, or should the officially appointed referee fail to turn up. In such instances, the home side is now obligated to provide a suitable alternative to referee the match. The identity of this individual should be communicated to the Away side as soon as possible and without delay. Should the home side fail to provide a suitable alternative and this failure consequently results in the postponement of the match, the home side will be liable to be charged with breaking a fixture in accordance with rule 10(f). Should the Away side fail to agree with the alternative referee provided by the home team, they are obliged to inform the League immediately, in writing, of the basis of their disagreement. This will then be considered by the League Management Committee the next time it meets and should the Committee decide that the away side's disagreement is unreasonable, the away team will be charged with breaking a fixture under the provisions of rule 10(f). The consequence of having a charge proven under rule 10(f) is the deduction of three points and a fine of at least £15 and this minimum penalty will be increased by a point and £5 for each subsequent transgression. This means that the second time your side is found to have broken a fixture, it will be fined 4 points and £20, and so on.
In essence, what this means is that it is beholden upon every side to have contingency plans in place to be put into action should a designated official fail to appear at a match. This will mean that the amount of notice provided will be immaterial as each home team will always be prepared for the possibility, even though the League does endeavour to make sure that as many games as possible have an officially appointed referee. It should also be noted that this requirement applies equally to teams in all Divisions, whether this is Division One or Division Five.

6 Referees Cards

All Clubs are reminded that the new system with regard to Referees Cards is now operational. Each Club was provided with two sets of Referees cards at the AGM. The Club Referees cards are for use when an officially appointed referee is not present and the home side has provided a suitable alternative. This card should be signed by the captains of both sides before the game, to indicate their agreement to the substitute official, and then completed after the match and signed by the stand in referee. It should then be sent, along with a copy of both the home teams and the away teams teamsheets, to Les Fisher within 5 days of the match.
The other set of Referees Cards is to be completed by officially appointed Referees. A representative of the home side

should take these cards to the Officially Appointed Referee within 15 minutes of the completion of the match, when they pay the referee their fees. The Officially Appointed Referee will then complete and sign the card and then hand it back to the representative of the home side. This card should then be sent, without being altered in any way, to Les Fisher, along with the home sides copies of the team sheet for both sides that took part in the match.

7 Shipton Oliffe Reserves

Will all clubs, but particularly those in Division Four, please take note that Shipton Oliffe Reserves have been withdrawn from the League. This means every fixture that involved this sides, whether in the League or the Charities Cup, has been cancelled and the teams who were due to play them will have a blank date on those scheduled dates.

8 Referees Course

We have been asked to point out that the next course for Referees will be held at the Victory Club, starting on November 22nd. For further details, please contact Steve Oakey on 01242 527770.

9 Gloucestershire Grassroots Sport Magazine

We have also been asked to point out that the first edition of the new Gloucestershire GrassRoots Sport Magazine will be available from September 16th. This magazine offers extensive coverage of the Cheltenham League but the continuation of this level of coverage will depend, in the future, on the number of magazines that are actually sold to clubs in membership with the Cheltenham League. We are lead to believe, by the publishers, that all clubs have had details of how to subscribe to this publication but anyone who wants additional, or replacement, copies of these details can obtain them, by application, from the League's General Secretary

10 Club Details

Kings secretary will be away from 17/09 to 26/09. Steve Hall on 01242 260598 or 07818 014667 will be the contact during this time
Northleach Town 1st team will now be playing in red shirts and white shorts, whilst their 2nd team will be playing in red shirts and black shorts
The new email address for Andoversford Nomads Secretary is kev.mansell28@btinternet.com
The new address for Hatherley Rangers secretary is 21, Wasley Road, Cheltenham, GL51 7TJ. The telephone numbers remain the same. However, the Secretary will not be available on email until further notice
AC Olympia's secretary will be away from 10th September to 25th September.
AC Olympia's secretary has a new home telephone number, which is 01242 706015

NB: KICK OFF TIME OF MIDWEEK GAMES FOR WEEK BEGINNING SEPTEMBER 12TH IS 6:00 PM


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