Cheltenham League Notice Board

• 28/01/2006 - EGM Minutes

Minutes of the Extraordinary General Meeting held at the Victory Club on Wednesday 25th January 2006 at 7-15pm
Attendees:- G.Cook, J Crowther, R. Attwood, N Oram, L Fisher, J Hunt, A Stiley, B Hill, M.Lytheer, P Newcombe, R Overington, P Tustain.
42 Member Clubs
Apologies:- D Barrett, T Onions

The Chairman opened the meeting by asking the General Secretary to both propose and speak in favour of the motion to be put to the meeting.

The General Secretary detailed the motion placed before the meeting. This was as follows:

"Following incidents relating to a Division Two match scheduled for December 17th, 2005 that was not played but for which Finlay Rovers FC reported a result of 0-0, both by telephone call and by the submission of official League cards, the Management Committee of the Cheltenham League proposes that Finlay Rovers FC should be excluded from further participation in the competition, in accordance with the provisions of League Rule 17(b) "

The General Secretary then explained the facts that related to the events that had lead to the proposal of the motion and the calling of the EGM. This oration was substanitvely based on the submission provided by the General Secretary to the Management Committee meeting held on January 4th, 2006. He also informed the meeting that, since the EGM had been called, Nathan Wheatley had resigned as the Secretary of Finlay Rovers and had been replaced by Yasher Nasser. The meeting was also told that consideration had already been given to placing a requirement on Finlay Rovers to attend a Management Committee meeting to account for their mal-administration during the current season, which had lead them to incur more than 30 fines for transgressions of League Rules so far.

Finlay Rovers representatives were then asked if they would like to speak and Mr Joseph O'Hara, who identified himself as the Club Chairman, addressed the meeting. He gave the meeting some background information on Finlay Rovers, which related to the way in which the club had been formed and the successes and difficulties that it had faced over the years since its formation. Mr O'Hara then informed the meeting that he had not been involved in the events of the day in question but that he accepted the chronology of events as detailed by the General Secretary. In addition, he went on to explain that, when he had been told of what had transpired, he was informed that both clubs involved, Finlay Rovers and Andoversford Nomads, had agreed to the game being reported as a 0-0 draw even though it hadn't been played. He confirmed that Finlay Rovers admitted the offence. He also sought to stress the fact that the players of the club were an honest group who had played no part in the deception and did not deserve, in his opinion, to be punished by exclusion from the League.

Following Mr O'Hara's address, the Chairman opened the floor to questions. Charlton Kings asked if any action had been taken against Andoversford Nomads in relation to this matter. It was confirmed that it had not been possible to take any action against Andoversford Nomads as there had been no substantive proof against that club. Numerous questions were asked, by Star FC, Tewkesbury Dynamos and Naunton Park that related to the Club Referee's card. It was confirmed that the Club Referee's card had been signed by a representative of Andoversford Nomads to indicate that they agreed to the alternative referee provided by Finlay Rovers. It was pointed out to the meeting that it was a requirement of League Rules that both clubs should sign this card before the match commenced. The meeting was informed by the General Secretary that, according to the submission provided by Andoversford Nomads, their representative at the match had signed this card to initially indicate his acceptance of the alternative referee provided by Finlay Rovers but then withdrew this agreement following further discussions.

Phoenix United asked if there was any precedent for expelling a club from the League and they were informed that no one currently involved with the League had any personal recollection of a case similar to the one being presented to this meeting. In response to a query from Smiths Athletic, Mr M Boughton, who was identified as Finlay Rovers 1st team manager, gave his version of the events of December 17th. He informed the meeting that he had offered to referee the game but that this had proved to be unacceptable to Andoversford Nomads. He further elucidated that when it became obvious that agreement on a suitable alternative official would not be reached, it was decided that the match should not be played. It was then decided, in the pub once everyone had changed, that a result of 0-0 would be entered to the League and Mr Boughton contested that both teams were in agreement with this. He also informed the meeting that it was at this point that Andoversford Nomads representative at the match signed the referee's result card, which already had the result of 0-0 entered upon it.

Andoversford Nomads were then asked to address the meeting and this was undertaken by Mr Kevin Mansell, the club secretary. He informed the meeting that he had been playing for the clubs reserve team that day, in Andoversford, and learnt of the postponement of the Division Two match from a supporter who had returned from Finlay Rovers ground. Mr Mansell further explained that he had then informed the League Results secretary of the postponement when he rang in the result of the Reserve team game. Further to this, he then discovered, when the players of Andoversford Nomads 1st team returned, that the team had been asked if they would agree to report the result as a draw. He informed the meeting that the team had confirmed to him that they had declined to agree to this suggestion and detailed the fact that he had taken numerous statement from various players to this effect. He assured the meeting that he would not agree to be involved in anything dishonest or that involved deceiving the League.

There being no further questions, the Chairman called for a ballot on the proposal that had been put to the meeting. The General Secretary repeated the motion and explained the manner in which voting slips, which had been distributed in advance, should be completed to register a vote either for, or against, the motion. The Chairman informed the meeting that, in order for the motion to be carried, two-thirds of the votes cast would have to be cast in favour of the motion. Two tellers were appointed and these were both members of the Management Committee, namely Mr Peter Newcombe and Mr Ben Hill. Once it was confirmed that there were no further voting slips to be submitted, the tellers counted the votes cast. Following the count, the results were written down and both tellers signed to indicate that they agreed to the result. This was handed to the Chairman who declared that, of 52 votes that had been cast, 31 votes had been cast in favour of the motion and 21 against. The meeting was informed that 31 votes did not represent two-thirds of the votes cast and that, therefore, the motion was not carried.

It was reported that 3 clubs, namely Charlton Rovers, Cheltenham Saracens and Warden Hill United were not in attendance.

There being no further business, the meeting closed at 7.53 pm