Cheltenham League Notice Board

• 03/02/2008 - Clubs Meeting Minutes

Minutes of the Club Meeting at the Victory Club Cheltenham on Wednesday, 30th January, 2008 at 7-15 pm

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

Club Attendance: 34 Clubs
Apologies D Barrett, T Onions, R Overington, Falcons, St Marks Community Association

Chairman's Opening Remarks.

The Chairman welcomed all clubs, detailed the auspices under which the meeting was to be held and explained that Mr Dennis Barrett, the League's Patron, had been unable to attend because of ill health, before inviting the General Secretary to open the meeting with his report

General Secretary Report.

The General Secretary began his report by explaining to club delegates the contents of the envelopes with which all clubs had been issued as they entered the meeting. He explained that the envelopes contained a number of forms, some of which were pertinent to the end of the season and others that related to season 2008-09. It was pointed out to club delegates that the Club Player Debts forms for the end of the season were contained in the envelopes. The General Secretary explained that these forms should be used by clubs to report any individual who owed them money at the end of the season. It was pointed out that these forms could not be returned until after the end of the season and that, if clubs felt the need to complete them, they must be in the possession of the League's Registration Secretary by the week before the Annual General Meeting at the very latest. It was also pointed out that Clubs could only name debtors on this form if they had previously attempted to recover the money, by way of an official letter, and if this had failed. Club representatives were also reminded that, once a player had been named on the CDP forms, they would not be able to register for any club, including the club that had reported them for owing money, until the club that was owed the money informed the League that the debt had been discharged.

The General Secretary then brought the attention of the meeting to two of the other forms contained within the envelopes. These were the Entry form and Declaration form for Season 2008-09. Club Delegates were reminded that these forms needed to be completed and returned to the General Secretary by March 31st if clubs were to avoid a fine, unless the club was intending to withdraw from the League, in which case written confirmation of this withdrawal must also be received by this date. It was pointed out to the meeting that the £30 entry fee is only applicable when initially entering the competition or when seeking to enter an extra team. It was also pointed out that if a club proposes to enter the same number of teams in the League for a new season as it entered the previous season, there is no requirement to include a £30 cheque with the application form.

Finally, the General Secretary pointed out that some clubs had also received Charity Cup donation forms in their envelopes, as they still had teams in one, or other, of the Charity Cup competitions. He then expressed the hope that all clubs would seek to utilise these forms to accompany donations to the League Treasurer after their matches, in order that the competitions might raise as much money as possible in aid of the League's designated Charities.

The General Secretary then went on to inform the meeting that the League had become concerned about the recent spate of incorrectly processed transfers that the Registration Secretary had been required to administer. He referred club delegates to League Rule 8(K), which stipulated the procedures to be followed when seeking to transfer a player from one club to another. In particular, he highlighted the requirements both that the transfer form had to be in the possession of the Registration Secretary by 12 noon, at the latest, on the date of the first match that the player desired to play for his new club and, also, that the express, explicit confirmation of the completion of the transfer must be received from the Registration Secretary before the player played for his new club. It was also emphasised that the player must not play for anyone once the transfer process had begun. The General Secretary acknowledged that, in practice, it was usual for the Registration Secretary to be presented with a form that already had all the pertinent signatures on it and that, in situations in which there was no dispute over the transfer, it was still acceptable for transfers to be handled in this way. However, he concluded by emphasising the fact that, if there was any dispute over a transfer, the requirements of Rule 8(K) must be strictly adhered to.

The General Secretary then informed the meeting that, following the visit of Richard Melinn, the GFA's County Referees Development Officer, to the last clubs meeting at the end of October, only two clubs had shown any interest in sending delegates to a Club Volunteer Referee's Course. He expressed his surprise that so few clubs had been interested in this opportunity to educate potential volunteers and then informed the meeting that a course had been organised, by Southside FC in conjunction with the GFA, for the previous Thursday, 24th January. It was pointed out that only one other club had sent delegates to this course and stated that he assumed that this must mean that the League's member clubs are quite happy with their contingency provisions for occasions on which the League was unable to officially appoint a referee to a game.

In conclusion, the General Secretary informed the meeting that fines so far this season totalled 232, which was an increase of 11 on the equivalent period last season.

Finances / Benevolent Fund.

A statement of the League's accounts had been distributed. The Chairman drew the attention of the meeting to the salient points included in the statement and informed club delegates that it was likely that the Management Committee would present proposals at the AGM to increase the weekly payments associated with the Benevolent Scheme to £30. There were no questions from the floor, so the Chairman thanked Mr Fisher, the League Treasurer, for his continued efforts with the League's finances.

Fixtures

John Hunt, the League's Assistant Secretary, reported that 90 fixtures had been re-arranged over the course of the last three weeks, most of which had been postponed from their original dates because of the weather. Mr Hunt asked that all clubs check their fixtures before acknowledging them, especially those clubs who shared the use of their home facilities, to make sure that there were no fixture clashes. Mr Hunt emphasised to the meeting that clubs would be charged with rule offences if they acknowledged fixtures that they then attempted to cancel at a later date because two games were scheduled for the same pitch. Mr Hunt informed the meeting that he was certain that clubs were not currently checking fixtures as he had performed spot checks on some of those games for which he had received acknowledgements and had discovered that there were clashes associated with a number of them.
Mr Hunt then reported that he had also made further alterations to games that had been rescheduled for April, to try and ensure that excessive travelling was avoided for mid week games, although he also stressed that, on occasion, it was not always possible to avoid this. He also emphasised the fact that any club that was experiencing any problems over any fixtures should contact him without delay.
The Chairman then thanked Mr Hunt for his contribution to the meeting and his continued efforts to maintain the League's fixtures and reiterated the requirement for all clubs to check re-arranged fixtures for clashes and other possible problems.

Registrations

Phil Tustain, the Registration Secretary, reiterated the statements of the General Secretary with regard to the conduct of transfers. He also pointed out that the transfer form itself stipulated that, when it was forwarded to the Registration Secretary for processing, it must be accompanied by a Stamped envelope complete with the name and address of the secretary of the club to whom the player was seeking to transfer. Mr Tustain informed the meeting that this requirement was related to the return of the transfer form counterfoil, which acted as written confirmation that the transfer had been completed.
Mr Tustain then reminded club delegates that the player qualification stipulations in League Rule 8(p) changed on February 1st, making any player who has played more than half the games of a team of a higher county cup classification ineligible for a lower team. He also reminded the meeting that the deadline for player registrations and transfers was March 1st.
The Chairman thanked Mr Tustain for his efforts.

Referees

Arthur Stiley, the Referees Secretary, reported that he believed that things were going well with the appointment of referees and that most games for most weeks were covered. He informed the meeting that he was already aware that there were only a few games for which there were not officially appointed referees during February. He also informed the meeting that the latest referees course was currently being run and that he had every reason to hope that the numbers of referees available to the Cheltenham League would be boosted as a result of this course. He emphasised to the meeting the fact that the Cheltenham League was better off than most Leagues in Gloucestershire for the number of referees it was able to appoint to its matches. He also reminded club delegates that the contact details of all the latest refereeing recruits had been printed on the January newsletter issued by the League.
On the completion of Mr Stiley's report, the Chairman stated that he did not believe that it was down to luck that the Cheltenham League was one of the best served Leagues in the County for referees but that he felt that, in the first instance, it was down to the endeavours of Mr Stiley in his capacity as League Referee's Secretary. He also commented on the fact that the League's attrition rate for referee's was very low and congratulated the clubs on the contribution that the behaviour of their players, and the manner in which new recruits were welcomed by the clubs, made to this.
Kings AFC then asked if one of their members, who was taking the current Referee's course, would be able to referee in the Cheltenham League and they were assured that he would be able to, once he had qualified and registered with the GFA. Indeed, Mr Stiley emphasised the point that it was not unusual for newly qualified referees to start officiating as soon as they had successfully completed the course.
Southside then stated how useful the Club Referees course, which they had recently held in conjunction with the GFA, had been, even for persons who had no intention of officiating at matches, as it gave them a greater insight and appreciation of the Laws of the game.

Club HandBook Changes.

The General Secretary informed the meeting that a list of all the Club handbook changes, which had been notified to the League since the last clubs meeting, was available for collection at the rear of the meeting hall. He brought the attention of the meeting to the fact that the changes to the handbook that were reported at the last clubs meeting were also re-printed on the reverse of this list, for the convenience of club delegates.

The changes reported were

AC Olympia's Secretary has a new home telephone number. This is 01242 677828

Phoenix United's secretary has a new email address. It has now changed to geoffrey.e.west@btinternet.com

Moreton Rangers' Secretary has a new email address. This is now m.jones125@btinternet.com.

Whaddon United's Secretary has a new home address. This is Basement Flat, 6, Hales Road,
Cheltenham, GL52 6SE

Tewkesbury Dynamos Secretary has a new mobile number. This is 07825 777680

GFA

There was nothing of relevance to the League to report from the most recent meeting of the GFA Council, although the Chairman emphasised to the meeting that a number of staff changes were being experienced at present at the GFA Offices and that, as a consequence, patience may be needed in dealings with the GFA.

Any Other Business.

The General Secretary reminded the meeting that the kick off time for League matches was now 2.30 pm on Saturdays, for the whole of February, although Charity Cup matches on Saturday, 2nd February would kick off at 2.00 pm.

There was no other business so, as a consequence, the meeting closed at 7.50 pm

NB: NEXT MEETING: AGM -WEDNESDAY, 11th JUNE, 2008 AT 7-15 PM