Cheadle & Gatley District Bowling League

Minutes of Half-yearly General Meeting, 1996

26 November 1996, 8.00pm

Held at Cheadle Conservative Club

Present: Chairman, Secretary, Veterans’ secretaries., Treasurer and delegates

Apologies: Ladybridge park, National Oilwells

Absences: Benchill Cons, Bramhall Park, British Rail, Crown, Green End, Robinsons, Simon Engineering, Victoria, Wembley, Wilmslow Cons.

1. The chairman asked members to stand for a few moments in memory of colleagues who had passed away.
2. Roll-call – see above.
3. The minutes of the previous half-yearly meeting were read and approved.
4. Correspondence. A letter had been received from Romiley Arms resigning from the vets’ league, and from Thorn Grove to put a second team in the vets’.
5. Secretary’s report – see overleaf.
6. Veterans’ Secretary’s report. Potential new teams were Bredbury, Thorn Grove, Withington, Ladybarn and Silverwings. Romiley had dropped out. There would be divisions of 11 or 12 to accommodate these teams.
   The secretary wondered if the start time should be earlier than 2pm. Also, the Merit qualifying rounds were taking too long and could start earlier.
   The Merit final was at the Grange and a great success. He proposed to use this venue for the next four years.
   There had been complaints about matches clashing with the Vernon final day – he would try to avoid this.
   He noted that unregistered players are recorded as 21-0 to the opposition.
7. Treasurer’s report. The treasurer proposed to pay the same prizes as last year. He reported that two clubs’ accounts were unpaid.
8. Rule changes
   1. “Bob Newlan Memorial Trophy” Rules: In rule 3, change “twelve” to “ten.”
      Proposed by Shaw Heath Park
      Seconded by Silverwings
      Defeated, with 2 votes in favour.
   2. Main Rules: In rule 2, delete “except where a Club has two teams in the same division.”
      Proposed by Albert Club
      Seconded by Edgeley Cons
      Carried, 23 votes to 8.
   3. Main Rules: Amend rule 19 to read:
      19 All Matches shall be played as arranged in fixtures. The following exceptions are allowed.
      (i) If agreement has been reached between Clubs for rearrangement of a Match, the Match Secretary must be informed in writing along with an agreed rearranged date for the match to be played. The new date shall not be later than the last date for scheduled matches.
      (ii) If a match is postponed owing to bad weather, the two Clubs shall agree a new date and inform the Match Secretary within 14 days. The new date shall be before the last date for scheduled matches (or within 14 days of the original date for matches postponed in the last two weeks of the season). Failure to reach an amicable agreement by the two Clubs concerned must be reported to the League Secretary immediately.
      Failure to observe the above rule will render the defaulting Club(s) to a fine of £2.00. Such instances to be referred to the management Sub-Committee for ratification.
      Proposed by Albert Club
      Seconded by Ryecroft
      Carried, 22 votes to 5.
9. Other matters
   Ladybridge asked if a note could be included in the handbook, insisting on appropriate footwear. It was pointed out that this was already covered by the laws of the game (as approved by BCGBA).
   A vote of thanks was proposed to Jack Forest and his wife for their organising of the Presentation evening – approved with acclaim.
   It was pointed out that in Staffordshire, if a team has two teams in the same division they play each other on a neutral green.

The meeting closed at 9.05pm.

Secretary’s report, 26 November 1996

You should all have received an information sheet tonight. These show the information currently recorded. Please check this and amend it as necessary. Please return the sheets to me tonight, or by post before the end of the year.

Match secretary’s report, 26 November 1996

I could not present final league tables at our meeting in September, as not all matches had been played by then. You should have received the tables, and complete results for your own division and teams. This problem of matches hanging over at the end of the season is a worry to me. I am amazed that clubs without floodlights seem willing to contemplate playing a match in the evening in September. There is a proposal to change the rules to deal with this. Whether this is passed or not, I appeal to captains to make an effort to complete fixtures during the season.

South Manchester British Legion won a close fought Division A, and their second team also won Division B. Scores in Division B were particularly high, and Gatley can consider themselves unfortunate to come bottom with an average of 197 points. Philips won Division C easily, and Wembley continued their upward march, winning Division D. The four new teams in Division E did well. PCS and Edgeley Conservative finished in mid table, and Longsight Cricket Club and Poynton Workmen’s Club came first and second.

I have also distributed the leading averages for each division. The list shows all players with an average of plus five or better. This is based on my interpretation of your results sheets, so there may be some mistakes. I wish to thank National Oilwells for pointing out that I had missed out one match played by Craig Butterfield. He had been entered on the result sheet as ‘C Butterworth’. The effect is to push him down to second place, and the average winner for Division B is Paul Cardew of Ladybridge Park.

A meeting in March decided to rename the Dineley Shield as the Bob Newlan Memorial Trophy. The old shield is now kept here at Cheadle Conservative Club. The first winner of the new trophy are Philips BC. We were pleased that Mrs Carol Newlan was able to come to the final and present the trophy. The new trophy has the names of all previous winners on the back.

I have had no news of any teams leaving the league for next year. If this stays the case, there will be a straightforward promotion and relegation for next year — two up and two down. We will begin to prepare the fixtures for 1997 in January. Following Bill Wildman’s death, there is a new team at the Stockport and District League. I have spoken to their match secretary, and we will be meeting in January to try to co-ordinate our fixture lists. However, we cannot work miracles. We play all our matches on Tuesdays, and the S&D league use Thursdays and Tuesdays. If you have a single squad of players playing in the Cheadle and Gatley league on Tuesdays and the S&D league on Thursdays, then some of your away matches in the S&D league will be on Tuesday. You will either have to double up, or find more players, or rearrange one of the games.

I am pleased that once again Alan Bligh has agreed to help sort out our fixtures.