16 November 1999, 8.00pm
Held at Cheadle Conservative Club
The Chairman asked delegates to stand for few moments in silence in memory of colleagues who had passed away in the last year. These included Jack Wilson and Tommy Glindon of the Grange, Bernard Bettley of Gatley, and Jack Forrest senior.
Present: Chairman, Secretary, Veterans’ Secretary, Treasurer and delegates
The minutes of the previous half yearly meeting were read and approved
Apart from routine correspondence, the secretary reported a letter from Wilmslow Conservative Club. This was about the recurrent problem of clubs rearranging matches, at short notice or for reasons such as players’ holidays. This practice is inconvenient for other teams, and often results in them not being able to field their strongest team.
Two teams had resigned from the evening league: South Manchester British Legion and Withington B. There had been some enquiries from other teams, but these resignations would affect the normal two up – two down arrangement.
The problem of rearranged fixtures was a perennial one, and the letter from Wilmslow Conservative was timely. Some clubs were able to plan their season and agree new dates where they had fixture clashes. Others waited till the last minute, and would try to postpone matches when players were on holiday. In the secretary’s view this was not an adequate reason to postpone. All changes of date are by mutual agreement, so clubs could refuse to agree if they thought a request was unjustified. In the end, only a greater tendency to say no would correct the trend.
A new team (Royal Oak B) would be joining the league, but Heaton Moor Park B were doubtful. Last year it had been decided to keep the higher divisions at full strength so the composition would be 12 in Division 1 and 11 in Divisions 2 to 5 for next year. This would be achieved by only relegating only one team per division.
Now that the league tables are generated by computer, breaches of rules were always found, so clubs were asked to take more care in ensuring that their players were eligible.
Several people had asked about the date for the presentation night, and whether it could be printed in the handbook.
For next year we would try to avoid clashes between the Jennison Shield and Tuesday matches in the Parks league.
The veterans’ secretary thanked Grange and Houldsworth for hosting final days in the Merit and Jennison Shield.
Most clubs had now paid their fees.
One of the cups was in poor condition and the treasurer proposed to replace it. To help pay for this, he proposed increasing the fees for next year by £2 for evening teams and £1 for veterans’ teams.
Entries for the individual competitions (Merit, Callison and Veterans’ Merit) had fallen in recent years. The policy of giving prizes to the last 16 meant that some prizes were very small. He proposed that only the last eight should get prize money.
Affiliation to county associations was likely to be more strictly enforced in future. This would probably mean all clubs having to join the Greater Manchester Association at £10 per annum
In Rule 2a, delete the sentence “Where match dates are rearranged, players who played for another team on the original date are not eligible.”
Proposed by the secretary
This proposal was defeated; 9 votes in favour and many against.
There were no matters arising, and the meeting closed at 8.50pm.