1 Roll call
All clubs except Roebuck were present.
2 The chairman opened meeting with a brief silence in memory of past members.
3 Minutes of last meeting
The minutes of the previous AGM (30 November 2022) were read and approved.
4 Secretary’s report
Mike thanked committee for their help over the year.
5 Correspondence
An e-mail had been received from Lloyds informing us that they are considering making an application to enter our league. After a long discussion it was voted 12 for and 3 against to accept their application.
It was also decided that they will be asked to supply a list of players before the next management meeting which would then decide which division they would play in.
6 Competition report
Entries in last season's Pairs and Merit was disappointing. Next season we will look to play as one-day competitions.
7 Fixture secretary’s report
The notable event of 2023 was that Newtown Park played an ineligible player in the first round of the Division 1 knock-out cup. They won the match comfortably but under our rules they were eliminated from the competition. Their opponents (Urmston Men’s) went on to win the whole competition.
There was another case of an ineligible player in the club, but on that occasion the team lost anyway. Delegate were asked to take care that players were eligible.
Compared to the previous year, absence were down significantly.
The balance was down £213.62 from last year. There was a similar deficit the previous year. There is no immediate cause for alarm, but we do need to aim to break even. The management committee planned to raise the registration fees per tea, by £10 (to £35). In future the Merit levy (£10) would be shown separately instead of being lumped in with the team fee.
We had been unable to open a bank account: a lot of effort was spent trying to comply with NatWest’s requirements, ultimately unsuccessfully. The management committee recommended approaching Metro Bank (it looked promising on preliminary research). The meeting approved this plan, with the three officers (Chairman, Secretary, Fixture secretary) to be signatories (any two from three to sign cheques).
Clubs which had paid their accounts by cheque had agreed to replace these with cash.
9 Honorariums
The meeting agreed to maintain the honorariums for the secretary and fixture secretary at the current level (£105 and £140 respectively). These include an element for both for covering the treasurer’s duties.
10 Election of officers
Existing officers were re-elected:
Chairman Ian Blythe
Secretary Mike Mulchrone
Fixture secretary Ross Kavanagh
Management committee member Jack Taylor
The meeting closed at 2.15pm.