1 Roll call
Apologies were received from Sale Excelsior. All other clubs except Irlam Vets, Monton and Newtown Park were present.
2 The chairman opened meeting with a brief silence in memory of past members. These included:
Tom Allison (Sale Excelsior)
Brian Booth (Metro Sports)
Alan Hampson (Golden Hill)
Neil Hindley (Urmston Men’s)
Terry Moody (Winton Social)
Mike Nuttall (Flixton Cricket)
Peter Thompson (Roebuck)
Phil Tranter (Golden Hill)
Harold Ward (Flixton Cricket)
Peter Williamson (Linden)
3 Minutes of last meeting
The minutes of the previous AGM (22 November 2023) were read and approved.
4 Secretary’s report
Mike thanked committee for their help over the year. He welcomed new members Davyhulme Park to the meeting.
5 Fixture secretary’s report
Ross thanked members for their generally prompt entry of match results. There were two notable problems during the year.
6 Competitions
There were 13 entries for the Merit, which was run as a one-day event with 11 turning up. There were 19 entries for the Joe Rigby pairs, and a qualifying round was used.
The league finally had a bank account, at Metro Bank. Ross Kavanagh and Alan Lord were the two signatories required for cheques. In practice almost everything is being done on-line.
We had recorded a small surplus, of £104. This was due to having an extra team (we charged Flixton Cons for two teams, though one withdrew at the last minute), and also to the decision to charge separate entry fees for the Merit and Joe Rigby competitions. We saved a bit on insurance by ditching the BCGBA scheme, and getting an introductory offer with the new supplier.
8 Auditors’ report
Only one of the auditors had been able to attend. He declared himself satisfied with the information presented.
9 County and BCGBA news
Greater Manchester are increasing their fees. They have been £25, or £12.50 for a vets club or league for several years. They proposed abolishing the vets reduction and charging £40 to all clubs and leagues. This was sprung on us at the AGM with no notice. we proposed an amendment, which was accepted. For next year the vets fee will be £17.50 (the full fee will be £35).
The county is very keen to appoint a development officer. Funding for an honorarium of £1000 p.a. and another £1000 for equipment will be available from BCGBA. If anyone is interested we can put them in touch with the county.
BCGBA are also keen on development. They have produced a 68-page report. A link to this will be set to delegates.
BCGBA are spending £40,000 on yet another redesign of their web site.
The attempts to charge a fee per player per year continue. It’s not clear when it might start, possibly for next year, or at what level (between £1 and £3). The proposal is that you only pay once, even if you’re a member of several clubs. The counties see this as difficult to administer. It may end up as a fee, payable by the club, for all its members.
10 Proposal for rule change
“Change the handicap assessment [for the team knockouts] from average chalks at the beginning of the competition, to average chalks at each round of the competition.”
Notes: This would stop this season's ridiculous situation in the cup semi final where the team that finished 4th in the league table had to give the team that finished 2nd 13 points start which is not a fair handicapping system.
Proposed by Winton Social
Seconded by Urmston Men’s Club
Winton Social described how in the 2024 season some teams had moved significantly up or down the league during the competition, resulting in handicaps which were out of kilter with their current position. They suggested that handicaps should be recalculated before each round to avoid this.
The secretary reported that 2024 had been an exceptional year. He had researched past seasons and except for 2024 the proposed system would not make any difference.
The proposal was defeated: 2 votes in favour and six against.
11 Honorariums
The meeting agreed to maintain the honorariums for the secretary at the current level (£105) and to increase the honorarium for the fixture secretary to £180. These figures include an element for both for covering the treasurer’s duties.
12 Election of officers
Existing officers were re-elected:
Chairman Ian Blythe
Secretary Mike Mulchrone
Fixture secretary Ross Kavanagh
Ill health had prevented Jack Taylor from acting as a committee member. The meeting recorded a vote of thanks for his contributions to bowling over the years.
New management committee members were elected:
Alan Lord
Steve Ridley
13 Other matters
Partington reported that Trafford Borough were planning to close three greens: Navigation Rec, Victoria Park and one other unknown. Their delegate suggested that the league should appoint a tsar to monitor proposed green closures and to advocate against them. He also encouraged clubs to write to their local councillors on this subject. He had assembled a web site listing councillor’s email addresses.
The meeting closed at 2.30pm.