TYNEDALE RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB Founded 1876 at Hexham Trustees: J.D.L. Robinson and D.F. Hamilton President: A. Smith Management Committee: Chief Executive D.F. Hamilton Deputy N. McPherson Hon. Secretary W.D. Stewart Hon. Treasurer A. Briggs Chairman of Rugby A. Kerr Property A.C. Curtis Communications A.P. Deacon Fund-raising C.D. Irving ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING (Part 1) 2003. Notice is hereby given that the annual general meeting of members (Part 1) of the club will be held in the clubhouse at Tynedale Park, Corbridge, at 7.30pm. on Wednesday 4th June 2003. AGENDA 1. Apologies for absence 2. Confirmation of the minutes of the AGM held on 27th June 2002. (attached on page 11) 3. To receive the Annual Report (Pages 2 – 10) 4. Election of: Management committee members shown on page 12 The officers of the club Three members of the Management committee Chairman and members of the House & Bar committee Any further nominations should be sent, duly seconded, to the Hon. Secretary by 28 May 2003 (at least 7 days before the date of the AGM). 5. Appointment of Chartered Accountants as Independent Examiners 6. Any other business. 5th June 2003. W.D. Stewart Hon. Secretary. 1. TYNEDALE RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB ANNUAL REPORT FOR SEASON 2002/2003. CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S REPORT This year we have decided to hold our Annual General Meeting in two parts, as permitted by Rule 8(b) of the clubs Rules. The first part is to be held on Wednesday 4th June 2003, as shown on the notice of the meeting on the front of this report, and will cover those items listed on the agenda for that meeting. The second part, which will probably be held in August 2003, will deal with the Financial report and Accounts for season 2002/2003, once those have been finalised and checked by the club’s accountants, and approval for new subscription rates. With training starting on 1st July, and practice matches in mid-August, it is vital that officers are in position well before those dates. By holding the first part AGM on 4th June we are giving the new management an extra month to make preparations, on and off the pitch, before season 2003/2004 begins. Season 2002/2003. Rugby has continued to suffer in Britain at senior levels from the continuing effects of the move to professional rugby. Whilst the mini/junior game continues to flourish everywhere, and the elite international game, at least in England, prospers, club rugby in between those extremes sees a continuing decline in the number of adult teams and the amount of adult rugby being played. Problems between the Premiership and Division I clubs have continued to hit the headlines, with Premiership clubs trying to ring-fence their positions, and the situation of relegation and promotion to the top level being shrouded in mystery by the R.F.U. This position has been exacerbated by the on/off merger talks between Bath and Bristol, conducted whilst the final league places in the Premiership were still being settled. This has meant that all other leagues in England have had to delay their plans for next season so that the fixture lists which had been circulated needed to be withdrawn until this situation was resolved. We have a bizarre situation in that clubs at all levels in the English leagues, which expected to be relegated as a result of their final league placings, are now uncertain whether they will in fact be demoted or not. How can clubs plan their futures in such an “Alice in Wonderland” scenario? Tynedale RFC Management committee The chairmen of the main sub-committees represent seven main strands of club activity – disciplinary, playing, finance, development, property, communications and fund-raising. Disciplinary and playing have held regular meetings as required and have produced acceptable minutes for scrutiny by management. Finance, development, property and communications have held occasional meetings but reporting has been spasmodic. There have been no fund-raising sub-committee meetings, and as a result this aspect of club activities has been carried out on an ad hoc basis – sometimes successful, sometimes a disaster. By putting officers and sub-committees in place earlier we hope to improve the effectiveness of these committees by better planning and greater accountability. However, no matter how good the system, the success of most committees still relies on the efficiency and enthusiasm of the chairmen and individual committee members. We need more volunteers to take an active part and anyone willing to help in any way, great or small, should contact me or Bill Stewart our Hon. Secretary. Playing results – 2002/03. Detailed reports on all aspects of the club’s rugby activities will be found elsewhere in this report – from mini/juniors through to 1st XV, but I would just like to give an overall view of our playing records last season from a management perspective. The 1st XV’s year was slightly disappointing. To finish in 7th place with 25 points, winning fewer than half of our 26 games, and with a negative points difference of 21 points, did not show any progress from season 2001/02 when we were fifth with 28 points. Since 1997 we have seen continual progress up until now, as can be seen from the results for eleven years:- 2. Tynedale 1st XV League Record 1992-2002. Lge Lge Season Lge P W D L F A Diff Pts Pos 92-93 N1 12 9 0 3 323 111 212 18 2 93-94 N1 12 7 0 5 255 168 87 14 5 94-95 N1 12 4 1 7 184 154 30 9 11 95-96 N1 12 7 1 4 212 163 49 15 5 96-97 N1 21 14 1 6 546 311 235 29 2 97-98 N1 22 13 2 7 510 332 178 28 5 98-99 N1 22 15 0 7 573 298 275 30 3 99-00 N1 22 22 0 0 710 221 489 44 1 00-01 N3N 18 6 1 11 282 311 - 29 13 8 01-02 N3N 26 14 0 12 530 528 2 28 5 02-03 N3N 26 12 1 13 561 582 - 21 25 7 In 2002-03 the 1st XV had a promising trial match v Hawick followed by two disappointing practice matches v Aspatria and Boroughmuir. In the National League Div. 3 North matches the team started well – lying in second place for some time – but this was a false position since, by a quirk of the fixture arrangements, we had played some of the weaker teams twice by Christmas. After beating Nuneaton, the runaway leaders, by 24-3 at home on 4th January, only two matches were won, both away from home at Preston Grasshoppers (29-19) and Blaydon (48-15), so the season declined in what was, at times, an alarming fashion. However, what needs to be remembered is that this is a very tough league. Hull Ionians came up this season and went straight back down; Scunthorpe lasted only two years. Like many clubs we suffered badly from injuries. The loss of Grant Rastall (flanker), David Jupp (prop), Dick Parker (prop), Alistair Johnson (prop), Steve Turnbull (lock), Graeme Smith (lock), Keith Dungait (scrum-half) and Andy Roberts (wing) early in the season with serious injuries, and later injuries to Keith Dungait (again) and Jimmy Cartmell (flanker) and Andrew Murray (lock), restricted the strength of our squad. On a happier note, the loss of Paul Boston to Scotland U21’s and Jamie Murray to the Scottish 7’s squad had an impact on the team’s effectiveness but was much more acceptable – and we were delighted for the two players concerned. During the season many young players were blooded. It is many years since we had such youthful and talented threequarters. Even with Dick Parker this team was the youngest, overall, that the club has fielded for many years. National League Division 3 North – 2002-03 P W D L F A PD Pts 1 Nuneaton 26 23 0 2 802 406 396 46 2 New Brighton 26 22 0 4 812 441 371 44 3 Waterloo 26 21 0 5 888 458 430 42 4 Halifax 26 17 0 9 666 588 78 34 5 Darlington M.P. 26 14 0 12 688 491 197 28 6 Liverpool St.Helens 26 12 1 13 612 574 38 25 7 Tynedale 26 12 1 13 561 582 - 21 25 8 Blaydon 26 12 0 14 568 645 - 77 24 9 Preston 26 11 1 14 617 625 - 8 23 10 Dudley Kingswinford 26 10 1 15 502 596 - 94 21 11 Bedford Athletic 26 10 0 16 497 625 -128 20 12 Broadstreet 26 8 1 17 477 795 -318 17 13 Hull Ionians 26 6 1 19 515 747 -232 13 14 Scunthorpe 26 1 0 25 343 975 -632 2 3. Another factor to be borne in mind when looking at our 1st XV results is that the club is competing in National Leagues, level 4, against massive conurbations with huge populations. Tynedale district has a total population of 60,000. To be able to compete against the best teams from cities like Liverpool and Hull and towns like Preston, Halifax and Nuneaton is no mean feat. In the Powergen Cup we beat Hull Ionians 19-13 at Tynedale Park, then lost 32-37 to Waterloo in the second round on 5th October. The Northumberland Senior Cup was won 7-6 against Morpeth. Since the competition’s inception in 1882, Tynedale have played in 30 Northumberland Senior Cup finals and have won the trophy 17 times.