Minutes of a Committee Meeting held at Chester RUFC Clubhouse on Thursday 7th November, 1991

(_?resent: J.M.Young (In. the Chair), J.Leary, D.P.Wright, G.Kennedy, G.C.Cox, H.M~ddlebrook, D.B.Pye, D.Western, M.Farr, W.Gott, C.Gibson, D.A.Palin, J.C.B.Pinnington, G.Marrs, D.Jones, I.D.Charnock, A. Muir, D. Wyatt, M.J.Lord, R.Johnson, J.Jarvis, M.R.Willia~s, C.J.Coventry, J.Davies, D.A.Ewing, B.T.Ewing, S. Cole, B. Baister, R. Lowe, D.J.Mason, A.E.Bushell, F. Povall, D.I.Adams, D. Thomson, T.Atherton.

;eApologies: F. Priee, G. Hughes, P.Cornelia, W.Buckland, . A.F.Koenen, H.V.Middleton, J.N.Lenton.

Minutes: The Minutes of the Meeting held on 7th September, 1991 having been circulated were confirmed and signed.

Matters Arising: Altrinchanm-Kersal RFC wish to retain the name Kersal for historical reasons, and include the name Altrincham for geographical and financial reasons. However they have been told that they cannot remain affiliated to Lancashire with Altrincham included in their title, and cannot become affiliated to Cheshire unless they drop Kersal. They have until the end of this Season to make a decision.

Hon. Secretary's Report: Old Longtonians RFC Fixture Secretary has written to ask for Cheshire's support in reprimanding the Congleton club for cancelling a fixture at short notice in October, this being the second time that this had happened in 1971. The Congleton secretary has written to the County secretary. and the Old Longtonians secretary, giving reasons for the cancellations, and also to apologise for the late cancellation. He states that his club officiaIs are now fully aware of their obligations to opposing teams and hopefully the situation will not arise again. J.Pinnington (New Brighton) emphasised that it is part of the ..tradition in Rugby Football that clubs honour fixtures.lt was ~agreed that clubs should not cancel fixtures without giving careful consideration to the effect this has on their opposition,on the referee appointment (he could be travelling long distance) and on supporters. Permission was granted for the Congleton Club to tour in France in February 1992. The Outdoor Facilities Manager of Warrington Borough Council has written to the RFU secretary complaining that spectators ,.at soccer and rugby matches on parks pitches are leaving ;~dang~rous litter around. An embedded drinks can has caused a sevére eut on a player's leg. Clubs who use these pitches are asked to take heed please. lt was agreed that a Cheshire Plaque should be presented to Mowden Park RFC t6 place in their recently refurbished clubhouse. Cheshire have played several games at the club in the pasto Wirral clubs are asked to let the County sec~etary know whether they will support the suggestion that each club should . ~ " .. invite an European team ta visit the Wirral on a fixed date next Season with everyone getting together in a big Marquee at '- an agreed venue after the games. Wirral B.C. are prepared to give financial support in order to set up sporting connections with Europe to celebrate the opening of the frontiers in 1992. Cumbria RFU have written to the RFU stating that they believe that the County Championship should provide a natural stepping stone between club and Division, and requesting that three Saturdays in the structured Season should be reserved for the County Championship separate from the Divisional games. 1 have also written to Dudley Wood supporting this proposaI. The Colts officiaIs want to take their players to Italy from 6th March 1992 until 15th March 1991. Players will be paying 2100 each towards the cost of the trip but there is still 26000 to be raised. Over the past few years the colts have. raised a great deal of money through sponsorship and fund raising and have been underspent on their contribution from the Hon.Treasurer, so they are looking for a contribution to assist finance this tour. The U.21 Committee have also applied for permission to tour - in Canada in August/ September 1992. They are hoping to rai se the money themselves, but are also looking for possible financial support from theCounty. There was general agreement from the members present that these tours should go ahead, but the amount of money available from County funds to support the tours will be decided at the next meeting of the Finance Committee. The Club lst XV has been banned from entering the Tetley Bitter Cheshire Cup Competition this season because seven of their players selected for the County squad withdrew their services shortly before the warm up game against Cumbria. This decision was made by the Emergency Sub-Committee after a meeting with the officiaIs of the Club. John Davies (Winnington Park) argued that this decision should be ratified by the full Committee, but after much discussion a proposition by Brain Baister seconded by Chris Coventry that 'The Emergency Sub-Committee has the power to take this action' was supported by the Committee by a substantial majority.

Hon. Treasurer's Report: On a proposition by Mark Cohen and seconded by Walter Gott it was agreed that Frank Povall be elected Hon. Treasurer for the U.21 Sub-Committee. It was agreed that a donation of 2100 be sent to the Charitable Fund

RFU Representative's Report: The RFU are to provide portacabins in future for changing accommodation for junior sides appearing at Twickenham for warm up games preceding Internationals. In the past they have been changing in the car park! Joe Pinnington suggested that the RFU should sort out the problem of amateurism soon. George Cox explained that the Amateur Status Sub-Committee has agreed in principle to the contract made between the players and the Parallel Medi~ Group, and the IRB are now addressing the problem.

Football Report: The Chairman of selectors , Richard Haslehurst, is unable to attend but has sent in a report Having brought together a squad believed to be sufficiently talented to take Cheshire into Division 2, preparations were severely .disrupted due to the withdrawal of seven Winnington Park players five days before the game against Cumbria. Despite misgivings about the untried for~ation selected the team recorded an excellent win against lst Division Cumbria. Despite territorial advantage in the game against Durham at West Hartlepool, the players were unable to turn preSSUre into points. A weIl drilled, good Durham side eventually l'an out winners by 30-0. The opportunity for extra squad sessions proved invaluable before the games against East Midlands (36- 15 victory) and Staffordshire (29-10 victory). Richard Haslehurst thanked David Buttery and Len Davies, teamcoaches, for their support, and also Tony Atherton the U,'21 coach f6r his advice which resulted in the inclusion of members of his squad in the senio~ team. Perhaps next year THIRD TIME LUCKY. The President paid tribute to the work done by Richard and his - two coaches. Dai Adams pointed out that Division 1 of the Northern Section of the County Championship next season consisted of Cumbria, Lancashire, Northumberland and Yorkshire. Durham is in Division 2 and Cheshire is the only Northern County in Division 3. The selectors require better support from our players to achieve promotion.

Courage League Championship Report: Mike Lord reported that he has attended a meeting of the North Division Committee and now knows a little more about his duties as Cheshire Representative. He has written to clubs to introduce himself and to explain the complexities of player registration. The registration of aIl players in Cheshire Clubs has now been computerised. Clubs will be given an up to date list, and a, correct list should be completed before the deadline for the first league games on the 19th November. A questionnaire will also be sent to clubs to ascertain their views on league structure.

Youth Report: Ian Charnock reported that part of the money, donated by the Wirral Marit Clubs after their disbandment has been spent on purchasing cups for the "Wirral Merit U.l5 Cheshire Cup Competition" and the "Wirral Merit U.16 Cheshire Cup Competition". Sa there is now a Cup Competition for e~ch year group for club teams from U.13 up ta U.17 and Colts level. In the County Mini-Rugby Tournament the results were:- Under 9 Winners - Davenport Runners UP - Macclesfield Under 10 Winners - Winnington P. Runners up - Davenport Under 11 Winners- Caldy Runners up - Davenport - Under 12 Winners - Birkenhead P. Runners up - Macclesfield Winnington Park U.13 team played off in a tournament with Vale of Lune and Egremont to decide ~ho would represent the N.W. to play the N.E. winners in a warm-up game at Otley before the

Italy v USA World Cup game. Egremont was the team to qualify. >',\; Six players from Winnington Park and Wirral D.15 teams (last Season's U.14 Cup finalist)were s~lected to attend at Harrogate for a coaching session by the players on the ·morning of the World Cup game at Otley. Nominations are required from clubs for the County U.17 team and U.16 team.

Under 21 Report: Tony Atherton reported that his Co~mittee had three objectives at the start of the season. 1. To search out the best players .in the County to play in the team. This was achieved with 27 players turning out in games against North Wales (Won 46-9),Sale Select (Won 22-12) Wilmslow Select (Won 40-3) Lancashire (Lost 15-9) and Yorkshlre (Won 14-13). 2. To succeed in the County Championship. The defeat by Lancashire, who eventually won the North Division Championship, put an end to this objective. 3. To gain North Division representation. Success here with nine players selected in the North squad of 30 and three players Chris Thompion, Chris Saverimutto and Jason Cundick played in the team that beat Ulster 19-18. Cheshire players contributed 12 of the points! Cheshire U.21 play the Northern Universities at Caldy on 8th December - KO. 2.30 pm. On February 2nd the North Division U.21 side play the South West Division at Birkenhead Park.

Schools' Report: David Thomson said the the County season starts on November 10th but this report ieferred to the Schools' RWC tournament held from 20th - 27th October in Cheshire. Unfortunately the USA and Kenya teams withdrew -shortly before the commencement of the tournament and this caused problems allhough easing the hosting situation. Six teams took part - Sw~den Youth, Dutch Youth, Soviet Youth, Romania Youth, Buenos Aires Schools' Select and Cheshire School~ U.18 team. Games were played on Sunday at Macclesfield RFC, on Tuesday at Wilmslow RFC, on Thursday at Birkenhead Park F.C. and on the fin~l Sunday at New Brighton F.C. Som~ excellent rugby was seen and Buenos Aires proved to be the eventual winners of the tournament. The Cheshire players will have lecirnt a great deal from the experience although only winning one of their games. The Romania team, supposedly under 18, had players who had played against the Cheshire U.18 team three years ago!! David said that the support from his Committee and from the clubs was tremendous and he thanked everyone who had . contributed to this magnificent feat of organisation. As a result of this tournament Cheshire has enhanced its reputation at national level, and the County now has connections in a very large number of countries world wide. Mark Cohen paid tribute to the excellent work done by the Committee in organising this prestigious tournament, and proposed that David Thomson's magnificent contribution as chief co-ordinater should be recorded in these minutes. The spontaneous applause from members present indicated unanimous approval.

Colts Report: The results to date - v Leicestershire Won 42 - 10, v Eastern Counties Lost 21 - 3, v Yorkshire Lost 19 - 12, v Northumberland Won 19 - 6 and v Durham won 10 - 7. The team was still in with a chance of winning the Northern Championship, and victory was essential in the two r~maining. games at Carlisle against Cumbria and at Ne~ Brighton against ,Lancashire on 17th November. , Brian Ewing said that there is a desperate need for"a physiotherapist to attend each of the Colts games. Other playing sections supported this suggestion with a request for someone to attend aIl County representative games. Dai Adams said that Ian Hart has been appointed as Honorary Rugby Manager for the County and this question of providing physios for aIl teams can be included on the agenda for his first meeting with representatives from aIl playing sections.

,Cup & Plate Report: Harry Middlebrook said that clubs were reluctant to report results of games, and often the results had to be obtained from the National press. These are not always reliable, and so clubs are asked to be more co­ operative in this respect.

Disciplinary Report: The following players have appeared before the Disciplinary Committees so far this season:-

D. Brown Parkonians suspended for 14 days J. Dade Parkonians 30 days T~Holt O.Rockferrians 0 days A.Kirkby Wallasey 0 days R.Newson Capenhurst 60 days W.Challinor Wirral 30 days e' A.Scott Hoylake 60 days C.Dodd Port Sunlight 30 days J.Nesbitt Crewe & Alsager College 21 days R.Tye Congleton 42 da;ys J.Walster Southern NOlIJads(IOM) 28 days S.Kelly Western Vikings(IOM) 28 days Any Cther Business: A.E.Bushell inforrned the Meeting that his club will in future be known as Instonians (not Old Instonians). The club secretary has written to the secretary of the Vagabonds club(IOM) to say that due to their financial . problerns they will not be able ta travel to the Island on 21st Decernber to play a league garne.

Next Meeting: The next Meeting will be held at Chester R.U.F.C. on Thursday 9th January, 1992 at 6.30 p.rn.

There being no further business the Chairman closed the meeting at 8.25 p.m .

...... / ...

Chairman .~~ 9th January, 1992'

Amendrnents to the 1 e rd.

Oldershaw R.F.C. Cornrnittee Member:-

A.Grabe, 24, Stourcliffe Road, Wallasey, Wirral Tel: 051-638-5634

M.J.Hamlin (Wilmslow) Tel: 061-969-3131 (Bus)

Hon. Secretary I.O.M. Federation of Rugby Clubs:-

P.Whiteway, 2, Kella Close, Sulby Village, Lezayre, Isle of Man. Tel: 0624-897950(H) 0624-626262 Ext.2432 (B)

Hon. Secretary Vagabonds RFC (Isle of Man)

Mrs.H.M.Makin, 27, Hildesley Road, Douglas,. Isle of Man. Tel: 0624 - 625585 (H) 0624-611305 (B)