Minutes of the Committee Meeting Held at Chester R.U.F.C. on Thursday 8Th September. 1994 at 6.30 P.M. Present: F.R.Povall (In T
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Minutes of the Committee Meeting held at Chester R.U.F.C. on Thursday 8th September. 1994 at 6.30 p.m. Present: F.R.Povall (in the Chair), J.Taylor, M.Farr, B.Davies, D.B.Pye, D.Western, T.I.F.Price, J.M.Young, M.Gavin, M.Cohen, C.Monks, W.J.Williams, J.Wyatt, D.Ewing, W.Gott, A.I.Hart, P.Newns, G.P.Hughes, A.J.Williams, N.Morris, D.N.Hickman, J.Pinnington, D.I.Adams. Apologies: G.Marrs, H.Middlebrook, V.Middleton, A.Koenen, D.Wright, R.Haslehurst, D.Mason, G.Cox, C.Coventry, A.Sproston, M.Lord, B.Ewing, L.Galey Before the meeting commenced members stood for a minutes silence in memory of the three boys from Birkenhead School who died in a car crash recently. One of them, Ben Smith, played for Cheshire Schools Under 18 team last Season. Minutes: The Minutes of the Meeting held on 7th July, 1994 having been circulated were corifirmed and signed. Matters Arising: The secretary reported that he wrote to Dudley Wood regarding the uncompromising attitude of Bob Archer towards Cheshire clubs, enclosing copies of correspondence between Bob Archer, Mike Lord and Denis Thorley regarding the Cheshire league matrix. Copies were also sent to John Jeavons-Fellows (Chairman of the RFU Competitions Sub-Committee)~ On receipt of the correspondence, John Jeavons-Fellows rang Bob Archer, and the next day Mike Lord received a . let ter from Bob Archer stating that he had prepared a new list of fixtures based on a 11 week matrix. Mike Lord replied thanking him, and asked why it had taken 15 months and a letter to the RFU to get this done when it was sa simple ta do. By now Cheshire clubs had printed their fixture cards for the season, and it was too late to change. Hopefully the new system can be used next season. Hon. Secretary's Report: During the Summer officiaIs of Birkenhead Park, Helsby, Northwich and Prenton were interviewed by County officiaIs because they had four or more players sent off. An application for membership has been received from a Club called Melions Marauders which is based in Crewe. lt is a club which plays games in aid of charity. The application was approved provided that the club can find a proposer and a seconder for their application. The Emergency Sub-Committee recommend that a new Y.D.O. is appointed in September 1995 to replace Chris Hughes. Chris has do ne the job weIl, but because of the terms of his contract Cheshire cannat afford the money requit-ed to keep him in the post. A new YDO wi Il start at a lower salary and stricter control of the management of the post will ensure a smaller financial demand on County resources. The Committee supported this recommendation. Several clubs have shawn an interest in hosting County games for the senior team. The Emergency Committee have suggested that clubs should be circulated with the criteria required to hast games so that clubs can inform the County Secretary whether they wish to host games at any level - From Senior down to U.1S's. lt was agreed that this should be discuss their findings. It is hoped that as a result of this meeting the RFU would state its intentions to the players positively and unequivocally in order to clear up the sense of mistrust. To relieve pressure on players, it has been agreed that any player selected to play at National level and who plays for the whole game shall not be available fo~ selection for a lower National team during the season subject ta the requirement by the England team manager. Priority for selection for National teams will be as follows:- a) England XV b)England A XV c) England Emerging Players XV d) England U.21 XV e) England Colts XV. It was agreed by the Committee that the distribution of Satellite Television monies would be on the following percentages:- lst Division 60%, 2nd Division 28%, 3rd Division 12%. A substantial portion would be allocated ta senior clubs whose grounds were in need of improvement to enable them to stage representative matches. Dudley Wood will retire next year. The post will be advertised at the end of September, and it is hoped that an appointment will be made before Christmas thereby providing ample time for a take-over. Every club in National Divisions 1 - 5 has now signed the Declaration of Compliance form. There are still'some junior clubs who have not yet signed. AlI Cheshire clubs have signed! The building programme on the West Stand is up ta schedule. Rugby Report: This item on the Agenda is for a report by the Chairman of Selectors and for discussing any aspect on the playing of the game which members of the Committee may like to raise. Ideally the secretary should be informed of the item prior to the meeting in arder to seek out any information which may be required. The sending off of Tim Rodber and the apparent lack of satisfactory disciplinary action has resulted in a great deal of criticsm of RFU officiaIs. A Commission of Inquiry was set up by the RFU and, having taken advice of le~ding counsel, the Committee concluded that the RFU was not empowered to take further disciplinary action. John Young stated that as a result of the play in the tour match between Eastern Province and England, and the increasing violence in the game he would not be advising his grandchildren ta play rugby football. Ian Hart suggested that we should be doing something to counter illegal play instead of opting out. The laws of the game are complicated - can we make any suggestions ta simplify these? John Wyatt said that spectators want to see good flowing rugby with plenty of excitement. However,increased fitness levels and coaching seems ta have produced better defenders which nullifies good attacking rugby. Would the game improve if we made the pitch larger or perhaps reduce the number of players to thirteen? There was some interesting discussion without any firm conclusions. John Young stated that as Chairman of the U.21's he felt that of the 90 original trialists for this year's squad, the majority who have not been selected in the final list of 25 should be contacted and informed of non-selection and encouraged to continue in the game, and that he would undertake ta do this himself. Individual Members Report: The County has over 300 members; one of our smaller junior clubs has 24. How about a recruitment dri~e at clubs aiming to have at least 20 members per club ? done, and then the position reviewed with a possibility of redefining the Match & Ground Sub-Committee. Graeme Marrs, Gordon Kennedy and David Wright have agreed to represent the Committee in a meeting with the officiaIs of Tetley Walker Brewery in order to discuss future sponsorship. The R.F.U. are holding an E.G.M. on I1th November to approve the recommendations of the Bishop Commission. When details of voting procedure are made known, clubs are urged to ei ther send reps. to attend the meeting or let the County Secretary have their proxy voting forms. Andrew Stratton (address on page 5 of the Membership Card) has agreed to act as our Press Secretary and aIl our sub-committees are urged to use him to publicise their activities. Richard Haslehurst wants to have a practice game on November Ist and North Midlands have shown an interest in playing Cheshire. If this game fails to materialise then a practice game against a 'B' XV will be organised. Congratulations and thanks are due to Graeme Cook of the Port Sunlight club who l'an in the London Marathon and raised 2562 for the RFU SPire fund. Treasurer's Report: Altrincham (Kersal), Capenhurst, Christleton, ICI Wolfhounds, Moore, Sanatogents and Western Vikings have not paid their subscriptions to the County for the 1993/94 season. Fewer than half of member clubs have produced their Balance sheets as requested in R.F.U. and Cheshire R.F.U. Bye laws. It was agreed that next Season clubs who have not paid their annual subscription will be banned from participating in the Cheshire Cup Competition. The position regarding clubs who have not submitted Statement of Accounts and balance sheets will be reviewed at a later date. The coach company (Jones Executive), which let down the Colts for their trip to Cumbria last season, have agreed to transport the colts this season on one of their Away trips free of charge. Our Honorary Solicitor recommends that we accept this offer rather than take legal proceedings ta try and obtain more money. The treasurer reported that he will now pay 2250 ta Cumbria towards their costs for arranging the game when Cheshire Colts were not able to arrive due to the non appearance of a coach. Mark Cohen said that he would like ta see aIl Committee members support the County games this season; everyone who attends is invited to join the officers of the county in the committee reception room. He would also like to see aIl Committee Members join as Individual Members of the County to help support the County financially. R.F.U. Representative's Report: The reports of a weIl publicised breakdown in communications between players and officiaIs on the tour to South Africa are greatly exaggerated, although it is acknowledged that a degree of constraint had been apparent. This had been brought about by the players' perception that they were being insufficiently supported by the Rugby Football Union in their efforts to obtain financial benefit from the game.