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 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 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 in their efforts to obtain financial benefit from the game. This was highlighted by comparison with the South African players. The Amateur Status Working Party had been asked to consider this problem and a meeting of the Executive Committee has been arranged to Under 21 Sub-Committee Report: A fitness/skills session was held at Wilmslow on July l?th. A trial was held at Caldy on 21st August, with a squad session at the same venue on September 4th. A further squad session will be held at Wilmslow on l1th September. There will be a tour to South Wales on 13th - 15th September with games against Mid-District U.21's and East- District U.21's. There will be fixtures against Trafford U.21's at Sale on 23rd November, against Lancashire U.21 at Sale on December 7th and against Cumbria U.21's Away on December 14th. The U.21 Committee wish to thank the officiaIs at CaIdy, Wilmslow and Sale for their cooperation in organising these trials and games.

Colts Report: A skills clinic was held at the end of July; 84 invitations were sent out and 40 players attended. Current Division one players Paul Manley (Orrell) and Alastair Saverimutto (Bristol) conducted the clinic. 10 Colt Dominees attended the County fitness testing session representing 50% of the attendees. A fitness session also took place at and 38 colts attended. League matches commence on I1th September. Selectors have been allocated and aIl clubs should be watched before the trial at Winnington Park on 28th September. A squad will be selected for a fixture against Gloucestershire at Sandbach on 2nd October, and a final squad named to travel to Eastern Counties the following week­ end. The league for the coming season will be sponsored by C & C Catering of Chester who will provide a trophy and cover the running costs.

Any Other Business: Birkenhead Park officiaIs have asked if they can make a collection for the 'Claire House' appeal fund on the occasion of the game against Lancashire. This was agreed. Frank Povall attended an E.R.C.A. meeting at Bristol on Sunday 4th September where the main discussion centred on the use of Lottery money. There is a need for Cheshire to elect a small sub-committee specifically to discuss with and advise clubs on how to proceed with applications for Lottery money. The Sports Council produce a paper called 'Lottery Link' and anyone wishing to receive copies, or have any sport lottery enquiries, should ring 0345 649 649. John Williams asked, on behalf of Port Sunlight RFC, if it is really necessary for clubs to submit registration forms for players who were registered with the club the previous season. The answer will be obtained from Courage league officiaIs. He also reported the recent death of the oldest member of the Port • Sunlight club, Tom Newby who was 93. Next Meeting; The next meeting will take place at the Chester Club on Thursday 10th November, 1994 at 6.30 p.m . io~ ...... 10th November, 1994 . Chairman ~ " 4. The R.F.U. President, lan Beer, says that Cheshire have set an excellent .- • CHESHIRE RUGBY FOOTBALL UNION pie to the rest of the Counties with their contribution to his S.P.I.R.E. a 1. Cheques fram the following clubs were presented ta him during his visit to the VV! LET Cup Final at Chester:- Cheshire (E1000) Birkenhead Park, Northwich, Old Individual Members' Secretary Salians, Winnington Park, Manchester Referees' Society, Port Sunlight, Wirral, Dennis Western, White Cottage, 118 Irby Road, Heswall L61 6XQ Ashton-an-Mersey, Old Anselmians, Chester, Hoylake, Macclesfield, , Telephone: 051-648 3208 Sale, Shell (Stanlow), Shell (Carrington), Parkonians, Caldy, Helsby, Crewe & Nantwich, and Liverpool Referees' Society. Personal cheques were presented by P.T.O. Wild, A. J. G. Senn and W. G. Cragg, and E235.73 was COllec_tur­ Dear ,Member, ing the game. Cheques were later forwarded to the President fram Old w, S.eON 1994 • 1995 Moore, Prenton, Lymm and Whitehouse Park. Altogether Cheshire's contri ution will be in excess of E4000. The new season can be looked forward to with high hopes following the contin­ ued success of the County XV. Morale is good in ail sections of the County organi­ 5. The R.F.U. Committee have decided that with effect fram 1994/95 season, a sation thanks to great efforts put in on our behalf by our President, Frank Povall donation equivalent to E1 per ticket should be made fram ticket proceeds to help and Hon. Secfetary, Dai Adams in particular. raise the substantial amount of money required ta look after paraplegics and tetraplegics injured whilst playing. Your membership Ca rd for this season is enclosed together with a copy of the 6. Cheshire received over E26000 as their share of Ali Blacks v. North game at Annual Report. Anfield. MESSAGE FROM FRANK POVALL, CHESHIRE PRESIDENT DISCIPLINARY A very warm welcome and thanks to ail Individual members of Cheshire Rugby The East Sub-Committee has met on 12 occasions during the season and de ait with Football Union, the Officers of the Cou nty value your involvement and support. 24 players fram 12 clubs and 2 schools. This was an increase of 6 players from last season. May 1 just take time to reflect on season 1993/94, a season which the County and 1 set high ideals for ourselves both on and off the field. On the playing front the The most comon offence was punching which resulted in 12 dismissals, kicking County si de produced tirst class results which culminated in them winning their resulted in 8 dismissals, stamping for 3 and 1 for a late tackle. Four of the offences league, this thanks to the squad, team manager and the coaches for many hours of occurred in the 2nd quarter, 10 in the 3rd quarter and 10 in the last quarter. dedicatation. The most persistent offenders were lock-forwards with 5 dismissals, followed by Full-backs with 4, Hookers, No. 8's and centres with 3, Props, Flankers and scrum­ My plan to visit ail clubs in membership of the County at Management halves with 2 dismissals. Committee level achieved in its early days a very mixed reception, but once it was, made it very clear that 1 consider there were advantages for both Club and County The West Sub-Committee has dealt with 29 players from 14 clubs, a slight increase to meet at this level, my diary started to fill up. While 1 would like to have visited from last Season. Clubs are reminded that the recommended suspension for verbal every member club, that has not been possible, but it is pleasing to report that in abuse to referees is 1 year, and tor physical abuse Sine Die. spite of that, 1 have achieved some 90%. TI ES AND SWEATERS As the results of these visits, only time will tell, but 1 do feel that in many Dennis will continue the marketing of Cou nt y Ties and Sweaters and will be pleased instances, lines of communication were made, and hopefully they will continue, to receive suggestions for other products which could be made available to membl t.elPing to build rugby at ailleveis throughout the County, also an awareness Ties are E5.00 and Sweaters (Botany Wool) E25.00, plus postage and packag\. ~ if oh,_ ri support that can be accessed through the County, from such groups as our appropriate. verY active Coaching Sub-Committee. If there is anythingDennis or 1 can do to assist you over the new season, please let What does the future hold for Cou nty Rugby? Weil for this reason we are to either of us know. revert to the old style of County Championship with the Northern Group finding its Vours Sincerely, own winner, it would seem that will be changed once again the following season with possibly the North and Midlands playing a league style system. We look forward to meeting many of you at the Home County games, needless {:,.,, '. your support would be very welcome also for our away fixtures. While it must b n that we are up against sorne very powerful opponents, 1 do believe that DAVE WRIGHT Ch ire can still perform to the very high standard that they have produced over Chairman, Individual Membership • the past seasons which cou Id lead to being NC?rthern Champions. SUBSCRIPTIONS Il N.'"mberlan~ ~~d Yorkshi.re i~ Division O~e of the league format, we shall be playing al North DIvIsion Countles ln order to flnd the North representative to play in the This is still held at the bargain priee of tG per season, but increasingly we have a semi-final. There is a strong chance that the format will be changed again next Season! larger number of Life Members which represents excellent value of t50, why not avail Congratulations to the players who have done so weil during the past three seasons, yourself of the opportunity by contacting Dennis Weston, the sooner Vou join, the more and grateful thanks to Richard Haslehurst (Chairman of selectors) and his two coaches Vou save! David Buttery and Len Davies who have done an excellent job. Ali members will of course continue to be admitted free of charge to ail County The fixtures for next season are as follows: Games, and to the Finals of the Cheshire Cup and Plate, together with the opportunity ~ovember, 15th v. Lancashire at Birkenhead Park F.C. to apply for International Tickets. • ...~ovember, 19th v. Cumbria at Wilmslow RF.C. INTERNATIONAL TICKETS - URGENT!!! November,26th v. Northumberland at Chester RF.C. The same format as previous seasons will apply with ail applications being dealt December 3rd v. Yorkshire Away with by your Assistant Treasurer, Harry Middlebrook. However, owing to the changed December 10th v. Durham Away method of applications and allocation of tickets introduced last season, please bear in COURAGE LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP REPORT mind the following advice. There is no need to send vast su ms of money to the RF.U., so members should not send more than for the tickets they require. The new RF.U. Congratulations to promoted Cheshire Clubs, Sale to National 1, New Brighton to allocation system means that we will still get the same number of tickets each year sub­ North 2, Wilmslow to N.W.1 and Port Sunlight ta Cheshire/Lancashire South but the ject to a small variation, although the rebuilding of the West Stand will affect this sea­ impact of relegation is still being àrgued about. Because both Clubs relegated fram son's allocation. Away tickets are in very short supply, the County only receive 2 or 4 National Five North, Bradford & Bingley and Durham City were in the North Division for each match, your best opportunity is to make a contact with Clubs in other Unions. A and the three Clubs relegated from North 2, were Lymm, Wigan and Carlisle, Caldy register is kept of ail tickets issued for each season and then for the past five years, the who were fourth from bottom of N.W.1 were relegated. Whilst one must sympathise sheet showing the allocation of tickets is always on view at the County A.G.M. A check with them and Lymm from North 2 it is not logical to operate any other system. The is made with the Membership Secretary to ensure ail applicants have paid their sub­ alternative would have been to put Lymm, Wigan or Carlisle into N.E.1 which would scriptions. have been unfair ta those Clubs as they would have ta play ail away games on the other side of the Pennines. Clubs need ta be aware that when deciding on teams to be Requests from constituent bodies are still almost entirely for tickets at the two high­ promoted and relegated the North Division Organising Committee takes as its overrid­ est priees and the RF.U. have decided that these will be the only categories offered, ing priority the guarantee that promotion is sacrosanct, i.e. either one or two clubs gain lower priced tickets will still be allocated thraugh Clubs. promotion in accordance with the regulations. Further relegation is done on a geo­ The Principal Fixtures for 1994/95 see England play France on 4th February, 1995, graphical basis and the cascade effect meant that 8 clubs were relegated from NW.1 and Scotland on 18th March, 1995, other matches at H.Q. outside the Five Nations and N.w.2. Championship are against Romania on 12th November, 1994, and Canada on 10th R.F.U. REPRESENTATIVE'S REPORT December, 1994. George Cox reported back to your Committee on several occasions following atten­ You must stick meticulously to the instructions on the application form. Please bear dance at RF.U. meetings. There were many points of interest discussed, but the follow­ in mind that the stamp on your stamped addressed envelopes should be "First or ing were the ones of most interest. Second Class", not with stamps with the amount in figures as the postage ratelfien changes and understamped letters can be delayed. The Divisional Championship will definitely take place next season and in •\':' '1995/96 to honour the R.F.U's Commitment to the sponsor, thereafter the future SEND VOUR APPUCATION (Before 30th September, 1994) ~, ~ will be reconsidered. To: N. H. MlDDLEBROOK, Zl CLARENDON ROAD, SALE CHESHIRE M33 20U 2. The Home Unions T.V. contract is now in place for the next 3 years, and is worth Telephone: 061-962 2957 over t34 million, t27 million from the B.B.C. and a further t7 million from Sky T.V., who would have the right to live coverage of 30 games per season in who will de al with ail enquiries about International Tickets - England, Scotland and Ireland as weil as recorded rights to the 5 Nations Cheques payable to Cheshire RF.U. please. Championship, one hour after the final whistle.

COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP REPORT ~ --'~' ~egistration of players has changed for this season. there will be a 2 tier qualify­ This. was. the thi~d se~son in a row .f~r Cheshire to remain unbeaten in the .ty lOg system - 120 days for ail clubs in the top 6 levels, 60 days for clubs below Champlonshlp. Havlng cllmbed from DIvision 3 to Division 1, it is a little frustrating for •that level. In addition 120 days qualitying for players moving up or down between the R.F.U. to change the format again, and instead of playing Lancashire, clubs above and below the eut off line.