Minutes of Committee Meeting 05 May 2020
Minutes of the Committee Meeting of NOWIRUL
5th May 2020 at 7:30m - Held via Zoom
Attendees: Fred Swarbrick, John Powell, Peter Rhodes, Andy Thompson, Greg King, Ian Cosens, Paul Riordan, Craig Hine, Tommy Hughes and Peter Harrison
FS opened the meeting by thanking Paul for once again setting up this Zoom meeting and for all who have attended
Leagues: JP had provided a number of scenarios and set ups for both 14 & 12 team leagues from the premiership to division 5 prior to the meeting and these were also shared during the meeting. Also provided were mileage charts for the different set ups.
After discussion it was felt that the 12 team format was the best way forward considering the possibility that there may be no rugby until after September and it also reduced the mileage travelled by teams. Following that decision the different league set ups were reviewed with the following comments
Div 3 1st Teams should be named Div 3 West
There was some concern regarding the strength of the ex-Division 1 sides in Division 2 South
The dates for the fixtures would follow column H in the 12 team format
As there had been no direction from the RFU when rugby would start a discussion took place on how the league would be structured if rugby couldn’t start in September. Following was suggested
If start in October the fixtures missed would be shown as 0-0 draws and the season would continue as per the schedule for the rest of the season
If start in November or December have those 2 months schedule as friendlies/practice and then continue with a half season from January
If start January half season
Cup competitions would be run at the end of the season although early rounds may be held on a league weekend as a double header
JP presented 3 proposals for discussion
Proposal 1: Divisions 2 to 5 no weather games all go to the pools panel
Proposal 2: Division 2 to 5 allow postponement once per team per season with agreement of the opposition. If start September should we allow 2 for the season? League secretary to have final say?
Proposal 3: No postponement of weather affected cup games. If either pitch fit then game played there. Toss of coin otherwise to decide
Following the discussion on the proposals a further discussion took place around whether they needed to be passed at an AGM in order to become rules. Proposals to be sent out to clubs for comment but it was agreed that the final decision would be the Committee’s and that this was done for the interests of all clubs in these difficult times, although it was felt an AGM would be help around October/November.
Finance: The RFU had notified the league that they wouldn’t be paying the 2nd tranche of the funding even though 80% of the season had been completed and we had kept to our side of the deal by keeping the RFU GMS system up to date. Although the money was not critical to us but it was the way it was done. FS to contact RFU to put our feelings to them.
Potentially saved around £8,000 through not having a finals day and presentation evening.
4 teams have had their £100 bond refunded and £650 was received for new team fees and bonds.
The Halbro 3 year deal is due to finish soon but there is still a credit on our account. IC to contact them and find out what their intentions are for the future
It was noted the ADM leagues now had 3 first team Divisions and 2 2nd/3rd team ones and that they had accepted some Cheshire sides against their mileage rules
Next Meeting: 1st week of June
Meeting closed at 21:05