Minutes of AGM 2024 - 2 July 2024
NORTH WEST INTERMEDIATE RUGBY UNION LEAGUES
SPONSORED BY HALBRO
Minutes of the A.G.M. Meeting: Leigh RUFC on 2nd July 2024 at 7pm
Committee Present:
Fred Swarbrick, John Powell, Andy Thompson, Paul Riordan, Peter Harrison, Peter Rhodes, Tommy Hughes, I Cousens, Craig Hine and Greg King
Apologies Committee:
Mark Ashley and Sarah Shackleton
Attending ;-
Howard Hughes Tyldesley, Gary Wilson Kirkby Lonsdale,Derek Leake Leigh, Martin Parkinson, Dave Clarke Wigan, Les Towler Bolton,Andy Daniels Broughton Park, Chris Farmiloe Trafford MV, Bruce Henderson Preston Grasshoppers, Andrew Soutar Caldy, Phillip G East Manchester Rhinos, Gareth Davies Caldy, Rob Stokes Kirkby Lonsdale,
Appologies Don Edmondson Eccles
Fred Swarbrick opened the meeting with a minute’s silence in honour of Craig Ross who was a member of the NOWIRUL Committee who sadly passed away during the season.
Minutes of AGM 2023 - All agreed that the minutes were a true record of the meeting from the 4th July 2023 at the Leigh RUFC
Matters Arising – None were raised that weren’t already covered in this meeting.
Chairmans Report 2023 -2024
Welcome Ladies and Gentlemen to what has been our 23rd season of the North West Leagues now identified as the Halbro Leagues. 23 years many of the lads playing at the present time weren’t even born when the Leagues commenced. Starting in fact with just 13 Clubs in their first season. Now this next season 151 sides.
Thank you to each and all of the Committee for their support a number now been with us since the start and now all good friends.
We must thank Craig Ross for his hard work in making our 5 West possibly the most successful League in the set up and following his sad passing John Powell for taking on board the running of that League. He was all set to help John with fixture preparations no mean task I can tell you. This coming season 1,500 fixtures to set.
Once again our Leagues Treasurer has kept a tight rein on our expenses and we have been able to maintain a comfortable financial situation. The after, providing a free membership of the Leagues in the Covid disruptions.
You’ll see all the Leagues now carry a Sponsor and must thank Ian Cosens for his work here apart from his work in setting up our Finals Days and the arrangements for our Presentation Dinner apart from running two Leagues.
Speaking of the two Finals held at two Clubs Kendal and Buxton, both at the extremes of the Leagues, they both were a resounding success and the work that went into providing the organisations on the day and we must thank them for all their work. Next season we will be at Macclesfield and New Brighton, both Clubs celebrating 150 years of their existence.
I mentioned support and I/we must thank all your League Secretaries for putting in the work each Saturday in setting up their Leagues. A job requiring much dedication.
So, I think we are virtually set for the season ahead, we have one or two sides leaving us but numbers joining have allowed us to move from 144 sides last season to 151 sides for the season upon us. Welcome to the East Manchester Club and hopefully you’ll enjoy a successful season.
I must offer thanks to our Referees Societies and of course to our own unique Association Referees covering our lower teams with neutral refereeing.
Must leave things now for John to outline the situation regards Fixtures and the planned Cup Competitions.
Greg to explain the situation regards our Finances and Ian to outline the situation regards our current Sponsors.
Peter Harrison is standing down as our Leagues Secretary and we must thank Peter for all the work he has put in both as The Leagues’ Secretary but also with his work in managing two Leagues.
The season ahead is looking good and hopefully all games fulfilled, last season we met a figure of 83% let’s improve on this number.
Finally, must congratulate Caldy who once again have gone through the season unbeaten. One day one of the Premier Clubs will bring them down. Andrew Soutar watch out !!!
Finance Report –
Greg King reported that this year we had made a small profit mainly due to the increased league fees and a new supplier for the trophies and medals who was considerably cheaper than the previous one. Current Bank Balance was £22,835.29
The Balance in the Benevolent Fund, which is unique to the NOWIRUL leagues was £10,641.59. Last season the Fund paid out £1,400 to help support 3 injured players
League Fees will stay the same this year at £100 per team
Fixture Secretary’s Report 2023-2024
I feel that this last season has been one of our most successful with a high number of played games and a lower level of games conceded.
We have maintained our policy of following the League Rules but with a little flexibility. An example of this is when the lowest team at a club is struggling for players on a particular week, they are allowed to negotiate a postponement, with their opponent’s agreement and nominate an alternative date. Communications via Whatsapp groups have certainly helped with this.
Our finishing participation rate was 78% which was 13% higher than last season. The only leagues to struggle were 3 North (55%) and 4 West (60%).
We started the season with 143 teams although 3 teams left before any games were played. A further 10 teams left throughout the season leaving 130 teams. This coming season we have a setup which involves 149 teams. A number boosted by teams rejoining and some new teams.
The Cup Competitions ran well and culminated in the two Finals Day at Buxton and Kendal.
To finish we must congratulate our Cup Winners and League Champions. However, we must not forget the tremendous amount of work and effort put in on a week by week basis by all team captains and managers.
Election of Secretary
It was noted that Peter Harrison would be stepping down after this meeting. Peter was League Secretary and League Manager for both Division 3 North and 3 Central. Due to this –
Mr Paul Riordan was proposed and seconded as NOWIRUL League Secretary. There were no other proposals and was carried unanimously.
Mr Chris Farmiloe from the Trafford MV club was proposed and seconded to join the NOWIRUL Committee. Carried unanimously. He would take over as League Manager of Division 3 North and 3 Central.
Due the loss of Craig Ross, Craig Hine would take over the vacant Division 5W as well as his current 4W,
Bar Peter Harrison, all the current NOWIRUL Committee had agreed to re-stand. Carried unanimously on block
FS did mention that if anyone was interested in joining the Committee, then to contact him to discuss
Proposals for Rule Changes
Add to Rule 21 John Powell/Fred Swarbrick
If a Double Header game is conceded, the offending team will have one concede put against their name and the other game will be put down as a 8 – 0 win to the non-conceding team.
Following discussion an amendment was proposed by Andy Soutar and seconded by Andy Daniels that the game should be put down as a 4 try 20 – 0 result. The amendment was carried unanimously
If a Double Header game is conceded, the offending team will have one concede put against their name and the other game will be put down as a 20 – 0 win to the non-conceding team. For 15 – 6 Against
Carried
Add to Rule 22 John Powell/Fred Swarbrick
If a game is abandoned due to the conduct of players, that game will not be replayed whatever the timing of the abandonment. The score at the time of the abandonment will stand as a result, unless County Disciplinary advise otherwise.
There had been 2 amendments proposed but one of them was not seconded and so could not be voted on. The second was proposed by Peter Rhodes and seconded by Rob Stokes.
If a game is abandoned due to the behaviour of both teams a score of 0-0 will be awarded. If the abandonment is due to the behaviour of one of the teams the score of the innocent team at the time of the abandonment will be awarded to them and a score of 0 to the other team. For 3 – 17 Against Not Carried
A Vote was then taken on the original proposal. For 5 – 15 Against
Not Carried
Change to Rule 15 Chris Farmiloe/Fred SwarbrickShould a team unable to field a front row win the match they will receive 2 POINTS MAXIMUMIncrease to 3 Points maximum.
CF explained that teams were struggling to field front rows and felt that teams shouldn’t be penalised as much, but the consensus was that this may encourage teams to not to have a front row. For 2 – 15 Against
Not Carried
Change to Rule 19 Concede by senior team Peter Harrison/Fred Swarbrick
When a senior team concedes a game, then the lower level team will be allowed to play but will only receive 2 points if they win (same as NFR win). The Senior side will be docked 5 points. No points will be deducted if it is the lowest team in that club that concedes
The problem is that with the current rule is that 60+ people don’t get a game of rugby, but the new proposal does all at least 30 or so to play a competitive game. It would also increase the number of games played for the RFU targets. For 12 – 9 Against
Carried
New CUP Rule Peter Harrison/Fred Swarbrick
No player can play in a lower teams' cup competition if they have played 50% or more of their games for a more senior side. The only exception to this is a front row player in order for the game to be played, but this player must be notified to the relevant League Manager before the game. Any Club falling foul of this rule will have all it's teams expelled from this and the following year's cup competitions.
It was agreed that team loading happens whether it is in a cup game or a league game, but a number of clubs felt that this was too severe a rule as players could lose form, get injured etc and may genuinely be a regular for the lower team even though they didn’t meet the 50% criteria. For 4 – 17 Against
Not Carried
Sponsorship
It was reported now that all the Leagues and Cup competition had a sponsor
Any Other Business –
Caldy raised the issue of promoting the AGM more before the event. Unless someone looks on the website no one would know when and where the event was. Also promoting it well in advance may encourage more clubs to submit proposals for discussion. Also, it was said could it not be done over zoom so has to attract more participants
Dave Clarke raised the issue of 1st teams being allowed in the NOWIRUL leagues and taking them away from the ADM leagues. He said that we needed to get the rules right
Meeting closed at 9:00pm