Handbook meeting

That was some ( no handbook meeting), it has left me more baffles than ever.
What did we all learn last night.
No handbooks to be dished out
No fixtures as yet
Constitution looks like changing
At least 2 teams suspended
At least 6 teams not in county cups
Premier teams in a cup that will fail
An app will be avaliable in September
Alliance and county FA dislike eachother
Teams excuses for divisional changes poor
92 teams signed up, but 17 of them not quite.
Glad I went,

Shows how hard it is to run a league

Certainly sir, if you had a swear box outside after the meeting you wouldn't have needed affiliation fees for sometime. It does look like we as a league have just tried to go to big, hopefully you and the committee can get it sorted in time, I am not knocking anyone's efforts at all, but all us selfish club members just want leagues, fixtures, refs etc.

Agree mate, I am also a manager and I want to know who we are playing etc

All I would say about size is that the smallest league in the county are also having the same problems and are no further ahead with fixtures due to the same problems with clubs that we are having.

I can assure you I am doing all I can to get things sorted and make progress

I think the league have to play hardball. If teams don't like it, they can leave. You can't please everyone, and trying to accommodate everyone won't work

The 17 teams not quite signed - too late, see you next year maybe

I hear this "smaller" league have their fixtures out today

Cska i said that rules are rules but i got shot down.
Bet some of these sides slip under the radar.

dont think the county fa dislike the alliance. but some other leagues probably do

some thoughts I gleaned from the meeting (without applying to any club or person in particular):

running a big league is a big job and Morley and Gordon etc. work their backsides off to make it happen

the fact that constitutions / fixtures are delayed because we continue to talk to teams and not just say 'tough'

agree that excuses made by teams are becoming poorer. How can anyone moan about being in Div 3?

The Alliance continues to lead the way

Handbooks a thing of the past and will save the league money - which people overlooked

rules are rules but it does not stop the poorer run clubs falling foul of them. the same reason why some clubs cannot make a simple phone call each week with results / scorers

the premiership - star & garter aside - is a pale imitation of what it was 6 years ago - cannot understand why so many clubs baulk at the idea of playing in it. a half decent division 2 side would hold their own in my opinion

clubs are quick to criticize but the league still attracts 90+ teams when other memberships are falling. we must be doing something right!

Polska legend II wrote:

some thoughts I gleaned from the meeting (without applying to any club or person in particular):

running a big league is a big job and Morley and Gordon etc. work their backsides off to make it happen

the fact that constitutions / fixtures are delayed because we continue to talk to teams and not just say 'tough'

agree that excuses made by teams are becoming poorer. How can anyone moan about being in Div 3?

The Alliance continues to lead the way

Handbooks a thing of the past and will save the league money - which people overlooked

rules are rules but it does not stop the poorer run clubs falling foul of them. the same reason why some clubs cannot make a simple phone call each week with results / scorers

the premiership - star & garter aside - is a pale imitation of what it was 6 years ago - cannot understand why so many clubs baulk at the idea of playing in it. a half decent division 2 side would hold their own in my opinion

clubs are quick to criticize but the league still attracts 90+ teams when other memberships are falling. we must be doing something right!

I'm not critisising the league. Just think they could make life easier for themselves. If teams haven't got their act together yet, surely they are the most likely to struggle to see the season through.

Completely agree about the prem, annoys me that clubs (driven by players) would rather the top of Div 3 than testing themselves in Div 1 or the Prem. Seems no one is prepared to finish in the bottom half of the table these days. Although a larger Prem would assist I think, giving plenty of competitive games to all.

That the league attracts so many teams does indicate they are doing things well, but gives opportunity to keep doing things well and gives the league committee strength. For those teams chucking their toys out of the pram, say bye and replace them instead of trying to please them. By accepting everyone I think we risk diluting the great work the committee do, and giving them more work to do. I'm sure the fixture sec would be happy with a division or 2 less!!!!

no criticism or offence taken!

the point about the prem is that it IS competitive, albeit with a smaller number of teams. And that's why I think it is hard to fathom why teams run so scared of it. The word 'Premier' is the pyschological mental block and still has a stigma attached to it. Oadby Owls are a fine example: this time last year they were very worried about being in it but were prepared to give it a go. And they finished 2nd!!!

And despite popular opinion, the league doesn't try and please every one - because we know we simply can't. One decision will always upset someone and please another.

I also think if you look at the 90+ teams we have and asked everyone who the top 8/10 were, it would go right down the table of Division 1. I think mid table div 1 sides are better than most around so are of premier standard rightly or wrongly

agree with that mark.if you took the top 3 teams out of each of the 4 sunday premier leagues to play in a 'county premier' division and then all the leagues started with a division 1 that would do away with the 'fear' of a premier division once and for all

which reminds me does anyone know the outcome of the meeting about the constitution of the premier division on tuesday night?

FC POCHIN wrote:

agree with that mark.if you took the top 3 teams out of each of the 4 sunday premier leagues to play in a 'county premier' division and then all the leagues started with a division 1 that would do away with the 'fear' of a premier division once and for all

This was suggested but the clubs rejected the idea

FC POCHIN wrote:

which reminds me does anyone know the outcome of the meeting about the constitution of the premier division on tuesday night?

Still ongoing.....

What's happening with the Arthur Moore comp this season? I'm not a big fan of the league format but with div one only having nine teams it could be a short season.
Can I also ask the question as to why there is only that amount of teams and the lower leagues have 11/12 ?

Arthur Moore will be div 1 & 2 and will be groups I believe for this reason Bret

With regards to the number of teams in each division, Morley covered this at the meeting on Tuesday the lack of desire shown by a lot of teams making this very difficult.

We need a big overhaul next season for me with a different approach needed for new teams to get this right. Watch this space...