Here is the ninth edition of this season's 'Worcester League News'.

************** New Venue for Delegates Meetings ***************

Hi everyone,

Hope you all liked the new venue at Claines RBL Club last night, I thought they were very pleasant surroundings. Unfortunately, eight clubs failed to put in an appearance and will be fined £25 each as per rule for their non-attendance - they were; -

AFC Brewers, Blue Star, Crowle, Nelson, Northway, St Johns, University of Worcester and YM Rangers. So what did they miss ?

Fixtures: Bob confirmed that the season will end on 22 May and he is currently working on the last sets of fixtures. Evening matches will commence in the second week of April. He asked you all to look at your remaining fixtures and if you can see an opportunity to play some of them earlier than advertised, then, in conjunction with your opponents, please feel free to do so.

Forthcoming vacancy: Whilst on the subject of fixtures, Bob has decided that for personal reasons, he will be stepping down as Fixture Secretary at the end of the season. Accordingly, applications are invited for this post from any interested party. Bob will be more than happy to explain to any prospective applicant, exactly what is involved in the job and give any help necessary in settling the new incumbent in. Naturally we would like to thank Bob for all his hard work and dedication that he has shown whilst performing the fixture secretary's duties in recent years, he will be a hard act to follow. As I said, applications are now invited for this post and the closing date for applications is Wednesday 9 March. Further information on what the job entails can be obtained from myself or Bob. Applications should be e-mailed to me at this address or by letter to 105 Laugherne Road St Johns Worcester WR2 5LY.

Cup Final Dates: Our internal cup final dates have now been arranged (all at Worcester City F.C.) They are; -

Phipps Cup - Wednesday 20 April (7.30 p.m.)
Baylis Cup - Wednesday 27 April (7.30 p.m.)

Katherine Rayer Cup - Sunday 1 May (7.00 p.m.)
Bernard Finnegan Cup - Sunday 8 May (7.00 p.m.)

The quarter-final draw for all these competitions can be found on the website.

The Worcester Nursing Cups finals have also been arranged (again, all at Worcester City F.C.) and they are; -

Saturday Junior Cup - Wednesday 6 April (7.30 p.m.) - Malvern Town Reserves v Worcester Raiders

Sunday Junior Cup - Sunday 10 April (7.00 p.m.)
Sunday Minor Cup - Sunday 17 April (7.00 p.m.)

Eligibility of players for Internal cup semi-finals and finals: An old chestnut, but worth repeating again. Please read Cup Registration Rule 4. (b) (i) and (ii) on page 58 of the League Hand Book very carefully. Basically it says that to be eligible, a player must have played in a minimum of four League or Internal League Cup matches for his team during the season.

Monthly draw: Here are the winners; -

January - £40 - Northway (5), £30 - Powick (50), £30 - Wessie (56), £30 - AFC Mazak (5)

February - £40 - St Johns (51), £30 - KGV Worcester (34), £30 - AA Chequers (1), £30 - Worcester City Wanderers (60)

Hand Book Amendment: Just the one; -

CMB Sports: Nick Lewis - new address Club Secretary’s emailed details

Submission of results/referee marks: No major problems. Just one thing with marks, next season I intend bringing the deadline forward to 5.00 p.m. Wednesday, in line with the deadline for match report forms being received. The vast majority of you submit your marks by then anyway, perhaps the stragglers could get into that habit as well ? Remember, you can either e-mail them to this address or text them to 07789.827809, whichever suits you better.

Seminar on match based suspensions: As mentioned last night, there are major changes next season regarding discipline. John Lovegrove and Chris Dale from the WFA will be visiting us one evening to explain in detail how this will affect us. I have provisionally arranged for them to address everyone at the Delegates meeting on 16 May but this is to be confirmed - watch this space. Whatever date is chosen, it is vitally important that the club secretary from each club attends as they will be personally responsible for implementing the changes !

Worcester City Council pitch bookings: Just to re-iterate what I said last night, if you require a council pitch for a Tuesday or Thursday evening fixture, you must book your pitch no later than 12 Noon on the Tuesday of the preceding week !

Presentation of trophies: We have decided to follow last season's successful format where we are asking you, the clubs, where and when you would like your trophies presented. The vast majority of last year's winners asked us along to their own presentation evenings to present the trophies personally and we're quite happy to do that again. Alternatively, one or two clubs received their cups on the pitch after their last match and I think one club chose to collect their trophy and winners medals at the AGM. It's your choice entirely folks, so if you have designs on winning something this season, please give the matter some thought.

Next season: In a recent WL News, I floated the idea of possibly starting the season a couple of weeks earlier to try and avoid what is becoming an annual log-jam of fixtures at the end of the season, caused mainly by inclement weather. To date, only 3 clubs have expressed their views. I really need to know what the majority feeling is on this matter as we wouldn't want to implement something that you don't want - so please, let me know your thoughts !

And finally ................. work is carrying on behind the scenes regarding League sponsorship next season (let me know if you can think of a rich benefactor !) and also the proposed summer 5 a side which is ear marked for a Sunday in July ............ watch this space !!

Regards,

Tim