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Minutes of 2023 AGM

 

Roll Call of Teams Represented:

Teams Represented were Albert Hill WMC, Darlington Snooker Club, East End Nomads, Key Club, Philadelphia CC, St Teresa’s, Saltwell SC, The Bene. Washington CC were not represented. The Secretary (David Westerby) & Treasurer (Leo Ford) were present and Kevin Turner of Saltwell was present as Chairman co-opted for the evening.

2022 AGM Minutes:

A proposal to accept the minutes of the 2022 AGM as a true record was made by Key Club and seconded by The Bene.

Secretary’s Report:

The Secretary welcomed all those present to the 2023 AGM. He said that it had been another good year following the league’s resumption after the Covid disruption. He said all the fixtures had again been completed and that actually could not recall the last time that a fixture had not been played; this was down to the flexibility shown by the league and its members and this was something the they should be proud of. He said that it had sadly, it had seemed to have become a part of his annual report to mention current and former league members who had passed away since the last AGM. This year there had been Paul Davison the former webmaster and founder of Washington CC team; Jimmy Peden, the ‘elder statesman’ of the league, of Saltwell SC; and Roy Collins of East End Nomads. All three would be sorely missed. He thanked all the people who had set questions, particularly Paul Finch, and his fellow Committee members for their help and support during the year. Finally he thanked Kevin Turner for his help with the Saltwell SC venue which had now become the ‘home base’ of the league.

Chairman’s Remarks:

The Chairman endorsed the Secretary’s words which had pretty much covered the remarks he had intended to make himself. He said that he hoped that all teams would continue to take part in the league, that it had been an excellent season with some good competitive quizzes. He added his own thanks to the members of the League for keeping the League going during Covid. He thanked all those who had set questions for the League in the season, in particular Paul Finch.

Treasurer’s Report:

The balance sheet had been handed out to all attendees. The Treasurer said that a new bank account had been opened with Lloyds Bank, where the League’s funds were deposited. The Secretary and himself had access to this account. He said that there had been no virtually no take-up on his request for the payment of expenses, apart from the Secretary who had claimed for website fees and printing costs. He said that he had learned that Paul Finch had set 18 quizzes without receiving any financial reimbursement and this was a situation that should not have occurred which he intended to put that right by making a payment to Paul. Acceptance of the balance sheet was proposed by the Key Club and seconded by Saltwell SC.

 Election Of Officials:

The Chairman’s role was vacant but Kevin Turner of Saltwell SC was willing to take on the role; he was elected unopposed. The Secretary and the Treasurer would continue in their positions.

 Election Of Committee:

The current committee of John Swan, John Doyle & Steve Westerby would continue in their roles.

League Structure:

There were 3 proposals for the structure. Proposal 1 was to continue with the ‘status quo’ of two Table Tops deciding which teams would populate Divisions A (4 teams) and B (5 teams). Teams then play each home and away with additional table top quizzes. Proposal 2, from the Committee, was for the re-introduction of relegation and promotion, with Division A consisting of Albert Hill, Darlington Snooker Club, Saltwell SC & Key Club, and Division B consisting of The Bene, East End Nomads, St Teresa’s, Philadelphia CC & Washington CC. Teams play each home and away with additional table top quizzes. Proposal 3, from St Teresa’s, will be the introduction of one division of 9 teams with teams playing each once and two table top quizzes.

A lengthy discussion followed. Chris Bone opened it with an outline of why he had put forward the St Teresa’s proposal. He said that one of the chief obstacles to a one-division system was perceived to be difficulty with question-masters for the teams which relied upon question-masters from other teams in the league but he thought that could be overcome with a little more effort. He said that perhaps the two top teams in Division A (Albert Hill & Darlington Snooker Club) would perhaps want more challenging or thought-provoking questions and invited their thoughts. Mike Sowerby then spoke and made the point that questions from the 1960s, 70s and 80s could, because of the ages of people playing in the league, be considered less challenging for some than question based on recent events. John Swan made the point that questions from those eras were generally those which had been used before and only those questions based on fairly recent events could be considered as ‘fresh’ questions. Shaun Moore then spoke saying that he supported the one-league proposal and it would be up to them to make sure they had a question-master at their quizzes. He stated that the flexibility shown by the League towards re-arrangement of fixtures was a very positive thing. Steve Westerby then spoke regarding the matter of ‘harder questions’, saying that there was no reason why a few testing pairs of questions could not be used in quizzes. Martin Robinson then spoke about how he had been opposed to the previous season’s proposal and had voted against it, but nevertheless had thought it worked well. He voiced concern over his experience of seeing local football leagues in his area which had gone to one division and teams had then started to drop out and was worried that this may occur in the NESQL. At that point a vote was taken, on whether to adopt Proposal 3 which seemed to be the most popular proposal. Teams voted 7 to 1 to accept Proposal 3.

Any Other Business.

The Secretary suggested a new format for the Challenge Cup in which the top 2 teams and bottom 2 teams in the league competed in a table-top handicap format. This was partly accepted but it was thought more appropriate that it should be the top 4 teams in the Handicap League, rather than the normal league, who should take part. It was then agreed that this should be the format for 2023-24 season.

The ‘League within a league’ part of St Teresa’s proposal was then discussed at some length and it was decided that this would be adopted on a trial basis for the coming season. Whichever team finished highest of the 5 former B Division Teams (i.e. The Bene, East End Nomads, Philadelphia CC, St Teresa’s and Washington CC) would receive a trophy.

The subject of the Pairs & Singles competitions was discussed. St Teresa’s proposal had been that the Open Pairs would be replaced by a new competition in which Pairs would be decided by drawing names out of a hat. Bryan White then suggested that this competition could be introduced alongside the Open Pairs rather than replacing it, and this was agreed.

There being no further discussion the meeting was declared closed at 9.50pm and then Presentation of trophies began.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Philadelphia CC won the Challenge Cup. Mick Fletcher & Shaun Moore receive the trophy from the Chairman Kevin Turner. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

East End Nomads won the KO Cup. Dave Westerby, Steve Westerby & Stew Fletcher receive the trophy from the Chairman. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saltwell SC won the Division A Handicap League. Steve Lakey, Bryan White & Kevin Turner with the trophy. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

John Doyle & Leo Ford of the Key Club, Division B winners. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jeff Coxon & John Swan of St Teresa's won the Division B Pairs. John accepts the trophy from the Chairman. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

John Doyle won the Division B Singles title. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike Sowerby, captain of Division A winners Albert Hill, receives the Championship Shield from the Chairman.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bryan White & Kevin Turner of Saltwell SC, winners of the Open Pairs Trophy 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bryan White of Saltwell SC won the Open Singles competition.