Admin blips could cost Comp teams promotion
CLUBS who fail to discharge their administrative responsibilities may be barred from promotion under proposals to be put to Liverpool Competition clubs in January.
The league’s management committee has become increasingly concerned by the failure of a minority of clubs to carry out even the simplest tasks and is to propose that the most persistent offenders be prevented from moving to a higher division even if their team finishes in the top two places in their division.
Promotions are already subject to clubs satisfying the appropriate ground criteria but this latest initiative goes further than that.
The proposal is just one of many which will be put to members at the Liverpool Competition’s AGM which will be held at Bootle CC on Tuesday, January 10.
At the same meeting clubs will be asked to approve the splitting of the first and second team league knockout into two separate competitions with the top 16 sides taking part in the Ray Digman Trophy while the other 20 teams compete for new trophies which are yet to be named.
This proposal is being made partly in an attempt to prevent mismatches whereby a second division side is drawn away at an ECB Premier League club and spends a Sunday travelling to a game it has little chance of winning.
The league’s management committee is also hoping to keep a firmer grip on the scheduling of matches so that the fixture backlog which occurred last season is not repeated.
It is also being proposed that any player receiving two Accumulated Bad Behaviour notices in any twelve-month period will be banned for one week and clubs are to be given the option of starting games at 12.30 whilst also retaining the facility to delay the start of the last hour’s play by up to 30 minutes in the event of play being affected by rain or bad light.
The Liverpool Competition chairman, John Williams, explained that most of the proposals had come out of a players and officials Review Group set up in September.
He added: “The suggestion regarding the knockout cups recognises the significant difficulties experienced by some clubs last year in fitting in all the cup dates on Sundays.
“In respect of the proposal about promotion, any club’s ability to meet all the necessary and timely administrative requirements will simply be considered alongside other promotion criteria”.