Northumbria League Roster 18_19 (as at 15 Aug 18)
1. League Rules update
A number of relatively small issues concerning the running of the Leagues were raised and discussed at the County AGM in May, and following further consideration the Committee has approved updated League Rules, which are now posted on the League Master homepage. Please familiarise yourselves with the rule updates, which are:
1. Inclusion of the Summer League fixture change procedures in the rules (rules 3.3 and 3.4).
2. Explanation of the procedure for agreeing revised fixture dates following “exceptional circumstances” postponements (rule 3.5).
3. Allowance for players to play for more than one team on Cup Finals day, should this situation arise (rule 5.6).
4. Explanation that the ties of players who are ineligible or who play out of order and all those below will be conceded (rule 6.5).
5. Clarification of the normal Ladies’ League promotion and relegation procedure (rule 8.2)
In response to the proposals raised at the AGM, the Committee have decided that there should be no changes to rule 3.6 (all Men’s Premier fixtures to be played on Thursdays) or rule 6.6 (scoring system).
2. Team / contact changes
Please submit any requests for changes to the number of teams you are intending to enter into the Winter Leagues by email to me by 15 July. In particular, it would be great to see some new Ladies’ League teams. Fees will remain at £45 per team. Also please let me know if there are any changes to club or team contact details or home match days.
3. Ladies’ League
We will continue with the Ladies’ League format used in the previous two seasons, with two divisions of 6 or 7 teams playing each other once (either home or away) in the first half, splitting into three divisions of 4 or 5 teams playing each other twice (home and away) in the second half.
4. Newcastle University
Newcastle University continue to have no home courts of their own until the redevelopment of their Richardson Road site is completed. So for the forthcoming season, the University have arranged for their 1st team to play their home matches at the Northumberland Club and for their 2nd and 3rd teams to play their home matches at Eldon Leisure.
This means that other clubs will no longer need to host the University teams ‘home’ fixtures against their teams.
5. Fixtures
The new season will start on Monday 24th September. The provisional fixtures should be available on League Master by the end of July, from which point team captains will have until the end of September to negotiate 1st half fixture changes (and up to the end of January 2019 to negotiate 2nd half fixture changes). You will be invited to a fixtures meeting in early September at which I will confirm the rule updates, remind you of the League Master system and requirements, issue marking pads etc.
