SOCCER FOOTBALL

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 925, 19 March 1930, Page 13

SOCCER FOOTBALL

ANNUAL MEETING OF ALA. “ONE TEAM’ CLUB MENACE There was an attendance of some 300 club delegates and players at the annua! general meeting of the Auckland Football Association at the Y.M.C.A. last evening. Mr. Andrew Menzies, chairman of the retiring board of control, prei sidedj A preliminary special general meeti Jng was held to approve of the new i by-laws rendered necessary by the ! changes in the constitution last year. : The alterations were explained by the secretary, Mr. S. H. Massam, and approved en bloc with but little discusThe report and balance-sheet as previously summarised in The Sun were taken as read, and on their adoption being moved there was a general discussion which centred largely round the questions of insurance of players, promotions and relegations from senior to senior B divisions, and the positions of the “one team’’ clubs. Messrs. Woods and O’Hagan complained of the manner in which the insurance funds had been allowed to I become depleted early last season, so ! that players injured in the latter end ! of the winter found no compensation i available, although their insurance levy ! had been paid. Messrs. Drew, Full- j j brook, and the chairman explained j that the early exhaustion of the fund , was unavoidable under the system in i operation last season and no one was j to blame. Mr. Woods: I blame the control : board. CONTROL BOARD ELECTION Other delegates suggested that the j fund was not actuarially sound and it was finally resolved that the fund should remain intact until the end of the season, when all injured players claiming allowances could be paid pro 1 rata from the total sum available. After the adoption of the report and balance-sheet the election of officers resulted as follows: —Patron, the Gov-ernor-General, Lord Bledisloe; president, Mr. E. Davis; vice-presidents, Messrs. L. C. H. Dawson, A. E. Ford, A. J. Harding, IT. S. W. King, IT. R. McKenzie, G. McMillan, A. J. Parker, W. J. Jordan, M.P., Commodore Blake and the Mayor, Mr. G. Baildon; hon. solicitor, Mr. G. Uren; lion, surgeons, Drs. N. McDougall, H. C. Bennett; hon. auditor, Mr. Iv. Wallace. There were seven nominations foi* five seats on the board of control, and the ballot resulted in Messrs. F. Baker, A. Fraser, A. Fletcher, PI. Gribble andA. Menzies being elected. Messrs. F. Pickering and 11. Reason were the unsuccessful candidates, and Mr. Fraser, who replaces Mr. Reason, was a member of tho former management committee before retiring at the lime of the Thistle breakaway. The selection of the Auckland delegate to the New Zealand Council was left to tho incoming control board. During the counting of the votes for the control board the election of a club representative on the judicial committee was proceeded with- Mr. R. Takle, who filled the position last season, declined renomination. and there was some difficulty in finding someone to fill the vacancy; one proposition that one of the Press gallery bo appointed being modestly declined by the nominee. JUDICIAL COMMITTEE The qualification for the judicial committee requires that the members must have no active or passive association with any club or subsidiary body. Mr. G. Booklass, who was the member selected by the Referees’ Association last year, was urged to accept nomination, but said he would not do so unless the judicial committee received more reliable support from the control board and Referees' Association, a remark which was ruled out of order from the chair. Ultimately Mr. E. J. Dugmore was elected in his absence. In a general discussion on promo- 1 tions and i-elegations “the question 1 arose as to the position if the Philomel 1

Club, which qualified for promotion to full senior rank last season, was unable to raise a team of senior quality and declined its privilege. It was explained that the resolution last year provided for “two down and two up/ and if the two top clubs declined promotion no other lower grade club had any claim. As tho naval club was not represented at the meeting the matter was left to the incoming control board to deal with, and the situation cannot be finalised until entries close for all grades. “ONE TEAM” CLUBS Mr. Curran (Celtic) raised the question of “one team” clubs, and said the cost of affiliation made it impossible for some of the poorer clubs to run more than one team, but there seemed to be a growing feeling against such dubs and a reluctance to grant them senior statusThe prevailing opinion of delegates was that the “one team” organisation was a selfish idea to provide a game for 11 players with some reservists idle on the sideline, and such clubs shirked their duty of bringing on the young players and fostering the code. Mr. Ballantyne (Comrades) said his club ran nine teams without incurring any liabilities. A Voice: You must have a big string of vice-presidents. Air. Ballantyne said they had none, and the £2O it cost to run the club last season was met entirely by thG players. He thought it would be Liettcr if all clubs were compelled to run teams right down the grades, and if the one-team clubs increased in number the position of the young players would become acute and the game would suffer severely. The meeting closed with a special vote of thanks to the secretary, Air. S. IT. Massam, and to Air. Reason, who retires from the control board. The election of chairman of the control board and sub-committees will not take place until the board is completed by the club and referees’ delegates being appointed. Air. A. nankin is chairman of the referees’ management committee this season, and Air. Frank Ritchie has been elected by the referees as one of the judicial committee.