IMPORTANT - League Fixtures Updated

[David Williams]

With Perth 2 withdrawing from division 1 I have had to reschedule the 2013-14 League fixtures:

• Perth withdrawing a team from Division 1 left a potential space. It was discussed among the committee and it was felt to be best for the competition overall if St Andrews 1 were moved up to Division 1 as they were next in line at the end of last season.
• Having moved St Andrews into Division 1 this added a lot of double home matches for the multi-team venues. So I had to not only add in the St Andrews fixtures but also swap venues for a lot of other fixtures in both division 1 and division 2. So all teams need to check their fixtures and amend any food/court booking they have already made where appropriate.
• Although this leaves only 8 teams in Division 2 which could potentially then be condensed by 2 weeks, I decided not to do so. Firstly it would be a lot more work for me as I would need to reschedule every match from stratch! Secondly, it would entail a lot more changes for individual teams and I wanted to minimise the disruption to those who already started making bookings - hopefully there aren't too many changes in Division 2. Thirdly, this means both divisions will have seasons of the same length rather than a much shorter season for division 2.
• Point 3 means there will be 2 division 2 teams without matches every week. I have scheduled friendly matches under a new league "Division 2 Friendlies" so teams can play and submit results as usual if they wish, or it could be used as an alternative date for those teams to play each other if the scheduled week is problematic. If they are played as friendly matches I propose teams share the catering costs, as per KO Cup matches. Please note I did not check these for conflicting home matches - obviously League matches take priority, feel free to swap venues and/or cancel as appropriate.
• My usual disclaimer applies - please check your own fixtures! I am very prone to making mistakes, getting dates wrong, scheduling extra matches etc. If you see any problems please let me know ASAP so I can fix them.
• I did not rename Perth 3 to Perth 2 - this would have meant rescheduling every Div2 match from scratch and seemed unnecessary. So Perth 3 = Perth 2 for division 2 matches. They should have their correct name for the KO and friendly events.
  

I hope this doesn't cause any major problems for anyone, if it does please let me know ASAP as there may still be some wiggle room! As usual, please share thoughts/comments etc or email me directly if preferred.

Cheers,

Dave.

[Duncan Zuill]

Good effort Dave, the Fife League is poorer for having only one division. We have previous few new players, this might be partly due to the lack of progression - it's too much of a jump from local social leagues to the Fife League. I'd say it's important to keep the divisions even if they get smaller in the short term. I'm thinking about suggesting a Div 2 for Fife (one day).