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Just to give the situation a bit more context, The Folly finished 6th in Div 2 last season after previously struggling to retain our place in the division. As a team we look to enjoy Tuesdays nights and have a few beers and play some pool. For the majority of the team this is the only time a week we play and whilst we all try our best to win and want to continue to improve, the enjoyment factor is important. To finish 6th and then get shuffled up to Div 1 where we would inevitably get a battering most weeks would in all likelihood only serve to send us all home fed up every Tuesday night and negate the main reason we come out to play. If we were to get to Div 1 on merit then that is different but as a team we are only just establishing ourselves as a Div 2 side.

Mark did say that the current requirement is that teams get shuffled up in the order that they finished the previous season. Should there be no objections from other members I am more than happy for a team that finished below us to go up in our place should they so wish. However, should that not be possible, and in view of the decision made at the AGM a couple of years ago that “new teams” should not necessarily be put in at the bottom but should be placed in a division based on the ability of the players in the team, I do think that the potential make-up of this summer’s Farley Dukes (whilst not a “new team”) is a comparable situation.

At no point was my intention to see other teams who had originally been shuffled up to higher divisions, and did want to play there, penalised and this continues to be the case. I would much rather another team take our place in Div 1 for the summer (whether this be a team that finished below us in Div 2 last summer and would like a crack at Div 1 or the Farley Dukes) and then if the other member teams were in favour of Mark’s proposal on relegated teams/shuffling up, for this to take effect from next winter league.