FROM THE CHAIRMAN

With the new season only weeks away I would like to reflect on the previous season as a whole. I would like to congratulate all winners last year and hope this year will be just as competitive.

Once again the fight for promotion and 2nd place raised its head with teams having to have play offs to see who finished in runners up position in both divisions which proves that the standard of our game is very competitive indeed.

Last season we had the privilege of being sponsored by Hatton's Soilcitors of St Helens for a second season and I would like to thank Mike Denning for his involvement . The league also decided to buy 4 new annual trophies two of which were to be awarded for both the open and handicap competitions as there had never been any such annual trophies to pick up on prize night. In addition to those we introduced two further trophies for divisional player of year awards based on results over the season. The inaugural winners were: Chris Raynard of Huyton Cons and Peter O'Neill of Windleshaw.

Last season saw the return of the inter town trophy between the Wednesday and Thursday Leagues this proved to be a huge success and was well supported and will now become a regular fixture in our snooker calendar. Congratulations must also go to both the under 21's and intermediate county teams who reached the finals of their perspective groups. The u21's lost out at the final stage to Conservatives of Liverpool . where as the intermediate side did win their final against Formby and from a personal point of view to have 2 teams compete in a final in the same year is a tremendous achievement.

This season after such a high like anything else there comes a low and I was saddened to hear that we were about to lose two important people on our committee. Our treasurer Mark Willis who as you know joined me at the start of the new committee 4 years ago and has done a great job in turning this league around and making it a financially stable league . I would like to thank him for all he has done for us and wish him success in the future thanks mark it has been a pleasure to work with you. Also leaving us due to work commitments is secretary Pam Welsby after 2 years at the helm. Pam was not only secretary to us but also to the Merseyside County and her knowledge has been of great importance to us since we joined the county and was the mastermind behind the launch of our website. I am sure you will agree Pam did an excellent job for us and we wish her well for the future. However I have been very fortunate to be able to fill these positions and would like to introduce you to our new Secretary & Treasurer (who is taking on the dual role) Mr Dave O'Dowd. Dave has a wealth of experience having been involved as treasurer for a good number of years (and still is) of the Wednesday league and I welcome him on to our committee

Dave has already outlined what he is intending to do via email, taking out letters to clubs and on the website so you are aware of what to expect this coming season he will keep you updated accordingly. I would be grateful if prize winners could email Dave with their photos so that they can be included on our website. Finally DONT forget our pre season divisional play off between holders ST Teresa's 'A' and newly crowned division 2 winners Eccleston Social (venue T B A ) on Thursday 9th Sept. Last year's went to the final black in the final frame

Good Luck

Ste Burrows (Chairman)