VERDE RECREO (Men’s) LEAGUE: sorting out Division Champions & Promotions/Relegations.
As the decision has been made to draw a line under the 2019-20 Season (for both the Men’s & Women’s Leagues) it now falls to the respective League Committees to sort out the finalised Tables.
Although no entirely “fair” method of deciding on final placings in the various Divisions, the Men’s League have come up with a fairly straightforward and pragmatic approach which effectively looks, for each team, at the percentage of total available points that team has ended up with (rather than points total itself); this attempts to take account of the fact that, in many Divisions, some teams will have completed fewer games than others. They will have to await some decisions from England Hockey before they can then finalise promotions and relegations.
The message below from the Verde Recreo League Chairman explains; it is worth noting that there will be no significant effect (promotion/relegation) on our our own four Men’s team (in Conference South & South East 1 all teams have played the same number of games, so nothing changes). We wait to see whether or not the Women’s League will adopt the same approach.
To all clubs (Verde Recreo Men’ League).
As you will all be aware, these are difficult times and all league hockey for the 2019-2020 season has now been brought to an end – no more matches will be played. Your committee has been considering various options as to how we wrap up the season and have decided upon the following course of action:
- There are some outstanding issues involving the RSC and an outstanding appeal. These need to be addressed first and the league tables updated.
- To calculate final League positions, we will use a percentage points basis. This is calculated on total points won (3 for a win, 1 for a draw), minus any points deducted for disciplinary offences, then divided by the total number of points available from the games played, multiplied by 100 to give the percentage. Should teams have the same percentage points, goal difference will then be used. Using this basis takes into consideration that at the point we have closed the season not all teams have played the same amount of games and this method gives fairness to all teams and preserves the League integrity.
- Having sorted out positions, we can look at promotion and relegation issues, but these cannot be finalised until England Hockey have decided how to close down the MHL. A decision is expected later this month.
- Unsurprisingly, Area Meetings are postponed, possibly cancelled. I am proposing a “virtual” presentation night using our Twitter account – further details will follow in due course. In the meantime, please tell everyone to follow us on Twitter to receive updates.
- The only major piece of business to be conducted at the Area Meetings is rule changes. The proposed rule changes are attached and involve tidying up rules, rather than a major rewrite. Please let Sally have any comments you wish to make by the end of the month.
The committee are looking at options for next season, as there are no guarantees that we will be able to start the season in September. Discussions are at a very early stage and no decisions have been reached so far. Updates, when available, will be issue on the website and our Twitter account.
All the very best wishes to you all
Terry Cook, Chairman, The Verde Recreo Hockey League