Following the resignations of Elm Tree Social Club from the Premier Division and Sun Inn from Division One this left both divisions short of teams and following a Management Committee recommendation next season will see the league operate with three divisions instead of four. The Annual General Meeting accepted the proposal put forward by the Management Committee, therefore the Premier Division will have 12 teams and Divisions One and Two will each have 14 teams.

There will be three cup competitions next season, these are the League Cup (Ian Gorman Memorial Trophy) for all teams with the first round losers then play for the Presidents Cup (Stephen Wells Memorial Trophy). The John Jackson Memorial Trophy this season will be a straight knock out competition for Division One and Two teams plus the bottom four teams in the Premier Division at the end of the year to make up to 32 teams, the John Jackson Memorial Trophy will not start until January 2011 and will depend upon how the fixtures have gone and what the weather has been like.

This meant that we have five new teams joining the league for the coming season, these are the Crathorne Arms, Thornaby Village, Thornaby Jolly Farmers, Eaglescliffe Bazookas and Billingham Merlin and all will play in Division Two.

A major new rule comes into force for the coming season which involves player personal accident cover, however this is being administered differently between Durham County Football Association and the North Riding County Football Association. In Durham each player has to be insured separately at a cost of £5 a year whereas the North Riding County Football Association teams are covered at £99 per team.

Referee's fees for next season have been increased to £19 per game plus 30p per mile expenses.

The new season will commence on Sunday 22 August 2010 and once again there will be a two week break over Christmas and New Year that is 26 December 2010 and the 2 January 2011.

The League has also achieved the F.A Charter Standard for League's during the close season and along with the all the Clubs who are Charter Standard can only make the league a better one. All new teams have six months in which to achieve their Charter Standard when they join the league.

The next meeting of the League is the Fixtures Meeting on the 4 August 2010 at the Elm Tree Social Club commencing 7-30 p.m.

Tags: AGM