FOOTBALL.

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 88, 15 April 1899, Page 3

FOOTBALL.

AUCKLAND RUGBY t T.\R)X.

The annual general meeting of the Auckland Rugby Union was held last eveningl, at the Amateur Sports Club,, Durham-street. Mr A. E. Devore, President, occupied the chair; Mr G. S. Kissling, vice-president, and Mr T. Henderson, life-members, were ulsc present, and there was a good attendance of delegates. AmWrnl Report—The Committee's report • was again of a satisfaetorj nature. The. improvement in plaj chronicled in the report for 1897 hat still continued, as evidenced by thesuccess of the. Union in Jnterprovin* . cial Representative Matches. Victories were scored in the contests with Wellington, Canterbury and Hawke's Bay, while in that with TaranaHi the result was a draw. In the local con* i tests, Thames repeated their win of the preceding year, and success attended the Union in the matches against .Northern Wairoa, and Ohinemuri and Waihi combined. The Cup: , Matches resulted in wins for Newton, \ First Fifteen, Ponsonby Second Fif- ■: .teen; arid Suburbs B Third Fifteen, ' i The Colleges' Union Banner was won by Auckland College and Grammaj- '/ School. In the Public Schools, Competition, for which a banner and caps were presented by the Union "<>r,^- . ford Street School was successful in v.., section, and Onehunga School in »: section. The valuable assistance ac- •' corded by the country players in the ' '. . ] Interprovincial Matches was deserving of acknowledgement. It was proposed to send a team through the Colony^ this season, as the time*had ar«.-.•'.. , rived for returning the visits of our Southern friends. , It was a matter of regret that the proposed visit of the English team to New Zealand undejr the auspices of the N*sw South Wales Union had fallen through. But the Committee, feeling that the opportunity of seeing the players from the Mother Country should not be Jost,. ■had made proposals of a liberal nature to play twp matches at Auckland, and ! it was hoped they- would- be accepted. The thanks of the Union \vere due . to the Referees' Association, which ■was now placed on a soiind footing, _ for their assistance; also to Mr J._* : Arneil, sole selector of the-teams; and ltd Mr J. R. Gibbons, delegate to N.Z..' Union. The lease of present ground * expires this season, but tlie Committee had kept in, view the necessity of ''mal^ ipg.. deftnit^. arr4n'geE|ents for a permanent' ground, -and for that purpose that till s,Tim of j£ 3Qp Cb© ! added to the Gjrouna Trust Account. Ufihieh. -with accrued interest to 31st j]VCarch» -would- then stand at £1,687 * 11.8/3. The Jinaneial result could not * I but be considered.satisfactory, as the statement of accounts showed a profit lon tie season's . operations of, £518 Accounts.—The sfatemfcnt of receipts iand; expenditure for the year ending March. 31st, showed a - credit balance of £539 9/. The receipts-for' the year totalled £i; 53 2 :2/2, the cHiei items being: 'Gross proceeds Cup ano ' practice matches, £510: 2/5; gross ' proceeds six Inter-Union matches, £974 13/2. The main items of expenditure were: •: Gross ■ . expenditure Inter-Union matches, £489 8/3; Tramway Company, percentage account, i £94 4/1;. accident fund,: £41 5/. The ■profit on ■ the Thames match was • £32 18/11; on the Ohinemuri match,. £28 7/6; .Wellington' match, £145 16/8; Canterbury match, £Ba' 3/li; Taranak'i match, .£ 176 3/li; Hawke's Bay match, £18 14/.: The Trusteed for the Ground Trust Fund reported that the amount at *', credjt of this fund, as at March 31st, - was £1,387 18/3, of which £1,243 was on fixed deposit.. To this fund the Committee proposed adding another, £300. .; The. i.report- and accounts were ; adopted without discussion. '•* . ' , Election of Officers:—The eltecfjoi) . of officers resulted as follows:-^Pir sident, Mr A, ; E. Deyore (re-elected); Vice-Presidents, Messrs G. S. Kissling, J. M. Brigh'am and C. Hesketh (all reelected) ; Hon. Secretary, Mr G. I)ixon ;'..■■■ (re-elected); H'on, Treasurer, Mr C. E. MacCormick (re-elected); Managing Committee, Messrs Langsford> Henderson, Webster, Clayton (all. re-el-: ected)V and Jervis; Auditors, Messrs T. Macky and J. Arrieil (re-elected). A '.- honorarium of £50 was voted to the Secretary for his services during the ;i yesirj and one of £20 to the Treasurer. Amendment of . By-Laws.—-On the motion of Mr T. Henderson, by-law 20 was altered to read thus: 'None of the clubs named in by-law. 3 or any of the members thereof shall be allowed to play any.matches without the permission. of the Committee.'. The object of the new rule is to prevent teams from forfeiting Cup matches >" in order to play other matches. The Committee, while willing to grant' any reasonable request, wishes to have the power .of preventing, matches which, are likely to interfere with the success of the district contests. A vote of thanks to the chair terminated the proceedings. •