05/06/08 If it came as a surprise to find that West Herts Warriors have been allocated a place in EBL Division 4 next season (while West Herts Warriors II are a division above) it may come as an ever bigger eyebrow-raiser to discover that they had originally applied to return to Division 1! As we revealed in October last year, the departure of West Herts from Division 1, just prior to the start of last season, was through circumstances totally beyond their control. Their major sponsor, who had supported them for the previous three seasons went into administration, and though the club trimmed its commitments (with the players even waiving their contracted fees) the financial risk of continuing was deemed too great, and cash-flow forced them to pull out of competition. The club's "second" team (with a much smaller budget) continued to play in Division 3 (achieving a play-off place at the end of the season) and their junior programme remained intact. Since then the club had worked hard to gain support to re-enter the league, and funding, coaching, management and a very experienced coach were in place for 2008-9. The club had previously competed well in the EBL, having risen from Division 3 to Division 1 in just three years. They had finished their first season in EBL1 with an even 11&11 record, and had proved to be a well run outfit. Since EBL1 had been reduced to ten teams it was clearly undersubscribed, and with players of the quality of Paul Mundy Castle, Jo Perera, Mark Quashie and Earl Moore (all proven Division1 players) having committed themselves, the club felt confident in their application to re-join the top EBL division. Imagine their consternation, therefore, when, apparently without even asking for an interview, sight of business plan or even a conversation, they found themselves placed in the bottom EBL division - while Division 1 remained at ten teams. Vastly experienced coach Neil McElduff tells us, "I have no wish to coach at that level again. I doubt if the players will play at that level, so Tony (Harrison, the General Manager) has a decision to make." Neil went on to explain that, trying to understand why the decision had been made, he has asked for copies of the decision making process, minutes of meetings etc, but those requests have been point blank refused. Since then, we understand that Tony Harrison did, indeed, make the decision, and informed EB, a week after the offer, that West Herts will not play in Division 4 next season. Not that anyone's heard whether they've been removed from the listing yet. We did contact EB, at the end of May, asking if they had any observations on the affair, and will publish any response we receive.
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