KEIGHLEY ALBION have been formally accepted into the National Conference League.
Albion, who were previously in membership towards the end of the 1990s, had been recommended for readmittance by the NCL’s management group, and clubs backed that stance at last Monday’s annual general meeting.
The team will operate in Division Three when the new season starts next month, and will renew life in the amateur game’s flagship league with a home fixture with Bentley on Saturday, March 22.
Featherstone Lions, meanwhile, were re-elected. The other side who closed in the bottom two of the lowest tier, Seaton Rangers, have withdrawn from the competition and plan to rebuild in the Holmen Iggesund Cumberland League.
Long-serving chair Trevor Hunt has, as revealed recently in League Express, become president of the NCL. He has been replaced as chair by Thatto Heath Crusaders’ Mike Denning.
Cumbrian Tony Johnson is vice-chair and Joe Fitzsimmons, who has been on the committee for many years, has been made a life-member.
The NCL also has new club representatives in Robbie Thompson (Ellenborough Rangers), Joe McCormack (who recently stepped down as secretary of Siddal), and Clive Senior of Dewsbury Celtic.
The trio join Simon Howe on the management group while Billy Dillon continues in his role as disciplinary chair.