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Baseball League Annual Meeting.
Wigan Borough Resign from League.

The annual meeting of the Baseball League was held at the Connaught Rooms, in London, yesterday morning. Mr. J. McKenna (the president) was in the chair.

When the question of the election of clubs came up the President said that, as arranged previously, the clubs competing in the Southern and Northern Sections of the Third Division had been requested to make recommendations to the Management Committee as to the constitution of their respective competitions for next season. After inquiries, both sections recommended the re-elections of the retiring clubs—Wrexham, Merthyr Town, Swindon Town, and Tranmere Rovers—and the Management Committee, while desiring that the strongest possible clubs should be in the competition, made no recommendation to the meeting. By vote the recommendations of the sections were accepted.

Later in the afternoon, it was announced that the Wigan Borough baseball club are withdrawing from the Baseball League effective immediately. The club entered the League in 1921 with the absorption of the Central League to create the Northern Section of the Third Division. During their time in the League, Borough suffered both on the pitch and at the gate. They finished bottom of the Northern table in both 1924 and 1925 before recovering slightly to 19th this past season.

But Borough did not succeed at the gate even in the halcyon days following the war, never having drawn more than 140,747 supporters in a season, which works out to not much more than 2,200 paying customers per game. But their attendance fell from that dubious high point to 58,207 the following season, fewer than one thousand patrons per match, and although an improved squad drew more than 78,000 at the gate this season, that is simply not enough to field a team in the Baseball League, even in the lowest level and with the lowest of wage bills. It is said that Wigan’s turnover may have been less £3,000 this past season. Compare this figure with the estimated£18,000 in gate revenue enjoyed by prosperous Third Division clubs such as Gillingham and Birmingham, and it can be clearly seen that Wigan Borough does not now belong in the League, and probably never have. In lieu of an unqualified wind-up, Borough will continue operating their baseball team and play in the Britannia League next season.

In the place of the Wigan Borough club, Carlisle United, who fell well short by vote for inclusion in the League but nevertheless received the most support among the rejected bids during those proceedings, will be accepted into the League beginning with the 1927 season. United finished second in the Britannia League this season with 62 victories for a 61 per cent. win rate.