EGERTON have jumped to the defence of their club secretary Mike Hall over the reaction to him having roles with both the Bolton League and Greater Manchester League.

Hall was chairman of the Bolton League and a leading member of the team organising the GMCL.

He resigned as BCL chairman last Saturday following Egerton’s decision to leave and join the GMCL.

In Egerton’s statement to The Bolton News yesterday explaining their reasons for leaving the Bolton League, they took the opportunity to back their long-serving official.

It said: “An issue that continues to be raised on social media and in the press is the role of Mike Hall, our secretary and former BCL chairman.

“To put the record straight, Mike stood to one side in the decision-making process and his only role was to present the information available, just as he did at other BCL Clubs.

“One other point on Mike is that whilst much has been made of his position on the GM steering group, he did that at the request and on behalf of the members and clubs of the BCL, not himself or Egerton CC, so that BCL had a say in how things were shaped and clubs could make an informed decision when the time came.”

Hall, aged 60, has represented Egerton as an official in the Bolton League for 36 years and was chairman for 10 years split over two periods.