The academic year 1990–91 turned out, unexpectedly, to be a year of considerable change for Liverpool University in its internal affairs, with new appointments to four of its senior administrative posts. Michael Carr, Academic Secretary since July 1988, moved up to the post of Registrar from October 1990. He was succeeded by Keith Jones, Senior Assistant Registrar at the University of Sheffield, from 1 December 1990. These appointments were interesting on two counts. First, they showed the importance of ‘networks’ across universities and especially, in this case, what became known in Liverpool as ‘the Sheffield connexion’. Bob Nind, the Registrar from 1984 to 1988, came from Sheffield, as did Graeme Davies himself. Michael Carr and Keith Jones had both been Senior Assistant Registrars in the Academic Secretary's office at Sheffield, and the former serviced the Academic Development Committee there when Graeme Davies was Chairman. So whereas under Herbert Burchnall Liverpool was a nursery for administrators, sending them out to many parts of the university system, the tables were now turned and Liverpool had become a receiving institution – and mainly, it seems, from Sheffield.