Secretary's Notes

Welcome to you all for another season. The following notes are for your guidance in an attempt to reduce the vast amounts being paid in fines.

Correspondence: Failure to reply to correspondence from either the G.F.A. or from the League will prove costly to your Club. County and League officials have more than enough work to do without having to send out reminders. Correspondence from Officers of the League MUST be replied to within 7 days and correspondence from the G.F.A. within 14 days. Correspondence between the League and its member clubs is quicker and easier via email. If your club has not supplied the League with an email address at which it can be reliably contacted, please make every effort to obtain one from within your ranks as soon as possible and pass the details to the General Secretary.

League Website: The League's Website can be accessed at www.Cheltenhamleague.co.uk. All club details held within the Handbook are continually updated on the website and the FA's Full Time facility can also be accessed from here via links. Other links are established with the GFA and the pages containing details of County Cup Draws. Details of the forthcoming weekends fixtures, along with Referee appointments, are also posted on the website on the preceding Thursday. Items of news, minutes of meetings and League Newsletters are also posted as and when they are available.

FA Full Time: The League uses the FA Full time facility to manage fixtures and record results. Details of a weekend's matches are usually entered on Sundays, after which up-to-date League Tables are immediately available. Full Time can be accessed by everyone by following the links from the League's own web site. Changes to fixtures will be administered on Full Time but will not be confirmed until the clubs concerned have been notified in writing, either by email or letter, and the acceptance of the fixture has been received.

Fines: Clubs MUST pay fines imposed by either the G.F.A. or the League, on the Club or its players within fourteen days. If a G.F.A. fine is not paid within this period a reminder letter will be sent and a further fine will be imposed. Failure to pay will result in the Club and player being suspended from ALL FOOTBALL until such time as the fine is paid. The League Secretary usually receives a suspension notification from the G.F.A. on the Saturday morning advising that a Club has not paid a fine, and that they are suspended as from the following Monday. The Secretary of the League will then advise the Club concerned that a notice of suspension has been received. If your Club has been suspended you have until the following Friday to pay. Remember that the G.F.A. office will be closed at 4.30pm on the Friday afternoon. Failure to pay will result in your Cheltenham League Saturday Fixtures BEING POSTPONED. The Club WILL then be fined for broken fixtures and further disciplinary action may be taken against the Club. If a league fine is not paid within the 14 days an additional fine of a minimum of £15 will be imposed and the Club will be SUSPENDED. The Club WILL ALSO BE FINED for any broken fixtures that ensue.

Queries concerning G.F.A. fines should be made direct to the G.F.A. at Oaklands Park Tel: 01454 615888

Fixtures: All fixtures SHALL BE PLAYED on the dates arranged. ONLY County Cup or Cheltenham Charity Cup Fixtures take priority over League Fixtures. The only other normally acceptable reason for postponement is adverse weather conditions. If it is considered that the pitch is likely to be unplayable EITHER THE MATCH OFFICIAL OR A LOCAL REFEREE, who is also registered with this league, should be requested to inspect the pitch in sufficient time to prevent your opponents from unnecessary travelling where possible. If the fixture is subsequently postponed the details of the inspecting official SHALL BE forwarded to the Assistant Secretary in the letter notifying the postponement, (this does not apply to Council Pitches when a blanket cancellation is made by Cheltenham Borough Council). Please remember that the Assistant Secretary MUST be notified by telephone BEFORE ANYONE ELSE is notified so that an alternative fixture may be arranged if possible.

Change of Club Details: Notification of any change to Club Details as recorded in the League Handbook MUST be communicated IMMEDIATELY to the General Secretary, the Referees' Secretary and all opponents up to the next circulation of Management Committee Meeting minutes. If the Club Secretary changes the following MUST also be informed:
G.F.A. Secretary Mr.P.Britton
G.F.A. Disciplinary Secretary Mr.D.Jones
G.F.A. County Cup Secretary Mr D Fletcher

Telephone Calls Please do not attempt to contact Officers of the League on any day after 9.00 pm or on a Sunday, by visit or telephone, as they appreciate a rest from league affairs on that day.

Hoax Telephone Calls Beware of Hoax telephone calls concerning fixtures. If you are in any doubt about the validity of a call, check back with the opposing Secretary or with the League's Assistant Secretary.

FA Cup Final Tickets Applications for tickets for the FA Cup Final should be made in writing to the League Secretary by the 1st March.
PLEASE NOTE: A definite allocation for any match cannot be guaranteed. If tickets are subsequently resold at enhanced prices disciplinary action will be taken against the Club concerned by both the GFA and the League.
Eligibility of Players: Clubs are reminded of the provision of rule 8 paragraph (p) and eligibility of players.

INVOICES must be paid within the date specified on the invoice.

Referees - In the event of a referee failing to turn up, Clubs are required to agree on a referee. It is the responsibility of the HOME team to arrange for a stand in REFEREE, also the Home Club is responsible for sending in the Referees result card and team sheets of the competing teams.

Team Sheets. Remember all Teams have to give their opponents and the Referee a fully completed copy of the teamsheet provided BEFORE THE MATCH. Failure to supply a team sheet will result in your club being fined and you will also be liable to attend a Management Committee to explain why a team sheet was not supplied.

Northern Senior League. Clubs wishing to obtain promotion within the Pyramid System are reminded that The Northern Senior requires that applications for membership are lodged with its Secretary by 31st March each year. Please also note that a copy of any application submitted to this League should be forwarded to the General Secretary of the Cheltenham League
Registration Forms. Before your club registers a player from another club you must check the CDP2 form, as issued by the League, to see if the player has been reported for owing his previous club money. The League will not accept the registration of any player who is listed on this form until the club to whom the money is owed discharges the player from the debt.
Any Club Secretary who intends to take any Registration Form(s) to the home of the Registration Secretary which they require to be actioned, immediately, should first have the courtesy to telephone to ascertain that he is in and that it is convenient, or their request will be refused. This does not preclude forms from being posted through the letterbox.

CHELTENHAM BOROUGH COUNCIL
Cheltenham Borough Council is, by far, the biggest supplier of pitches and changing facilities to clubs within the Cheltenham Association Football League. As a consequence, hire bookings for these pitches are controlled centrally by the League. This means that the League pays the Council for the pitches used and then invoices the clubs to recover the amount due in each case. However, the League has no involvement at all with the provision of facilities. If there is anything wrong with the pitches or pavilions that are used, details should be passed to the Council's Customer Services & Administration Manager as soon as possible. This is JEAN SMITH, who can be contacted on 01242 774670. For problems relating to access, boilers or anything else on a Matchday, please contact ANDY WILLIAMS on 07833 146187.