8. Qualification of Players.

(A) Contract players, as defined in Football Association Rules, are not permitted in this Competition.

(B) A registered playing member of a Club is one who, being in all other respects eligible, has:-
(i) Signed a fully and correctly completed Competition registration form in ink, countersigned by an Officer of the Club, and who has been registered with the League Registration Secretary, 3 days prior to playing and whose registration has been verified by the club with whom he has registered.
(ii) Signed a fully and correctly completed Competition registration form in ink on a match day prior to playing, countersigned by an Officer of the Club, witnessed by an Officer of the opposing Club or the Match Referee, and submitted to the League's Registration Secretary within two days (Sundays excluded) subsequent to the match. Any club which refuses to witness the registration form of an opposing player when requested must, within 3 days of the match, provide a written explanation of the reasons for such disagreement to the League Secretary. This written explanation will then be reviewed by the League Management Committee. If, following such review, the reasons given are held to be unsatisfactory, the club concerned is liable to be dealt with under the provisions of rule 5(h).The player shall not play again unless the club with whom he has registered has verified his registration. A maximum of two players per team per match may be registered in this way.
Registration forms must be sent or taken to the Registration Secretary, by 12 noon on the date of the fixture. A player shall also be considered eligible to play if the envelope containing a VALID Registration Form has not been received but on receipt bears a FIRST CLASS stamp and a postmark one day prior to the fixture. Registration Form Counterfoils must be retained by the Club Secretary and not sent to the Registration Secretary. These Counterfoils must be produced on request from any officer of the League or the club will be liable to a charge brought under the provisions of rule 5(h). The Club Secretary is responsible for confirming the players' eligibility with the Registration Secretary prior to the first fixture in which the player takes part.
After September 1st, all Registration Forms shall be sent or taken to the Registration Secretary within seven days of the signature, otherwise such signature shall be null and void.

(C) A player is not eligible to play in this competition who receives any form of payment for playing, other than expenses as per Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of Article 2 of the FIFA Regulations Governing the Status and Transfer of Players. Clubs upon election must sign a declaration that they will conform to the said clauses and players of such Clubs are required to sign a declaration upon Registration that they are eligible under, and will abide by.
1. Players who have never received any remuneration other than for the actual expenses incurred during course of their participation in or for any activity connected with association football shall be regarded as amateur.
2. Travel and hotel expenses incurred through involvement in a match and the costs of a players equipment, insurance and training may be reimbursed without jeopardising a players amateur status.
3. Any player who has ever received remuneration in excess of the amount stated under clause 2 in respect of participation in or an activity connected with association football shall be regarded as non-amateur unless he has reacquired amateur status under the terms of Art. 25.

(D) A team shall not include more than 3 players who have taken part in half or more senior competition matches during the current season unless a period of 28 days has elapsed since they played.
This rule is subject to the overriding provisions of rule 8(P).
For the purpose of this Competition, Senior Competitions are Gloucestershire Northern Senior League, Gloucestershire County League and Hellenic League.

(E) A player having taken part in matches for any Club affiliated to any County Football Association shall not be allowed to join, be transferred to, or sign for a Club in the Competition without first proving to the officials of the intended Club that the player has discharged all reasonable financial liabilities to the previous Club or Clubs, and a club official may not accept such player's signature without first ascertaining whether such claims have been discharged to the satisfaction of the Club, or Clubs, for which the player last played

(F) The fee of £1.50, shall be paid for each player registered.
Such fee to include registration benefits as stated in the form on page three. The division of such fees between League and Benevolent Funds to be resolved by the Finance Committee.
The Registration Secretary will hold registration forms in books of 20. All Clubs shall be issued with one book per team at the AGM. Payment for these books must be made to the Treasurer by July 31st each season. The Club Secretary, throughout the season as required, may obtain additional forms. A stamped addressed envelope must accompany requests by post. Clubs will be invoiced for these additional forms in early March, with payment due by March 31st each season. Failure to pay by these dates shall result in a fine of £15 per club being imposed on each occasion and the club being suspended until payment is made.
All clubs shall have a minimum of eleven VALID Registration Forms per team, lodged with the Registration Secretary by no later than 24th August in any season or in default shall be fined £10. If after a reminder sufficient forms are not so lodged by 31st August the team, or junior team(s) if more than one team, SHALL, at the discretion of the Management Committee, be withdrawn from the League and shall be classified as the Club having themselves withdrawn the team(s) and be subject to such penalties as laid down within League Rule 14 paragraph (b).

(G) The Management Committee shall decide all registration disputes
In the event of a player signing a registration form or having a registration submitted for more than one Club priority of registration shall decide for which Club the player shall be registered. The Registrations Secretary shall notify the Club last applying to register the player of the fact of the previous registration.
Any Club and/or player found guilty of any Registration irregularity shall be fined a minimum sum of £10. The player will be suspended from playing in this Competition until such time as the fine has been paid.

(H) It shall be a breach of rule for a player to:
(i) Play for more than one Club in the Competition in the same season without first being transferred.
(ii) Having signed for one Club in the Competition, sign for another Club in that season except for the purposes of a transfer.
(iii) Submit a signed registration form that the player had wilfully neglected to accurately or fully complete

(I) (i) The Management Committee shall have power to accept the Registration of any player
(ii) The Management Committee shall have power to refuse, cancel or suspend the registration of any player or may fine any player at their discretion who has been charged and found guilty of registration irregularities (subject to rule 16)
(iii) The Management Committee shall have the power to refuse or cancel the registration of any player charged and found guilty of undesirable conduct (subject to Rule 16). Undesirable conduct shall mean an incident of repeated conduct, which may deter a participant from being involved in the competition.

(J) (i) The Management Committee shall have the power to accept the registration of any player. The Management Committee shall have the power to refuse, cancel or suspend the registration of any player at their discretion proved guilty of registration irregularities. (subject to Rule 16).
(ii) The Management Committee shall have the power to refuse or cancel the registration of any player found guilty of undesirable conduct and to disqualify the player in question from participating in all games in the Competition. (Subject to rule 16).
(Note: Action under Clause (i2) shall not be taken against a player for misconduct on the field of play until the matter has been dealt with by the appropriate Association, and then only in cases of the player bringing the Competition into disrepute).

(K) Subject to The Football Association Rules dealing with players without a written contract when a player desires to transfer, the Club the player wishes to transfer to shall submit a transfer form to the Registrations Secretary. . Such transfer shall be referred by the Registrations Secretary to the Club with whom the player is registered. Should this Club object to the transfer it should state its objections in writing to the Registrations Secretary and to the player concerned within seven days of receipt of the transfer form. Upon receipt of the Clubs consent, or upon its failure to give written objection within seven days, the (Registration) Secretary may, on behalf of the Management Committee, transfer the player who shall be deemed eligible to play for the new Club from such date or 1 days after receipt of such transfer. If no objection is raised the form shall be taken by the player for signature by the Secretary of the Club that the player wishes to be transferred to and then forwarded to the Registration Secretary, TOGETHER WITH A STAMPED ADDRESSED ENVELOPE, if sent by post.
In the event of an objection to a transfer the matter shall be referred to the Management Committee for a decision.
If the proposed transfer is from a Club in a higher Division to a Club in a lower Division the Management Committee shall have power to refuse or delay such transfer but if such transfer is approved the player shall automatically be considered eligible to play for his new Club's team of Highest County Cup Classification.
Once a Transfer Form has been returned to the Registration Secretary any such applicant for a transfer SHALL NOT PLAY for ANY Club until confirmation has been received from the Registration Secretary that such transfer has been approved or rejected. A player shall be considered eligible to play if his VALID transfer form is received by the Registration Secretary by 12 noon on the date of the fixture and CONFIRMATION HAS BEEN RECEIVED that the transfer has been approved or rejected.

(L) A player may not be registered for a Club nor transferred to another Club in the Competition after March 1st except by special permission of the Management Committee.
Transfer forms at 3 per team will be issued to each Club at the A.G.M. Additional forms when required are available from the registration secretary. Clubs will be invoiced for each form submitted to the League at the rate of £3 per form (£5 for any subsequent transfer in the same season) in early March, with payment due by March 31st each season. Failure to pay by this date shall result in a fine of £15 per Club being imposed and the Club being suspended until payment is made.

(M) A Club shall keep a list of the players it registers and a record of the games in which they have played and shall produce such records on demand by the Management Committee. Registrations are valid for one season only.

(N) A register containing the names of all players registered for each Club, with the date of Registration, shall be kept by the Registrations Secretary and shall be open to inspection by any duly appointed member Club representative at Management Committee meetings, or at other times mutually arranged with the Registration Secretary.

(O) A player shall not be eligible to play for a team in any special championship, promotion or relegation deciding match (as specified in Rule 12(a)) unless the player has played seven games for that team in this Competition in the current season.

(P) After 30th November any player who has, during the current season, taken part in MORE THAN HALF of the League Fixtures to date of any team(s) of a Higher County Cup Classification, may only play for a team of Lower County Cup Classification under the terms of the following sub paragraph (but also see below for additional restrictions imposed after the last day of February):
i) Between 1st December and 31st January a Club may play a MAXIMUM OF THREE such players in any team of Lower County Cup Classification IF ALL bone fide Senior Team fixtures of the Club(s) that they are registered with. UP TO THE LEVEL OF CLASSIFICATION THAT THEY HAVE SO PLAYED IN, ARE BEING PLAYED AT THE SAME TIME. If ALL bone-fide Senior Team fixtures ARE NOT being played NO SUCH PLAYER may play in any team of Lower County Cup Classification WITHOUT the Club first obtaining the permission of the Management Committee.
ii) After 31st January a Club may play NO SUCH PLAYER in any team of Lower County Cup Classification WITHOUT the Club first obtaining the permission of the Management Committee. Although several players may be authorised a Club may never play more than a MAXIMUM OF THREE such authorised players in any one game.

After the last day in February, a player who is registered with a Club playing in a different League Competition to the Cheltenham League will not be eligible to play for a team of Lower County Cup Classification in this League, unless he has already played in at least one third of the Cheltenham League's teams' fixtures to the date in question OR the Club has obtained the permission of the Management Committee. This rule is subject to the over-riding provisions of Rule 8(p), subsections (i) and (ii) above.

For the purpose of the above paragraphs, counting of appearances shall be from the commencement of the season to the relevant date in question and if a player has played for more than one team of Higher County Cup Classification an average of the two teams fixtures shall be used if deemed appropriate by the Management Committee. A team's County Cup Classification shall be deemed as that allocated for County Cup Competition matches.
Applications to play a player who is not otherwise qualified to play under the terms of the above paragraphs, must be made IN WRITING to the League and Registration Secretaries AT LEAST THREE clear days before the date of the match in question, although in EXCEPTIONAL circumstances this time limit may be relaxed. The following details are to be submitted on such applications:
i) The number of relevant Higher Classification fixtures completed.
ii) Dates of appearances by the player in question.
iii) Whether the higher team is playing on the date in question.
iv) Why the player is required to be playing in the Lower XI.
Any player taking part in a match for which he is not eligible is liable to have his registration cancelled at the discretion of the Management Committee.

(Q) (i) Any team playing an unregistered or otherwise ineligible player or players shall have the points gained in the match deducted from its total and may be fined and/or otherwise dealt with at the discretion of the Management Committee.
(ii) In addition the team shall have three points deducted from its total at the discretion of the Management Committee and may be dealt with in any further manner which is thought to be fit.
The Management Committee may, in exceptional circumstances & at its discretion, award any points deducted from a Club under this Rule to the opponents in the match in question, subject to the match not being ordered to be replayed.

R (i) Priority must be given at all times to school and school organisations education;-
(ii) The availability of children must be cleared with the Head Teachers (iii) Children under 14 shall not play in a team involving players who are more than 2 years older.
(Note for players under the age of 18 the provisions contained in Football Association Rules will apply)