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10. Playing Season, Conditions of Play, Times of Kick-off, Postponements.
Substitutes.
(A) The Annual General Meeting shall determine the commencing and concluding
dates for the ensuing season which shall be in accordance with Football
Association Rules. No Club shall be compelled to play after the concluding
date unless an extension to the season has been ordered by the League
Management Committee, in which case the new date shall be binding on
all Clubs. Original fixtures arranged by the Assistant Secretary, or
at a meeting specially convened for that purpose, to be held no later
than Mid August, must not be arranged for a date later than seven days
preceding the concluding date determined by the Annual General Meeting.
All league fixtures shall be arranged for commencement not later than
the 1st Saturday in September and any Club defaulting shall be fined
not less than £5. Any Club in current membership failing to complete
the season's fixtures shall be fined not less than £25 unless
decided by the Management Committee. All matches shall be played on
weekdays under the laws of the Game as settled by the International
Football Association Board.
(B) All matches shall be played in accordance with the Laws of the game
as determined by the International Football Association Board. Any Club
breaking the above requirements shall be fined the sum of £5 for
a first offence and £25 for each subsequent offence, and be subject
to suspension until above requirements are adjusted to Management Committee
satisfaction
Clubs must take all reasonable precautions to keep their grounds in
playable condition. All matches shall be played on pitches deemed suitable
by the Management Committee. If through any fault of the home team a
match has to be replayed, the Management Committee shall have power
to order the venue to be changed.
The Management Committee shall have the power to decide whether a pitch
and/or facilities are suitable for matches in the Competition and to
order the Club concerned to play its fixtures on another ground.
When players wear stress pants under their Club shorts, they must be
of the same colour as the Club shorts or a fine of £5 will be
imposed for each player reported.
The home team must provide at least two footballs fit for play and the
referee shall make a report to the Competition if the footballs are
unsuitable. Clubs so reported shall be fined £10.
All matches shall have a duration of 90 minutes (45 minutes each way)
unless a shorter time not less than 60 minutes (30 minutes each way)
is mutually arranged by the two captains in consultation with the Referee
prior to the commencement of the match. All matches shall be of equal
halves.
A First Aid Kit, containing such essential items as agreed by the Management
Committee, shall be provided by each team. Both Clubs shall ensure that
such First Aid Kits are available at the field of play. Failure to comply
with this rule must be reported to the League Secretary by the opposition
and the Referee and a fine of £5 shall be imposed. A further penalty
may be imposed at the discretion of the Management Committee.
The Home team in the event of a Referee not being available SHALL provide
a stand in Referee. Failure to do this will result in the Home club
being charged under rule 10f (see also rule 13(b)).
Kick-off Times shall be fixed by the AGM or the Management Committee
Any Club failing to commence at the appointed time shall be fined as
follows:
Up to 10 minutes late £6; for any period over 10 minutes an additional
fine of £4. If the Home Club is the offender, such fines SHALL
be increased by 50%. A satisfactory explanation may be considered in
mitigation under exceptional circumstances.
Referees must order all matches to commence at the appointed time if
possible and must report all late starts to the Competition. In cases
where Clubs have been granted an extension of the time fixed for kick-off,
which will only be granted in exceptional circumstances, if such Club
is then reported for a late start, the fine applicable shall be doubled.
The times of kick-off shall be not later than 2.30pm during the months
of November and February, 2-00pm December and January and 3pm September,
October, March and April. Evening matches shall commence not later than
6.l5pm during the first three weeks in April and 6.30pm during the last
week in April. Midweek matches in early September kick-off at 6-15pm.
Matches under floodlights kick off no later than 7-30pm.
(C) Except by permission of the Management Committee all matches MUST
BE PLAYED ON THE DATES ORIGINALLY FIXED or AS REARRANGED by the Assistant
Secretary but priority shall be given to Football Association, County
Cup or Cheltenham Charity Cup Competitions. All other matches must be
considered secondary. Clubs may mutually agree to bring forward a match
if the consent of the Assistant Secretary has been obtained prior to
the fixture taking place.
All fixtures, which shall take priority over those of Clubs with reserve
teams in other Leagues, shall be made by the Assistant Secretary and
must not be altered without the written consent of the Assistant Secretary.
Except by permission of the Management Committee A FIXTURE MAY ONLY
BE POSTPONED DUE TO ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS. Clubs to ensure the
form provided by the Competition has been duly completed by the Referee
and Grounds man if appropriate
Any Club that feels it has reasonable grounds for not playing a fixture
on a particular date shall, no less than four weeks prior to the fixture,
submit all details to the League Secretary for consideration by the
Management Committee.
(D) The Secretary of the home club must give notice, in writing, of
full particulars of the location of, and access to, the ground and time
of kick-off to the match officials and the Secretary of the opposing
Club at least seven clear days prior to the playing of the match. The
away Club shall seek and acknowledge receipt of such particulars.
Any club failing to comply with this Rule shall be liable to a fine
of £5.
( E) Every Club shall play its best available qualified team or teams
in all matches in the Competition.
(Note: The intention of this Rule is not to interfere with normal
team selection by Clubs, but to prevent Clubs deliberately fielding
a weakened team in order to unreasonably reserve players for another
game or to boost the strength of another or lower team. It is NOT intended
that Clubs MUST field higher team players in lower teams when the higher
team has no engagement. If, in the opinion of the Management Committee,
the substance or spirit of the Rule is obviously being disregarded,
the Club or Clubs concerned may be called to account for its/their actions
and shall be subject to such decisions as the Management Committee may
determine, despite the fact that Rule 8 has not been infringed.)
In the event of a Club playing in a match with less than eleven
players they shall be fined £5 for each missing player. A minimum
of seven players will constitute a team for a Competition match.
(F) Home and away fixtures shall be played. In the event of a club failing
to complete its engagement the Management Committee shall have power
to inflict a fine, deduct points from the defaulting Club, award the
points to the opponents, order the defaulting Club to pay any expenses
incurred by the opponents or otherwise deal with them except the award
of goals. Not withstanding the foregoing home and away provision, the
Management Committee shall have the power to order a match to be played
on a neutral ground or on the opponents ground if they are satisfied
that such action is warranted by the circumstances.
Any Club failing to complete its engagement SHALL BE FINED a minimum
sum of £15, and WILL in addition have three points deducted from
its total - UNLESS the Management Committee, having considered the facts,
shall decide otherwise. This minimum fine will be increase by £5
and one extra point for the second and each subsequent offence.
Any Club with more than one team in the Competition shall always fulfil
its fixtures, within the Competition, in the following order of precedence:
first team, reserve team, third team, and fourth team. Clubs in breach
of this requirement shall be fined a sum not exceeding £25 or
otherwise dealt with by the Management Committee.
In the event of a match not being played or abandoned owing to causes
over which neither Club has control, it shall be played in its entirety
on a date to be mutually agreed by the two Clubs and approved by the
Management Committee. Failing to receive such agreement and notification
to the secretary within seven days the Management Committee shall have
the power to order the match to be played on a named date or on or before
a given date.
The Management Committee shall review all abandoned matches in cases
where it is consequent upon the conduct of either or both Teams. Where
it is to the advantage of the Competition and does no injustice to either
club, the Management Committee shall be empowered to order the score
at the time of the abandonment to stand. In all cases where the Management
Committee are satisfied that a match was abandoned owing to the conduct
of one team or its Club member(s) they shall be empowered to award the
points for the match to the opponents and/or take what action they may
deem necessary. In cases where a match is abandoned owing to the conduct
of both teams or their Club member(s), the Management Committee shall
take such action as they consider appropriate. Such action is subject
to any disciplinary action by the appropriate Affiliated Association.
Notice of postponement of any match must be given without delay by the
postponing Club, such notice must be given to the Assistant Secretary
IN WRITING by the defaulting Club. If the postponement is within seven
days of the fixture the Club must notify the Assistant Secretary BY
TELEPHONE IMMEDIATELY, before notifying the opposition and before notifying
its own team unless the postponement is due to shortage of players,
or shall be fined. The Assistant Secretary will then attempt to arrange
an alternative venue or alternative opposition for either team. If the
Assistant Secretary is unable to make alternative arrangements he will
notify the Club postponing the fixture who shall then notify the opposition,
the Referee's Secretary, Results Secretary and its own team. The Club
postponing the fixture shall then notify the Assistant Secretary IN
WRITING.
In the event of the fixture not being played due to there being no official
referee BOTH Clubs shall write and explain why the fixture was not played
with a substitute referee. Written notification of any postponement
shall reach Assistant Secretary NO LATER THAN three days after the fixture
date or the Club shall be fined £15.
( G) A Club may at its discretion and in accordance with the Laws of
the Game use 3 substitute players in any match in this Competition who
may be selected from a maximum of FIVE players . The Referee shall be
informed of the names of the substitutes not later than 5 minutes before
the start of the match.
A player who has been selected, appointed or named as a substitute before
the start of the match but does not play in the game shall not be considered
to have been a player in that game within the meaning of Rule 8 of this
Competition. Substitutes not so named may not take part in this match.
The substitutions may only be made when play is stopped and the referee
has given permission. A substitute may not be used to replace a player
who has been suspended from the game by the Referee. A player who has
been replaced shall not take any further part in the game nor shall
he take part in any other game until such time as the game, in which
he commenced playing, has finished.
(H) . The half time interval shall be of 5 minutes duration, but it
shall not exceed fifteen minutes. The half time interval may only be
altered with the consent of the match referee.
(I) When the Assistant Secretary has been informed by a Club that it
has a team playing in a recognised Senior Competition that shares facilities
he will arrange fixtures for the Junior team, so as to avoid a clash
of facilities, for all dates so notified by 1st August in each year.
For any clash of fixtures on any date not so notified, the Club shall
be responsible for arranging an alternative venue for this League fixture,
unless the Assistant Secretary is able to reverse the fixture.
(J) Broken or postponed fixtures will be rearranged by the Assistant
Secretary on blank dates throughout the season. Provided that seven
days notice has been given by the Assistant Secretary to a Club, failure
to complete a re-arranged fixture will be classified as a broken fixture
and the defaulting Club will be subject to the normal penalties for
broken fixtures as laid down in paragraph (f) of this Rule.
(K) All Clubs shall be expected to play fixtures on every weekday throughout
the season and if no fixture appears to be arranged the Club Secretary
is responsible for contacting the Assistant Secretary to confirm that
no fixture has been arranged.
(L) When a Club is unable to complete a fixture due to ground unavailability
for any reason the Assistant Secretary shall be empowered to order a
reversal of that fixture to avoid postponement, provided that it is
the first League fixture of the season between the two teams. The original
home team shall still be liable to be fined for a broken fixture if
there is no acceptable reason for the ground being unavailable.
(M) Any Club that postpones a fixture and fails to prevent its opponents
from travelling or alternatively turning out on their own ground, shall
be liable for all expenses arising from the fixture including those
of a Referee who has also not been prevented from travelling.
(N) Any Club suspended by the Gloucestershire Football Association for
non-payment of a Disciplinary and/or County Cup Fine, or by the League
for non-payment of an invoice, will have until 6.00pm (18.00hrs) on
the Friday prior to their next League Fixture(s) to pay the fine, or
the League Fixture(s) will be postponed and the Club will be deemed
responsible for the postponement and be dealt with under paragraph (f)
of this rule.
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