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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 dateunless 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 week-days 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 pitchesdeemed
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 - £5; for any period over 10 minutes - an additional
fine of £3. 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 shallkick-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 fixturetaking
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.
In the event of a Club playing in a match with less than eleven players they
shall be fined £3 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 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 a 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 facilitiesfor all dates so notified by 1 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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