BRECKLAND & DISTRICT FOOTBALL LEAGUE
LOCAL LEAGUE
– LOCAL FOOTBALL
The items
published on this page are for the benefit of member club administrators,
registered players and club’s loyal followers/spectators.
The League Rules,
published on this website, will be vigorously applied during Season
2009-2010.
Conduct
Season
2009-2010
STANDARD CODE OF RULES
The
relevant amendment to the Rules is in bold
underlined. The rationale behind each regulation is given immediately
following each amendment and where appropriate practical advice is also given.
Each of the amendments is mandatory
to each version of the League Rules and must be adopted as of the start of the
2009/10 Season. The broad principles behind the amendments are of natural
justice and to ensure fairness in the application of the regulations and to
ensure consistency with FA Rules and Regulations.
POWERS OF MANAGEMENT
5
(A) The Management Committee may
appoint sub-committees and delegate such of their powers as they deem
necessary. The decisions of all
sub-committees shall be reported to the Management Committee for ratification. The Management Committee shall have
power to deal only with matters within the Competition and not for any matters
of misconduct that are under the jurisdiction of the Football Association or
affiliated Association.
Rationale:
The
Football Association Rules and Regulations clearly outline the responsibility
for dealing with misconduct rest solely with The FA or County Football
Association, (FA Rules GI to G4 refer). The FA are concerned that should
Leagues also be permitted to take action on matters of misconduct the issue of
‘double jeopardy’ exists going against the principles of natural justice.
Practical
application:
If
a matter is subject to misconduct action, the League cannot take any action as
this is the responsibility of either The Football Association or County
Football Association.
Matters
not considered a breach of misconduct by the FA or CFA but are a breach of the
Competition rules can be dealt with in accordance with the Competition Rule.
5 (D) The Management Committee shall have powers to apply, act upon and
enforce the Rules of THE Competition and shall also have jurisdiction over all
matters affecting the Competition, including any not provided for in the Rules.
Except where these Rules provide for the imposition of a set penalty any Club, Club Official (limited to Chairman, Secretary or
Treasurer) or Player alleged to be in breach of a Competition
Rule must be formally charged in writing and given the opportunity to present
their case before the Management Committee. Financial penalties can only be imposed if included within the set
penalties for breaches of Competition Rules. All breaches of the Laws
of the Game, Rules by the appropriate
Association.
Rational:
Clarification
as to who the League has responsibility over matters of breaches of Competition
Rules. For consistency the regulation recognises those Club Officers that are
mandatory as part of the Club Affiliation process. Clearly Clubs are members of
the League as are Players who register to participate in the League. Other
members, (i.e. Managers) cannot be dealt with directly by Leagues and
Competitions.
Practical
application:
In any
case, Leagues will only have authority to take action against the Club, Club
Officials as determined and Players and not against any other individual.
QUALIFICATION OF PLAYERS
8
(H)
(1)
The Management Committee shall have power to accept the registration of any
player.
(2)
The Management Committee shall have power to refuse, cancel or suspend the
registration of any player or may fine any player, except those under 18 years of age, at their discretion who has been
charged and found guilty of registration irregularities. (Subject to Rule 16)
(3)
The Management Committee shall have power to make application to refuse or cancel the registration of any
player charged and found guilty of undesirable conduct (subject to Rule 16) subject to the right of appeal to the FA
or the relevant County Football Association.
Undesirable
conduct shall mean an incident of repeated conduct, which may deter a
participant from being involved in this Competition. Application should be made to the parent County of the Club the
player is registered with.
(Note:
Action under Clause (3) shall not be taken against a player for
misconduct until the matter has been dealt with by the appropriate Association,
and then only in cases of the player bringing the Competition into disrepute and will in any case be subject to an
Appeal to the Football Association.) For the purpose of this Rule, bringing the
competition into disrepute can only be considered where the player has received
in excess of 112 days’ suspension, or 10 matches in match based discipline, in
any period of two years or less from the date of the first offence.
Rational:
The
rule is intended to clarify the occasions where a League may refuse/remove the
registration of a player and to ensure a consistent application across all
Leagues in the country.
Practicalities:
1.
Registration irregularities are still to be dealt with by the League without
application to the FA/CFA.
2.
Undesirable conduct may only be considered where a player has been found guilty
of “continual” misconduct (more than 1 offence) during a period of 2
consecutive years (not seasons) and
where the total suspension applied by the County exceeds (not equal) 112 days
(or 10 matches if match based discipline) within
the League.
3.
Application to refuse or cancel a registration needs to be made to the County
FA by the League.
4.
The application is documentary to the County and the County needs only to verify
that the undesirable thresholds have been exceeded. This is an Executive action
and need not go to any County Commission at that stage.
5.
The player will have the right to appeal. This would then be dealt with by the
appropriate appeals process.
(L) 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 the inspection of any duly appointed Member Club
representative at all Management Committee meetings or at other times mutually
arranged Registrations are valid for one Season only.
In the event of a player without a
written contract changing his status to that of a contract player with the same
Club, another Club in the Competition or with a Club in another Competition his
registration as a player without a written contract will automatically be
cancelled and declared void. In order to play in the League again either for
his original Club or for another Club it will be necessary for him to be
re-registered as required by this Rule.
Rationale:
To
recognise the seniority of the status of a contact player.
PLAYING SEASON, CONDITIONS OF PLAY
TIMES OF KICK-OFF, POSTPONEMENTS,
SUBSTITUTES
10
(F) The Management Committee shall
review all matches abandoned 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 Club member(s) they shall be empowered to award the points for the match to the
opponent. In cases where a match has
been abandoned owing to the conduct of both teams or their Club
member(s), the Management Committee shall rule
all points for the match as void. No fine(s) can be applied by the Management
Committee for an abandoned match.
Rationale:
To
ensure that only points in matches affected in abandoned matches and to ensure
consistency within the regulation amendments above.
Practical
application:
1.
The misconduct surrounding the abandoned fixture must have been dealt with by
the FA and CFA before any action around the result of the match is considered
by the relevant Competition. FA Rules and Regulations have also been amended by
The FA for the coming season to instruct that such misconduct must be concluded
within 28 days of it being reported to the appropriate Association.
2.
Competitions can then only deal with the result of the fixture and not impose
any financial penalties. Where both Clubs are at fault, the Competition must rule that all points are void
irrespective of degree of culpability attached to either side.
SPECIAL GENERAL MEETINGS
19..........
All
amendments of Rules can only be implemented once approved by the appropriate
sanctioning authority.
Rationale:
To enable
the FA/CFA to ensure requested changes conform to the relevant standard
policies.
Practical
application:
The
appropriate sanctioning authority (FA or CFA), has the authority to refuse any
rule amendment to a League where it is considered that the amendment does not
conform to the principles of the appropriate Standard Code.
#############################################################
Fair Play Award
May
I remind you that to ensure a fairer approach in determining the recipient of
the award the following procedure is to be strictly adhered to.
Entering ‘cautions’ and ‘send offs’ when completing the Official Match Record
Team Sheet. When a player is dismissed for two cautions enter it as C x2 (2
points) and not as SO. When a player receives a single caution enter
it as C (1
point). When a player receives a straight red card enter as SO (3
points). This will ensure the correct number of points is awarded in respect of
the Fair Play Award.
For Attention of
Club Administrators
For a number of years I have been
telling clubs how this league runs, either at meetings, personal face to face
discussions, or on our web site. Now I expect some problems with newer teams,
but it sometimes astonishes me how some ‘old hands’ still don’t know what to
do. Let’s clear up ‘some’ of your club secretary’s responsibilities to assist
in the smooth administration of the Competition.
Except where otherwise detailed all correspondence
concerning Competition business must be addressed to the League Secretary, but please note this
should come from the club secretary and not a player or club member. All
queries concerning fixtures should be addressed to the Fixture Secretary and the correct contact for Player Registration
queries is the Registration Secretary.
The Official Match Record Team Sheets should also be sent to the Registration Secretary by First Class mail,
or hand delivered, to arrive no later than the following matchday Wednesday as
he is responsible for the league table and individual player’s record of
appearances, goals scored and discipline (red and yellow cards accumulated).
All matters concerning fines should also be addressed to him, but please note
that the Competition cannot take action on fines distributed by Norfolk County
FA or Suffolk County FA.
Please remember that this league always
starts at 10.30am
(excepting when pitch availability demands a 12.30pm start and then only when authorised
by the Fixture Secretary). It is one of the major points you need to get
across to your players to avoid unwanted fines for late kick offs. Please pay
Referees Fees promptly. The referees should be paid their £22 match fee plus travel expenses
immediately after the match. Referees don’t like to ask for their money and
your prompt action will avoid embarrassment. The referee’s fee is the duty of
the home team
for Competition matches and both teams share all match expenses in BADSFL Cup and
Trophy games.
Your matchday results must be
phoned in to the Fixtures Secretary by the home team as soon as possible after the match,
certainly No later than 1.30pm.
County Cup results must also be phoned through to the Fixture Secretary No later than
1.30pm.
The majority of league business will be
conducted with club secretaries by email. ALL emails titled
BADSFL Formal Notification MUST be acknowledged.
Fines Administered by the League
If
your club falls foul of League Rules, you WILL receive a fine, administered by the
league’s Disciplinary officer. If you feel the fine is unjust, you should take
the following action:
Pay the fine in
full, by the date stated on the fine notice.
Send a £25 appeal
fee, along with a letter stating why
you feel the fine is unjust.
All
correspondence must come from the club’s secretary.
Please
do not ignore the fine, or refuse to pay. This comes under rule as failing to
deal with league business and it incurs a further fine. There have been some
past incidences of clubs sending in appeal letters without paying the fine or
appeal fee and some letters of appeal have not come from the club secretary.
Should your appeal be successful, your appeal fee and fine are returned in
full.
Please
bear in mind that dealing with the Competition should be the same as dealing
with the County. They would not accept any appeal from anyone but the club
secretary and no appeal fee means no appeal
hearing.
CODE OF CONDUCT
(Clubs
are required to acquaint ALL their members with the BADSFL’S Code of Conduct
for Football)
The provision to
introduce a Breckland and District Football League Code of Conduct for Football
is contained in Rule 21
Preface
Football is one of the National Games. All
those involved with the game at every level and whether as a player, match
official, manager, administrator, have a responsibility, above and beyond
compliance of the law, to act according to the highest standards of integrity,
and to ensure that the reputation of the game is, and remains, high. This code
applies to all those involved in football under the auspices of the Breckland
and District Sunday Football League. The BADSFL Code does not supersede The
Football Association A Code of Conduct for Football as
detailed in the NCFA Handbook., but has been introduced to address areas of
major concern and to protect the image and integrity of the Breckland and
District Sunday Football League.
Definition
In general terms, a code of conduct is
a document that advises a group of people on their accepted level of behaviour
or discipline. It is necessary within sport in order to protect participants
through agreement of a set of safety procedures. The code can also serve to
provide guidance on “fair play” in order to maintain a correct sporting ethos.
BADSFL
Code of Conduct for Football
In association with the FA Respect Programme
1.
A Participant shows understanding of and respect of the Laws of the Game.
2. A Participant
supports the belief that the game should be played in an entertaining and
positive way.
3.
A Participant behaves on and off the field in a
sporting manner towards all others involved, be they players, officials or
spectators, irrespective of results.
4.
A Participant shall at all times act in the best interests of the game and
shall not act in a manner which is improper or brings the game into disrepute
or use any one, or combination of, violent conduct, serious foul play,
threatening, abusive, indecent or insulting words or behaviour.
5.
A Participant shall not carry out any act which is
discriminatory by reason of ethnic origin, colour, race, nationality, religion,
sex, sexual orientation or disability.
Clarification
If you are in doubt or have any
questions regarding the interpretation of the above or league rules, contact
John Finch, Life Member, t: 01842-766504; e:
jf_badsfl@live.co.uk