QUALIFICATION OF PLAYERS

8. (A)(i) Contract players, as defined in Football Association Rules, are not permitted in this Competition. A contract player may only play for the Club that holds his contract.

It is the responsibility of each Club to ensure that any Player signing a registration form for that Club has, where necessary, the required International Transfer Certificate. Clearance is required for any player aged 12 and over crossing borders including Wales, Scotland and Ireland.

(ii) While serving in any branch of Her Majesty’s Regular Forces, a player must first obtain the consent of his/her Association Secretary before signing a registration form to play for a Club.

(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 Registrations Secretary two days prior to playing and whose completed registration counterfoil has been received by the Club prior to playing.

Accompanying the said Registration Forms must be two recent passport approved photographs both signed by the Club Secretary and the player concerned. The Club Secretary MUST be in possession of the counterfoil & Photo Identity Card having been duly completed and signed by the Registration Secretary before commencement of the match. New photographs are required every four years. (Registrations are valid for one season only, ID cards for four years).

All completed registration forms must be accompanied by a self addressed stamped envelope for the return of the counterfoils. Clubs failing to comply will result in a fine.

At least eleven Registration Forms & photos per team must be completed & returned to the Registration Secretary before the 1^st September each year. Clubs in default will be fined £25.00 per team.

(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 and witnessed by an Officer of the opposing Club (timed and dated), and submitted to the Registrations Secretary within two days (Sundays excluded) subsequent to the match. The player shall not again play until the Club is in possession of the completed counterfoil. A maximum of two players may be registered in this way.

Accompanying the said Registration Forms must be two recent passport approved photographs both signed by the Club Secretary and the player concerned. The Club Secretary MUST be in possession of the counterfoil & Photo Identity Card having been duly completed and signed by the Registration Secretary before he can play again.

All Clubs will be issued with 20 registration forms per team at the Annual General Meeting.

(C) A team shall not include any player who has taken part in any six or more senior competition matches during the current season.

For the purpose of this Competition a senior competition(s) is any at Step 6 or above.

(D) 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.

(E) Registration forms shall be obtained from the Registrations Secretary (on prepayment of £1.00 per form).

(F) 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.

(G) 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 the Competition in that season except for the purpose of a transfer.

(iii) Submit a signed registration form for registration that the player had wilfully neglected to accurately or fully complete.

(H) (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, except those under 18 years of age, at their discretion who has been charged and found guilty of registration irregularities. (Subject to Rule 16).

(iii) 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 (iii) 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 a period of two years or less from the date of the first offence.

(I) Subject to The Football Association Rules dealing with players without a written contract when a player desires a transfer, the Club the player wishes to transfer to shall submit a transfer form to the Registrations Secretary accompanied by a fee of £1.00. Such transfer shall be referred by the Registrations Secretary to the Club for which 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 Club's consent, or upon its failure to give written objection within seven days, the Registrations 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 seven days after receipt of such transfer.

In the event of an objection to a transfer the matter shall be referred to the Management Committee for a decision.

(J) A player may not be registered for a Club nor transferred to another Club in the Competition after the last day of February except by special permission of the Management Committee.

(K) 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 upon demand by the Management Committee.

(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.

(M) 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 six games for that team in this Competition in the current season.

(N) A Club shall not include in any one game more than two players who have played for a team in a higher division six times or more during the current season.

(O) (i) Any team playing an unregistered or otherwise ineligible player or players may 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 may 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.

(iii) The Management Committee may, at its discretion, award the points available in the match in question to the opponents, subject to the match not being ordered to be replayed.

(The following Clause applies to Competitions involving players in full-time secondary education):-

(P) (i) Priority must be given at all times to school and school organisations activities.

(ii) The availability of children must be cleared with the Head Teachers (except for Sunday Leagues).

(iii) To play open age football the player must have achieved the age of 16.

(Q) All identity cards must be held by a responsible club official on the touch line during League matches and will be exchanged any time before, during, or up to 15 minutes following completion of the fixture. The identity cards must be returned after examination. The appropriate set of identity cards must be available for inspection, if requested, by an Officer or Management Committee member of the League. Failure to comply with the terms of this rule will be regarded as an offence under rule 8(O) and may be further dealt with by the Management Committee.