Rules

8. (A) (i) Contract players are not permitted in this Competition with the exception of those Players who are registered under Contract with the same Club who have a team operating at Steps 1 to 6 of the National League System.
It is the responsibility of each Club to ensure that any Player registered to the Club has, where necessary, the required International Transfer Certificate. Clearance is required for any Player aged 10 and over crossing borders including Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
(ii) Each Club must have at least 11 Players registered 14 days before the start of each Playing Season.
(B) A Player is one who, being in all other respects eligible, has been registered on the FA Full-time system by their club giving the players name, address and date of birth, signed a fully and correctly completed Competition registration form in ink that is countersigned by an Officer of the Club which is then sent to the competition registrar by post or a copy/scan of it by email for the registrar to approve the players registration on the FA Full-time system either 7 days prior to playing and whose registration has been confirmed by the Competition by the players name showing as part of the said team on the FA Full-time system prior to that player playing in a Competition Match, or (b) has been electronically registered as above by their club a minimum of 2 hours prior to kick off and 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, and submitted to the Competition registrar by post or email within 2 Days of the match. The Player shall not again play until the said player’s registration has been approved by the registrar on the FA Full-time system and their name shows as a player for their said club. A maximum of 5 players may be registered in accordance with sub paragraph (b).
(C) A team shall not include any player/more than 2 players who has/have taken part in 3 or more senior competition matches during the current season unless a period of 45 days has elapsed since they played.
For the purpose of this Competition a senior competition(s) is/are is/are any competition higher in the pyramid system
(D)A Player that owes a Football Debt (as defined under the Football Debt Recovery Regulations) to any Club(s) shall be permitted to register and play for a Club in the Competition, save that the Player may be liable to be suspended from playing for that Club should the Player fail to comply with the terms of the Football Debt Recovery Regulations in respect of that Football Debt.
(E) The fees for registering players are as follows:
(i) Before 8th August 2017 @ 50p per player
(ii) From 8th August to 14 days before the start of the playing season @ £1 per player
(iii) From 14 days to the start of the season to 24 hours before kick-off of the team’s first match @ £2 per player
(iv) During the season @ £3 per player
All transfers have a fee of £3 per player
Each club will receive a statement within 10 days of their first match of each season either by post or electronically showing their fees owed for registrations/transfers with must be paid within 14 days of the date of that statement. Any additional fees a club occurs for the registration or transfer of players will be notified to them within 10 days of the start of the following month and must be paid within 14 days of the date of that statement.
(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 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 an online registration and a signed registration form for registration that the player had wilfully neglected to accurately or fully complete.
(H) (i) The Management Committee shall have the power to accept the registration of any player subject to the provisions of clauses (ii) and (iii) below.
(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 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 proven misconduct, 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 or intending to be registered with.
(iv) For a player who has previously had a registration removed in accordance with clause (iii) but has a registration accepted at the expiry of exclusion will be considered to be under a probationary period of 12 months. Whilst under a probationary period, should the player commit a further act of proven misconduct under the jurisdiction of the Competition, (excluding standard dismissals), the Competition would be empowered to consider a further charge of bringing the Competition into disrepute.
(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. All decisions must include the period of restriction. 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 compliance with FA Rule C2(a) when a Club wishes to register a Player who is already registered with another Club it shall submit a transfer form (in a format as determined by the Competition) to the Competition accompanied by a fee as set out in the Fees Tariff . Such transfer shall be referred by the Competition 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 Competition and to the Player concerned within three days of receipt of the notification. Upon receipt of the Club’s consent, or upon its failure to give written objection within three days, the Competition 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.
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 31st March 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 unless the Club conforms to the exception detailed in Rule 8(A)(i).
(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 5 games for that team in this Competition in the current season.
(N) A player who has played for a team in the Premier Division 5 times or more shall not in that season be eligible to play in a lower Division except by permission of the Management Committee.
(O)Any Club found to have played an ineligible Player in a match or matches shall have any points gained from that match or matches deducted from its record, up to a maximum of 12 points, and have levied upon it a fine. The Management Committee may also order that such match or matches be replayed on such terms as are decided by the Management Committee which may also levy penalty points against the Club in default.
The Management Committee may vary this decision in respect of the points gained only in circumstances where the ineligibility is due to the failure to obtain an International Transfer Certificate or where the ineligibility is related to the Player’s status.
In exceptional circumstances 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.
(P)(The following Clause applies to Competitions involving players in full-time secondary education):-
(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.