13 – REFEREES
13(A) Registered referees and assistant referees (where approved by the F.A. or County F.A.) shall be appointed in a matter approved by the Management Committee and sanctioning Association(s).
13(B) In the event of a non-appearance of the appointed referee the appointed senior assistant referee must take charge and a substitute assistant referee appointed by the competing teams. In cases where there are no officially appointed assistant referees the clubs must agree upon a referee. A referee thus agreed upon shall, for that game, have the full power, status and authority of a registered referee.
13(C) Where assistant referees are not appointed each team shall provide a club assistant referee. Failure to do so will result in a fine of £5 being imposed on the defaulting team.
13(D) The appointed referee shall have the power to decide as to the fitness of the ground in all matches, and the decision shall be final subject to either, in the case of a Local Authority or the owners of the ground, the representative of that body is the sole arbiter and whose decision must be accepted unless the ground is declared fit for play.
13(E) Match officials appointed under this Rule shall be entitled to the following match fees: Referees £25, Assistant referees £15 (inclusive of travel expenses or private car expenses of 25p per mile) and any other permitted expenses actually incurred subject to any limits laid down by the sanctioning Associations.
Home clubs shall pay the officials their fees and expenses immediately after the match.
13(F) In the event of a match not being played because of the circumstances over which the club has no control the match officials, if present, shall be entitled to half fee only. When a match was not played owing to 1 club being in default, that club shall be ordered to pay the officials, if they attend the ground, their full fee.
13(G) A referee not keeping his engagement, and failing to give a satisfactory explanation as to their non-appearance, may be reported to the Association to which they are registered.
13(H) Each club shall, in a manner prescribed from time to time by The Football Association, award marks to the referee for each match, and the name of the referee and the marks awarded shall be submitted to the Competition on the prescribed form provided. Clubs failing to comply with this Rule shall be liable to a fine or dealt with as the Management Committee shall determine. The Competition shall keep a record of the markings on the form provided. By the prescribed dates each season they shall submit a summary to The Football Association/County Football Association.
13(I) Referees and assistant referees shall be supplied each season with a copy of the Competition Rules free of charge.
RULE 14 – CONTINUATION OF MEMBERSHIP OR WITHDRAWAL OF A CLUB
14(A) After 31st December in the current season a club intending to, or having provisional intention to withdraw a team from the Competition on completion of its fixtures and fulfilment of all other obligations to the Competition must notify the Secretary in writing by 31st March each season, or be liable to a fine not exceeding £50.
All clubs wishing to remain in membership of the Competition for the following season must confirm their intention to do so in writing by 31st May.
14(B) A club shall not be allowed to withdraw any or all its teams from the Competition after the Annual General Meeting for the following season. Any club infringing this Rule shall be liable to a fine not exceeding £50 per team, and shall be liable for its share of any call which may be made under Rule 5(B).
14(C) The membership for the coming season having been decided at a Special General Meeting, held fore that purpose not earlier than 1st May or later than 31st May, or at the Annual General Meeting (held no later than 30th June). The Competition shall have the right, irrespective of other provisions in this Rule, to refuse to permit a club to withdraw its team in order to join another competition and may hold the club to its engagements.
14(D) In the event of a member club, which is in an un-incorporated Association, withdrawing and/or disbanding it shall be immediately liable to discharge all its financial and other obligations to the Competition.
In the event that any such obligation remains undischarged after 21 days then such obligation shall be met by the current club members, excluding those under statutory school leaving age. Until a member’s pro-rata obligation is discharged in full the member shall not be allowed to participate in the Competition, which may apply to the club’s parent County Association for a suspension order.
RULE 15 – PROTESTS AND COMPLAINTS
15(A)(i) All questions of eligibility, qualification of players and interpretation of the Rules shall be referred to the Management Committee.
(ii) Objections relevant to the dimensions of the pitch, goals, flag posts or other facilities of the venue will not be entertained by the Management Committee unless the protest is lodged with the referee before the commencement of the match. Any club lodging such protest and not proceeding with it shall be deemed guilty of a breach of this Rule and shall be dealt with by the Management Committee.
15(B) Except in cases where the Management Committee decides that there are special circumstances, protests and complaints (which must contain full particulars of the grounds on which they are founded) must be lodged with the Secretary within 3 days (excluding Sundays) of a match or the occurrence to which they refer. A protest or complaints shall not be withdrawn except by permission of the Management Committee. A member of the Management Committee who is a member of any club involved shall not be present (except as a witness or representative of his club) when such a protest or complaint is being determined.
15(C) Any dispute occurring between clubs in the Competition shall be deferred for determination by the Management Committee whose decision shall be binding upon all parties subject to Rule 16.
15(D) No protest whatever kind shall be considered by the Management Committee unless the complaining club shall have deposited with the Secretary the sum of £5. This may be forfeited in whole or part in the event of the complaining or protesting club losing its case. The Competition shall have the power to order the defaulting club or the club making a losing frivolous protest or complaint to pay the expenses of the enquiry or to order the cost be shared by the parties.
15(E) All parties to a protest or complaint must be offered the opportunity to make a statement when the protest or complaint is being heard and must have received 7 days notice of the hearing, together with a copy of the submission.
15(F) When dealing with a protest or complaint the Management Committee shall take into consideration the possession by the protesting or complaining club of any information which, if properly used, might have avoided the protest or complaint.
