League procedures.
Season 2016/17
After a multitude of amendments since the AGM, age groups and Divisions have been finalised.
The season will start on the 11th September and before this all players MUST be registered. Remember, a player must have a current reg card and be registered by the end of August to be able to play in the first game of the season. If you have insufficient registered players to put out a team for the first game, then the team will be fined for an invalid postponement and the points will be awarded to the opposition team.
Again this season, games have been scheduled over the various half-term week-ends. If most of your players are unavailable, then you must ask your Divisional Secretary for a postponement, giving at least 14 day’s notice otherwise, once again, you’ll be deemed guilty of an invalid postponement and be fined, with points awarded to the opposition.
Development games have been scheduled for u10 and u11 age groups with gaps in the fixtures in October and March to play tournament matches.
The FA Fulltime System.
This season, like last season, the league will be using the system provided by the FA. This is NOT a league admin system, rather it deals with games and results. It depends upon team managers and assistant managers (known as Team Administrators in Full-Time) having access to both a mobile phone and email. Without both you’ll have difficulties. We have setup all managers/assistant managers with the mobile numbers and emails given to the league by your club secretary. Unless you have received an email invitation to create a new logon then your existing username and password should work. Please get in touch with your Div Sec if there are any problems. All changes to contact numbers and email addresses should be sent to the relevant Divisional secretary with a copy to me (and probably your club secretary would welcome the details too). Divisional Secretaries will update Fulltime with any new details.
Fulltime usernames & passwords.
Changes in Fulltime last year mean that usernames and passwords are no longer created by Div Secs, they are created by users themselves. As mentioned above unless you have received an email to create a new username and password your existing logon details should work. These can be reset by Div Secs if you are struggling, you will need to confirm your email address.
Having looked at all the email addresses used in Fulltime by team administrators, I have noticed that a few people are shown as having responsibilities with more than one team. Not only is that against league rules, it will cause some confusion to Fulltime as it will send its messages for both teams to the same email & phone (not really a problem) BUT it will apply all the results to the same team and that is a problem. The only way round that is to use completely separate emails and phone numbers for each team, ie separate people which is what the rule book demands. Once the season starts, the management committee will decide what action needs to be taken against people with multiple team responsibilities. It is the responsibility of team mgrs and/or assistants to post their results to Fulltime and if you can’t do that because Fulltime applies your result to a different team because of the phone/email issue, then you’ll be in breach of league rules and liable to a fine. Don’t expect Div Secs to input your result for you. May I suggest that clubs get this problem resolved asap.
Fixtures.
Fixtures are for the whole season and all kick-off times will be set to 00:00 (midnight). It is the responsibility of the Home manager or assistant mgr to set the actual kick-off time for the match. Login to the Fulltime system and set the KO time. Fulltime will then send an email to the opposition management and to the referee (if appointed). Setting KO times needs to be done at least 14 days in advance of the date of the match which gives time for the Referees’ Appointments secretary to obtain and appoint a referee (for those ages where the league appoints referees). Even though Fulltime has sent emails, the Home manager must still contact the away team (AND referee if appointed) 5 days before the match, giving full detail of the location of the ground & KO time.
For teams in the U12 to U18 age-groups, both managers need to complete the team sheet. One copy is given to the opposition manager, one copy to the referee and the home team keep the remaining copy. Before the game starts, each player must have his/her reg card checked against the team sheet. If a player does not have a valid reg card, he cannot take part in the match. If the player is not listed on the team sheet, he cannot take part in the match. Any such problems should be reported to the relevant Divisional Secretary. If registration cards are NOT checked before a match and this is reported to the league, the consequences are “Draconian” (according to the WRCFA) but will still be applied.
Referees.
Referees are normally appointed by the league to all matches at U16, U17 and U18 but this cannot be guaranteed due to the availability (or lack) of referees. The Referees’ Appointment Secretary will use Fulltime to record Referees appointments and this action will trigger an email to the manager and assistant managers of the teams concerned. Even so, it is the responsibility of the HOME management to contact the referee approximately 5 days before the match just to confirm the game is still taking place. You need to confirm, location and time of KO.
Given that we now have access to an increasing number of younger qualified referees, they will be appointed to matches at U12, U13 and so on where possible.
It is the responsibility of the HOME team management to pay the match officials their match fees, details of which are shown in the rule book at Rule 13(E).
Results and Player Statistics.
Once the match has been completed, it is the responsibility of the HOME manager or assistant to report the result. Fulltime will have sent an SMS message to the Home manager and assistant requesting them to reply to this text message with the final score. As soon as that happens, Fulltime updates the League tables (U12 to U18). Managers have until 8:00pm on the day of the match to enter the final score (but do it as soon as the match finishes or you’ll forget). If the score is not entered by 8:00pm, then rule 11(B) will be applied — another fine.
Both Team Managers should also enter (on Fulltime)a mark (our of 100) for the referee’s performance during the match. You will find Appendix 4 of the rulebook useful for this. I will issue further instructions on how to enter a mark for referees once I’ve worked out how to do it!
It is the responsibility of both the HOME and AWAY manager or assistants to update their player statistics on Fulltime. This allows you to maintain records of who played, and when and who scored and, and so on. Player statistics for each team have to be updated by 8:00pm Wednesday evening following the match. These records are used by the league to judge the eligibility of players to take part in Cup semi-finals and finals. If the statistics are not updated, then Rule 11(B) again applies and, you’ve guessed it, another fine.
Clubs/Teams should be aware that they are NOT allowed to play any games in the league until all league and cup fees together with any necessary club/team deposits have been paid to the league. If a club does not pay before 11 September 2016, then no team from that club will be allowed to play and each game will be classed as an invalid postponement, fine and points awarded to the opposition, so please encourage your treasurer to pay the invoice asap.
I know all this seems complicated but it isn’t and help is available, usually within your own club where other managers have been doing these tasks for (often) many seasons. Otherwise speak to your Divisional secretary or, as a last resort, try the League secretary.