Notes to Accompany Release of Fixtures 24 July 2015 (Please Read Carefully to Avoid Fines!)

COMBINED COUNTIES FOOTBALL LEAGUE LTD.
ANNUAL FIXTURE LIST SEASON 2015-2016

Notes to accompany release of fixtures 24 July 2015 (please read carefully to avoid fines!)

General

I am pleased that the problems encountered by the League last season, with a late change to the constitution, along with the late issue of fixtures by one of the Step 3/4 leagues have not re-occurred.

We still have a certain number of clubs unable to play at home at the beginning of the season due to cricket and other reasons. We also have a number of ground sharing situations throughout the League, which obviously dictates whether the sharing club will be at home or away. The net result is that it is difficult to draw up a completely balanced list in terms of home and away game sequences and as in previous seasons, one or two clubs will find that they have more successive home or away matches than they might expect both in the opening weeks of the season and at other times. The early season FA competition matches are also a factor in this.

There is a full fixture list to the end of February in Division One, with the remaining matches shown as TBA. This is due to the fact that any postponements for whatever reason at grounds without lights generally have to wait until the end of the season to be re-scheduled, as they cannot be slotted in on a midweek evening. In recent seasons this has been done by leaving April free for re-arranged matches. It has worked reasonably well but inevitably the fixture schedule in the final few weeks in Division One is fragmented. By leaving a slightly higher number of fixtures unscheduled, it is hoped that, by combining these with all the matches that have to be re-arranged, it will be possible to schedule a fuller list with less gaps in the final few weeks of the season. All unscheduled matches in Division One will have a date put on them in February at the latest.

It may become opportune to schedule some of these games in for an earlier date and also there is no problem, should clubs mutually agree to play any of these matches earlier in the season, subject, of course, to sufficient notice being given (14 days minimum).

County Cups

Very few County Cup draws have been received and once known these may have an effect upon our fixtures. Later rounds of FA competitions come into the same category. The Board determined some time ago that any club reaching either the 3rd Round of the FA Vase or the 3rd Qualifying Round of the FA Cup may have a free week prior to the tie if requested and if the fixture situation allows for it. Any club reaching the rounds mentioned may therefore ask for any midweek match (CCL games only) scheduled for the week before their cup tie to be postponed to a later date. Hopefully all clubs will support this principle.

Postponed and Re-arranged Matches

With Premier Division matches, the same principle will be followed as has been the practice for many seasons. Unless there are unusual circumstances, any game postponed for whatever reason will be immediately allocated a new date and this will show upon the first available weekly bulletin after the postponement. (i.e. on the Sunday bulletin following a Saturday postponement).

If the two clubs concerned wish to suggest a mutually agreeable date themselves, this will be taken into consideration but you will need to act “fast” (i.e. advise me of any proposed new date before midday on the Sunday following a postponed Saturday game).

In Division One, postponed games will generally go into a “pool” to be re-arranged whenever there is an opportunity to do so. As with previous seasons, the Division One fixture list should be regarded as a basic framework which will be amended whenever appropriate to ensure as many teams are in action on any given Saturday as possible. This principle will, if necessary, override all other considerations, e.g. two clubs playing each twice in quick succession.

Clubs shown without a match in any particular week must not assume that they will not have one allocated later on, as there can be changes for many reasons. Although every effort will be made to give as much notice as possible, it is only after you have received the weekly bulletin that you can be sure about the following week’s situation.

Once again, any match can be brought forward if the opportunity arises and there is mutual agreement between the clubs concerned. This includes Bank Holiday matches. The only proviso is that any such request must be made in sufficient time (at least 14 days) to allow match officials to be organised.

There is no Boxing Day programme this season but there is a full programme on Monday 28 December. If any two clubs particularly wish to bring their match forward to Boxing Day, this can be arranged subject to sufficient notice. Equally, if any clubs wish to play on both Boxing Day and the Monday, that would be fine again by mutual agreement.

Matches on Easter Saturday could be played on Good Friday to allow clubs an extra day to recover before playing again on the Bank Holiday Monday. Again this would be subject to mutual agreement and sufficient notice to the League.

The default time for kick-offs on Bank Holiday dates remains at 11.30 a.m. but clubs can mutually agree to start at a different time if they wish to do so. Please give 14 days notice of any agreed change.

Matches cannot be put back, except by permission of the Fixture Secretary, which will not generally be forthcoming, unless there are very good reasons for doing so. Weddings, holidays, manager absence, etc. are NOT considered to be a good reason for re-arranging games.

If a match has to be postponed due to adverse weather, the procedure for doing so is shown in the handbook and the Administration Guide. The bottom line is that only the Match Referee can postpone a match. Ideally he will conduct his own inspection but if that is not possible, he will postpone the match after speaking with the inspecting official.

Clubs themselves cannot postpone matches.

The only exception will be if the weather is clearly so poor (snow, ice etc.) that the whole league programme is likely to be off. In those circumstances, the League may step in and allow clubs to postpone their own matches without the necessity of an inspection. There are also one or two clubs where the Local Authority may reserve the right to make the decision. This is most unwelcome in senior football and the clubs concerned are requested to do their best to educate their Council accordingly.

Please take careful note from the Administration Guidelines that will be issued shortly, of who has to be contacted in the event of a postponement. Failure to do so can result in multiple fines (i.e. from individual officers). Please particularly ensure that the Results Secretary is advised using the text service in the same way as you would report a result. Texting generally is acceptable and club secretaries may like to consider setting up a “group text” so that all required league officers can be notified at a stroke of any postponements.

Goal Scorers and Attendances

All Premier and Division One clubs playing at home in CCL 1st Team League or League Cup matches are required to advise details of scorers’ names INCLUDING INITIAL or 1ST NAME for both teams, plus the times of the goals and the match attendance to the Fixture Secretary before 12.00 noon on the Sunday following a Saturday match. Anytime the following day will do for midweek games. Ideally this should be e-mailed or faxed and a “template” form will be issued with the first weekly bulletin to be issued on 26 July. This is a separate task from the requirement to convey your result immediately after the match to the Results Service.

Away team officials can, of course, assist the home team by writing down the details for their own team and passing them over at the end although this does not relieve the obligation of the home club to ascertain these details.

Some clubs provide this information for their FA Cup/Vase/County Cup matches as well and they are welcome to do so. Any information received will usually be printed but it is not mandatory for “outside” competitions.

Again, just to make it absolutely clear, the emphasis is upon the HOME club to provide the information for both clubs. If the information is not received by midday on Sunday, fines will follow for failure to attend to League business. It is not acceptable for home clubs to say they were unable to obtain the names and times of the away goal scorers. If you don’t get the information at the time of the match, please contact the away club later that evening or on the Sunday morning, or, of course, simply accept a fine!

More and more away clubs voluntarily advise their own scorers after a match and this is fine. The only problem is that the information supplied almost always varies from that supplied by the home club, especially the times of goals. In such circumstances, I will take the home scorers and the attendance figure from the home club, and the away scorers from the away club.

Kick-Off Times

Saturday matches kick off at 3.00 p.m. apart from the winter period at Division One grounds without lights. Midweek matches kick off at either 7.30 p.m. or 7.45 p.m. as pre-determined by the home club. Kick-off times for all CCL matches are shown in this fixture list.

Midweek Evenings

The majority of clubs opt to play their home midweek evening matches on Tuesdays. One or two though have changed from last season, namely Cove FC, who will now play at home on Wednesday evenings and Sutton Common Rovers, who will play home matches on Monday evenings, at their new home of Sutton United FC.

Of our new clubs, Abbey Rangers play any home midweek matches on a Monday evening, whilst South Park Reserves have opted for Wednesday evenings. The others play on Tuesday evenings.

Friday Evening Matches?

Some are shown in the fixture list, following requests, but any Saturday match can be brought forward to a Friday evening by mutual agreement, subject to a minimum of 14 days notice, to allow match officials to be re-appointed where necessary. Where a switch is agreed, it would help our referees’ secretaries enormously if the home club can advise which of the appointed officials are still available on the Friday evening.

Cup Matches

Only matches in the FA Cup, the FA Vase and your parented Senior Cup competition take precedence over league games. Matches in such competitions as the Aldershot Senior Cup, the Southern Combination Cup, the Russell-Cotes Cup and the Middlesex Charity Cup DO NOT have any precedence over our league matches. If you are involved in any of these competitions, I will try to honour any dates you give me but once I have scheduled a league game for any particular date, it will not be postponed in favour of a game in any of the cups mentioned or any other supplementary competition. The moral is, therefore, to advise me without delay of any such dates.

Bank Holiday Fixtures

It is difficult to provide a complete programme of local matches on each Bank Holiday date (although in comparison with some leagues, just about every match in the CCL can now be regarded as “local”). My apologies in advance if you have drawn the “short straw” on the odd occasion and have to travel some distance on any particular Bank Holiday date.

Registrations

Please ensure that you use BLACK ink on registration forms, especially if you are faxing them in initially. Please note the rule that, when faxing or emailing in a registration, it must be followed by the original,to be received by the Registration Secretary within five days. If this does not happen, the registration will lapse and if the player then plays, you will then be charged with the serious offence of fielding an ineligible player, with all the likely consequences.

Also, don’t forget the rule which states that registrations must be submitted to the League within five days of the player actually signing the form.

Weekly Bulletins

The first weekly bulletin will be issued by email on Sunday 26 July and every Sunday thereafter through the season. Once the season has started, there will also be a midweek bulletin, usually issued on Wednesday mornings, with the previous evening’s results and confirmation of forthcoming matches. The bulletins will be sent to all club officials shown in the handbook with a valid email address (apart from any who have specifically asked not to receive them) but I am happy to forward them to other bona-fide personnel within your clubs if notified of their email address.

Our Press Secretary, Neil Morrell produces a weekly news and round up summary for inclusion in the weekly bulletin. He cannot do it without the assistance of the clubs, so please give him every co-operation as and when he contacts you. If you can send him your news/reports etc., without being asked, Neil will be only too pleased to hear from you.

Also, if you can, and unfortunately this is mostly only for Premier clubs, please contact David Groves, who compiles our column in the Non-League Paper each week, with details of your match. His contact details will be known to most of you and will appear in the first bulletin. Coverage of Step 5 football and below in the NLP remains inadequate from our point of view and David is restricted as to how much he can write but the more we, as a League can contribute, the better the chance of greater column width.

Finally!

If you are a new or inexperienced Secretary, (or a new club to the League), don’t be too daunted by all the rules and regulations and, indeed the nuances of the League. You will hopefully find that all the League Officers are helpful so if you are unsure what to do in any situation, phone or email in and we will try to assist. I am usually available on my home number (01784 440613) during the day. If I don’t know the answer (quite often the case!) I will try to get it for you.

Wishing everyone an enjoyable season.

Alan Constable

General & Fixture Secretary

Combined Counties League Ltd.

24 July 2015

FRI 7 AUG 15
Premier Division
Sutton Common Rovers / v / Colliers Wood United / 7.45
SAT 8 AUG 15
Premier Division
Ashford Town (Middx) / v / AFC Hayes / 3.00
Bedfont Sports / v / Knaphill / 3.00
Camberley Town / v / Horley Town / 3.00
Chertsey Town / v / Guildford City / 3.00
Epsom & Ewell / v / Windsor / 3.00
Farnham Town / v / Chessington & Hook United / 3.00
Hanworth Villa / v / Badshot Lea / 3.00
Hartley Wintney / v / Redhill / 3.00
Raynes Park Vale / v / Cove / 3.00
Westfield / v / Spelthorne Sports / 3.00
Division One
Abbey Rangers / v / CB Hounslow United / 3.00
Ash United / v / South Park Res / 3.00
Bedfont & Feltham / v / Banstead Athletic / 3.00
Dorking / v / Eversley & California / 3.00
Dorking Wanderers Res / v / Sandhurst Town / 3.00
Epsom Athletic / v / Sheerwater / 3.00
Farleigh Rovers / v / Cobham / 3.00
Frimley Green / v / Staines Lammas / 3.00
MON 10 AUG 15
Premier Division
Sutton Common Rovers / v / Raynes Park Vale / 7.45
TUE 11 AUG 15
Premier Division
AFC Hayes / v / Hanworth Villa / 7.45
Badshot Lea / v / Hartley Wintney / 7.30
Chessington & Hook United / v / Ashford Town (Middx) / 7.45
Horley Town / v / Knaphill / 7.45
Redhill / v / Epsom & Ewell / 7.45
Spelthorne Sports / v / Camberley Town / 7.30
Windsor / v / Bedfont Sports / 7.45
Division One
CB Hounslow United / v / Sheerwater / 7.45
Cobham / v / Dorking Wanderers Res / 7.45
Sandhurst Town / v / Abbey Rangers / 7.45
WED 12 AUG 15
Premier Division
Colliers Wood United / v / Chertsey Town / 7.30
Cove / v / Westfield / 7.45
Guildford City / v / Farnham Town / 7.45
FRI 14 AUG 15
Division One
South Park Res / v / Dorking / 7.45
SAT 15 AUG 15
The Emirates FA Cup – Extra-Preliminary Round
AFC Hayes / v / Flackwell Heath
Arundel / v / Raynes Park Vale
Badshot Lea / v / Camberley Town
Banstead Athletic / v / Rochester United
Berkhamsted / v / Hanworth Villa
Binfield / v / Westfield
Chessington & Hook United / v / Crowborough Athletic
Chinnor / v / Hartley Wintney
Colliers Wood United / v / Eastbourne Town
Cove / v / Shrivenham
Croydon / v / Sutton Common Rovers
Hook Norton / v / Frimley Green
Horley Town / v / Wick & Barnham United
Knaphill / v / Highworth Town
London Tigers / v / Bedfont & Feltham
Potton United / v / Bedfont Sports
Reading Town / v / Chertsey Town
Redhill / v / Pagham
Spelthorne Sports / v / Stotfold
Tadley Calleva / v / Guildford City
Thame United / v / Farnham Town
Wellingborough Town / v / Ashford Town (Middx)
Windsor / v / AFC Dunstable
Division One
CB Hounslow United / v / Dorking Wanderers Res / 3.00
Cobham / v / Sheerwater / 3.00
Eversley & California / v / Worcester Park / 3.00
Sandhurst Town / v / Staines Lammas / 3.00
SUN 16 AUG 15
The Emirates FA Cup – Extra-Preliminary Round
Epsom & Ewell / v / Erith & Belvedere / 3.00
MON 17 AUG 15
Division One
Abbey Rangers / v / Staines Lammas / 7.30
TUE 18 AUG 15
Premier Division
Ashford Town (Middx) / v / Spelthorne Sports / 7.45
Bedfont Sports / v / Sutton Common Rovers / 7.45
Camberley Town / v / Cove / 7.45
Chertsey Town / v / Horley Town / 7.45
Epsom & Ewell / v / Colliers Wood United / 7.45
Farnham Town / v / Badshot Lea / 7.45
Hanworth Villa / v / Windsor / 7.30
Hartley Wintney / v / Guildford City / 7.30
Knaphill / v / Redhill / 7.30
Raynes Park Vale / v / Chessington & Hook United / 7.45
Westfield / v / AFC Hayes / 7.30
WED 19 AUG 15
Division One
Epsom Athletic / v / Farleigh Rovers / 7.45
FRI 21 AUG 15