THE HOSPITALS CHARITY CUP COMPETITION 2012 (Incorporating the Erith Hospital and Matt Capon Cups) 1 NOMENCLATURE AND CONSTITUTION (a) This Football competition shall be called The Hospitals Charity Cup Competition and incorporates the Erith Hospital Cup and Matt Capon Memorial Competitions. The competition shall comprise of clubs competing in Junior Leagues (including Intermediate Sections) with their grounds situated in areas of North West Kent and South London and who are scheduled on Form E which is returned to the Kent County F A and to the London F A in accordance with the regulations of The Football Association. (b) The competition shall be affiliated to the Kent County F A and conducted on Cup Tie principles operating in two sections. The Erith Hospital Cup Section (Division One) will comprise of teams playing at Steps 6 and 7 of the National League System or in their local league Intermediate or Premier Divisions. The Matt Capon Section (Division Two) will comprise teams playing in their local league Division One and below. The foregoing is a general guide but because of similarly named divisions between local leagues they may not always be of a comparable strength. The Committee reserves the right to determine in which section a team plays should there be a question of eligibility. (c) There shall be no salary or honorarium paid to anyone and all funds accumulated after approved operating expenses will be donated to the League of Friends of local hospitals or any other associated charity as recommended by the Committee and approved at the Annual General Meeting or a Special Meeting called for the purpose. 2 MANAGEMENT The competition shall be administered by a Committee comprising of the Officers and a minimum of seven other members all of whom shall be elected annually at the AGM The Officers shall be the President, Vice-Presidents, Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary/Treasurer and Assistant Secretary each of whom shall eligible to vote. 3 POWERS OF THE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE (a) The Management Committee shall have the power to administer the competition in any way deemed necessary to cover all aspects of varying circumstances which occur in a Charity Football Competition subject always to the normal rights of appeal designated in Rule 12. (b) The Committee have jurisdiction over all matters affecting the competition whether specifically provided for in the Rules or not.
(c) A quorum of five members will be required to conduct the business of the competition and the Chairman shall have the power to vote. 4 ENTRANCE FEE AND MEDAL FUND An entrance fee shall be determined at the AGM and must be paid before a club plays their first match in the coming season. A Medal Fund subscription payable for each match played shall be determined at the AGM. 5 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING (a) The Annual General Meeting shall be held on a suitable date determined by the Committee and the following business shall be transacted plus any additional items necessary to complete a successful meeting. i) The minutes of the last AGM shall be read and confirmed and matters arising dealt with. ii) The Chairman s and/or Secretaries report. iii) Presentation and adoption of the Balance Sheet iv) Constitution of the Competition for the ensuing season. v) The election of Officers, Committee and Auditor. vi) Alteration of Rules of which due notice must be given as per Rule 15. vii) The Fees and fines defined in Rules 4, 6, 7(e), 7(f), 7(g ii), 7(g iii),7(h), 10(a), 10(c), 11(b), 13(a), 13(d), 13(e), and 14 shall be reviewed and if altered shall be operative for the coming season. viii) Any other business with the permission of the Chairman. (b) Clubs may send TWO DELEGATES to attend but only one vote per club is allowed. (c) A copy of the audited Balance Sheet and details of the grants to charities shall be sent to the Secretary of the Kent County F A as soon as practicable after the AGM. 6 NOTICE OF MEETINGS Clubs shall receive fourteen clear days notice of the Annual General Meeting together with the agenda for such meeting. Clubs failing to attend will be fined an amount as determined at the AGM. 7 ARRANGEMENT OF MATCHES (a) The Competition shall observe, the rules, regulations and bye-laws of The Football Association and The Kent County Football Association. All matches shall be played in accordance with the Laws of Association Football and shall be of ninety minutes duration. 2 Should circumstances necessitate a lesser period, this must be mutually agreed between the Referee and the officials of both teams before the match commences but no match shall be less than thirty five minutes each half.
3 Final ties must be of 90 minutes duration and an extra time of fifteen minutes each way shall be played if necessary. If it still remains a draw after extra time, the Final Tie will be decided by the taking of penalty kicks from the penalty mark as defined in The Laws of Association Football and in accordance with International Board Decision. (b) Prior to the Final Tie, which will be arranged by the Committee the first drawn club will have choice of ground. In ALL matches including the Semi-Final and Final ties if the scores are level at the end of normal time, fifteen minutes each way extra time will be played, if the scores remain level at the end of this extra period the team qualifying for the next round shall be decided by the taking penalty kicks from the penalty mark as defined in the Laws of Association Football and in accordance with International Board decision. (c) The draw for the competition and the dates by which the rounds must be completed will be made by the Committee at the AGM or at such other time that may be convenient. Prior to the Final Tie all clubs are expected to mutually arrange their matches for completion on or before the dates set by the Committee. Should ground availability be a problem, clubs will greatly assist the competition by waiving their right to choice of ground to enable the match to be played by the appropriate date. (d) Should matches not be completed by the scheduled date, the clubs concerned will be asked for an explanation. Having studied all the circumstances, including the degree of cooperation expected, the Committee will, either, set a new date for the match to be played or eliminate the defaulting club or clubs for the remainder of the current season. (e) The home club shall notify in writing particulars of the ground, kick-off time and the club colours to their opponents and the Referee giving five clear days notice. Failure to comply with this rule will render the club liable to a fine as determined at the AGM. In the event of a clash of colours the away team must change. (f) Notice of postponement of a match must be notified without delay to the opposing club, Referee and the Secretary of the competition. Failure to comply with this rule will render the club liable to a fine as determined at the AGM. (g) (i) A team sheet must be handed to the match Referee 15 minutes prior to the kick off. A team sheet to include the names of the nominated substitutes. Only substitutions of the named substitutes will be permitted during the match. (ii) Each club must send to the Secretary of the competition within seven days of playing the tie a result card detailing the result of the tie and the names of the players taking part plus any additional information which may be required by the Committee. Failure to comply with this rule will render the club liable to a fine as determined at the AGM. (iii) The HOME club must telephone the result of the match to the competition Secretary by the latest 7.00pm on the day of the match. Failure to comply will result in a fine as determined at the AGM
4 (h) Clubs failing to fulfil a scheduled fixture without satisfactory explanation, or causing the match to be abandoned, will render themselves liable to forfeiting the match or being fined a sum determined by the Committee. The defaulting club will be liable to pay any legitimate expenses incurred by their opponents 8 QUALIFICATION OF PLAYERS (a) All players must be bona-fide members of their club and duly registered with the league in which they play. (b) No player shall be eligible in this competition who has played three or more senior matches during the current season unless a period of twenty one days has elapsed since he so played. (c) A player shall not play for more than one team in the same season in this competition. Should a club enter their reserve team in this competition, a player who is a regular first team player must not play for the reserve team in this competition until twenty one days has elapsed since he last so played. (d) Any club playing an ineligible player may be eliminated from the competition and the tie awarded to their opponents or have imposed any other such penalty as deemed fit. 9 SUBSTITUTES A club at its discretion may in accordance with the Laws of the Games use THREE substitute players in any match in this competition who may be selected from FIVE PLAYERS. The Referee must be informed of the names of the substitutes before the start of the match. Their names must appear on the team sheet (see Rule 7 (g) [i]). 10 REFEREE AND ASSISTANT REFEREES (a) Registered Referees will be appointed by the competition and an inclusive fee determined at the AGM shall be paid by the AWAY club or the FIRST drawn club if the home ground advantage is wavered, immediately after the match with the exception of the Final Tie when the competition is responsible. (b) In the event of the competition being unable to appoint an official Referee it will be the responsibility of both clubs to jointly arrange for a competent person to officiate. The home club or the first drawn club shall be responsible for any ground hire charges unless the Committee deem otherwise (c) In all matches, except as provided in Clause (c), each club must provide a competent Assistant Referee. (d) Neutral Assistant Referees shall be appointed in any match upon application by the two competing clubs or by the Committee should they deem such a course desirable. An inclusive fee, as determined at the AGM, shall be paid to the Assistant referees immediately after the match and shared equally by both clubs.
5 11 PROTESTS (a) All questions of eligibility of players or interpretation of these rules shall be referred to the Committee. Objections with reference to the fitness of the ground and the appliances on the pitch will not be entertained by the Committee unless a protest is made to the Referee before the match but should such a protest be made and not followed up with a written report to the Committee the club will be in fault and liable to such penalties as the Committee may determine. (b) The club protesting must do so in writing within four days of the occurrence to which they refer and be accompanied by a fee as determined at the AGM. In the event of the protest being upheld the fee will be returned. 12 APPEALS Appeals against a decision of the Committee must be lodged within fourteen days of receipt of the notification of the decision to the Secretary of The Kent County Football Association, Invicta House, Cobdown Park, London Road, Ditton. Aylesford, Kent ME20 6DQ The appeal must be in duplicate and accompanied by the appropriate appeal fee as defined by the KCFA. The grounds of the appeal shall be in accordance with Football Association Rules. 13 TROPHIES (a) The winning finalists will be presented with a suitable cup or trophy and the losing finalists may receive a memento of the occasion at the discretion of the Committee. No trophy may be won outright but must be returned to the competition on or before 31 st March each year. Any club failing to return a trophy by the due date will incur a fine as determined at the AGM. (b) Both the winning and losing clubs in the Final Ties shall receive sixteen medals or suitable mementos for presentation to their players. (c) Medals or suitable mementos will be presented to the Referee and the Assistant Referees officiating at the Final Ties in lieu of match fees. (d) The following agreement shall be signed on behalf of the winner of cups or trophies. We A... and B...being the Chairman and Secretary of...f C having been declared the winners of...cup/trophy and the same having been presented to us by the said competition do hereby, on behalf of said club jointly and severally, agree to return the same to the Secretary of the competition on or before 31 st March each year in accordance with the rules of the competition and should the said cup/trophy be lost or damaged whilst in our care we agree to refund to the competition the amount of the current value of the cost of the thorough repair. The declaration agreement must be returned to the Secretary of the competition within 28 days of the presentation of the trophy. Failure to do so will in incur a fine as determined at the AGM.
6 The cup/trophy must be insured by the club against loss or damage to its full value. A copy of the insurance certificate must be sent to the competition Secretary. Failure to do so will incur a fine determined at the AGM. (e) (f) It is the winning clubs responsibility to have the name of the club inscribed on the cup/trophy. Failure to do so will incur a fine as determined at the AGM The cups and trophies are vested in the KCFA as the Trustees and if for any cause the competition is discontinued the cups/trophies shall be held in trust or otherwise dealt with as the KCFA may decide unless the donor, if there be one, attached to his/her gifts a condition that they may be returned to him/her. 14 WITHDRAWAL OF CLUBS A club having been accepted as a member of the competition remains so indefinitely until a notice of withdrawal is received from the club. Notice of withdrawal must be received on or before the AGM and clubs who infringe this rule will be fined a sum as determined at the AGM. 15 ALTERATION TO RULES (a) Alteration to these rules shall be made only at the Annual General Meeting or a Special General Meeting convened for the purpose. Any club wishing to propose a change of Rule must, with another club as a seconder, jointly give notice in writing of the proposed change to the Secretary of the competition, twenty one days before the AGM, in order that the Secretary may include the proposed change when he gives fourteen days notice of the AGM. (b) Rule changes made at the Annual General Meeting or Special General Meeting will be operative for the coming season. 16 PAYMENT OF FINES All fines imposed by the Committee must be paid within fourteen days of receipt of the notice of the fine. Failure to do so will render the club to further penalties as determined by the Committee. 17 FINANCES All monies held or received by the competition shall be banked in the name of the competition. Payments shall be by cheque and signed by two authorised members. (President, Chairman, Secretary or Treasurer for example) An audited balance sheet must be presented to the AGM and a copy sent tom the KCFA. 18 RULES BINDING ON CLUBS Each club shall be deemed to give their assent to the foregoing rules and to abide by the decisions of the Committee subject always to the right of appeal per Rule 12. ****************************** Honorary Secretary 30 th June 2012 Daren Rudd 243 Princes Road, Dartford DA1 2PY Tele; 07968 265270 daren@familyrudd.fsnet.co.uk