Football Competition Rules

This entire page is quite long, but if you only read the first 4 rules you will probably be fine.

  1. Play Safely, nobody wants to get hurt.
  2. The referee is not going to change his mind.
  3. All team captains are responsible for their teams.
  4. Respect the staff and other players and they will respect you.
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Administration Rules

We have a few rules to help make the administration of the league run more smoothly. Please have a read through the rules just to get familiar with our policies.

  1. Times and Punctuality
    • Games will start on the hour as long as there are at least 4 players per side.
    • If a Team is late or does not have enough team members to start
      • there will be a grace period of 3 minutes.
      • If the game is forced to start 3 or more minutes late, there will be a penalty kick awarded for every 3 minutes over the original start time against the delaying team. The free kicks will be awarded immediately before the official kick-off.
      • If a team cannot field a team by 15 minutes after the scheduled start of play, the team will be considered to have forfeited the match
        • A forfeited match will be counted as equal to the highest win of the round in terms of goals scored, or a 1-0 victory if all other matches are draws.
        • If a team forfeits a match, they will lose their entire 2 match bond. The team who did show up will be refunded their match fee.
        • If resources permit, the Football League will attempt to provide practice match free of charge for the team that did show up free of charge.
  2. Numbers of Players Required
    • To start a game, each team needs at least 4 players to start.
    • If a team is short of players the have the following options
      • Play Short... only an option if the team has 4 or more players
      • Ask a member of another team not currently playing to fill in for them while they wait for their player
      • Ask a staff member of the Football League to fill in for them subject to the following conditions
        • A team cannot ask for a staff member to play for them if they already have 7 fit players.
        • A team cannot ask for more than 3 fill-ins from the Football League Staff
        • If both teams are short of players, the Football League Staff substitues MUST be shared evenly.
        • Football League Staff MUST occupy the position of Goalie first
        • Any Football League Staff players will incur an immediate 1-Goal penalty per player
  3. Uniforms
    • Each Team should have their own unique uniform.
    • A Uniform MUST consist of at least the same colored shirt, and ideally same colored shorts and socks.
    • If two teams have the same color uniform, the league will provided alternative colored bibs to one team.
  4. Safety equipment
    • It is recommended that all players wear long socks and shin guards. While not mandatory this will help reduce player injuries.
  5. Injuries
    • The Football League is in no way responsible for any injuries incurred during the event.
    • The Football League provides refereeing and organization only. All players must accept that they are playing at their own risk.
  6. Captains Assurance
    • Every Team must designate a captain to be responsible for them. The Captain will be
      • The contact person for that team
      • Vouch for the members of their team that they understand and will follow the rules.
  7. Bad Weather Games
    • Play will go ahead in bad weather unless play is deemed dangerous.
    • Dangerous weather includes
      • Thunderstorms
      • Snow/Hail/Sleet
      • Extremely low light

Playing Rules

The playing rules are the normal rules of soccer but with the following additions.

  1. Player Rules
    • Only 7 players on the field at any one time
    • Each team may have unlimited substitutes
      • A substitute may only swap with an outfield player during a break in play
        • kick-in
        • goal kick
        • corner kick
        • free kick
        • penalty kick
        • half time
        • goal has been scored
      • While players do not need to notify the referee on interchanges, if the referee notices that there are too many players are on the field, a penalty kick will be given.
      • The goalie can only be substituted during the following times
        • Half Time
        • A goal has been scored
        • The goalie has been injured
    • A goalie MUST wear a different color shirt compared to the other players on the pitch (with the exception of the other goalie)
    • Every team must wear the same color team shirt
  2. Fighting
    • There is absolutely no tolerance for fighting or aggressive behaviour
    • Any player involved in a fight will be handed a RED card immediately and sent off.
    • If a player is being attacked, that Player should defend themselves, but not retaliate. Retaliation will also result in a RED card.
    • Any team that starts a melee will be banned.
  3. Game Penalties
    • There are 3 types of penalties that can be applied on the pitch
      • Foul - for minor infractions
      • YELLOW CARD - for repeated warnings, or dangerous play
      • RED CARD - for excessively dangerous play, aggressive or anti-social behaviour, or repeated YELLOW cards.
    • A foul will be signified by a whistle and a free kick to the opposing team.
    • A YELLOW card will be noted by a whistle, a free kick to the opposing team, and a Second YELLOW card will result in an immediate RED Card.
    • A RED Card will result in an immediate sending off and a suspension for the next weeks game.
    • A team may replace a player who has been sent off due to a RED Card.
  4. Tackles
    • Any Slide Tackle is an immediate RED Card.
    • Tackles from behind will be penalised with a Whistle Penalty
    • Any Dangerous Tackles will be penalised with either a YELLOW or a RED card
  5. Restarting Play
    • The ball is over the line if it is half way over the line, rather than fully over the line.
      • This has been changed from regular football because it makes it easier to referee.
    • There are no throw-ins. If the ball goes out of bounds it is an indirect free-kick from the side
    • Corners are still direct free-kicks
    • If the ball goes out over the base line and it is not a corner kick, it will be a goal kick.
    • The kickoff at the restart of play is a special indirect free kick that must be kicked forward.
    • Indirect free-kicks MUST touch another player on the SAME team before they enter the goal
    • If an indirect free-kick is kicked towards the goal and touched by an opposing team player before entering the goals, it will be counted as a corner kick only.
  6. Handballs
    • If the ball contacts the hand or arm while it is in close contact with the body (for example acting as protection for sensitive parts of the body), then the referee will consider the handball to be accidental and will call play-on.
    • If the ball contacts the hand or arm while it is away from the body, regardless of accidental or not, a handball will be called.
  7. Offsides
    • There is no offside.
  8. *NEW*Playing the Ball while lying on the Ground
    • A foul will be awarded against any player other than the goalie, who plays the ball while any part of his body, other than his feet are touching the ground.
      • If a player is lying, sitting, or on hands and knees, then he must get back to his feet before attempting to play the ball again.
      • This rule is safety purposes in order to prevent a player getting kicked.
    • Goalies are the only players exempt from this rule.
  9. Referee Decisions
    • All referee decisions are final. During the game, no decision will be overturned by the referee.
    • If there is a complaint about the refereeing, please speak to the Game Day Manager with the details about your complaint. We will follow up on the complaint and address it.
    • Any violence towards a referee will result in a permanent ban from the League.

It is very likely that these rules are not complete and will be added to as the season commences. We hope any rule changes will be minor and will make the league better