3. MEMBERSHIP – ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION
3.1 Any Club applying for membership of the Company shall
submit to the Company a fully completed Competition Application
form and the application fee [and non-refundable ground inspection fee]
set out in the Fees Tariff.
3.2 Clubs which have qualified for membership of the Company
must confirm their acceptance of membership on the appropriate
Competition form to be received by the Company at least 14 days
prior to the next Annual General Meeting of the Company
accompanied where appropriate by the membership fee set out in
the Fees Tariff.
The annual subscription set out in the Fees Tariff shall be paid by
each Club to the Company no later than 7 days before the Annual
General Meeting of the Company in each year.

4. POWER OF THE BOARD
4.1 The Board shall have power to deal with all matters of
management of the Competition covered by the Rules. The Board
shall conduct the business of the Competition and shall meet as
often as is necessary for this purpose. The Board may appoint such
Sub-Committees as it deems appropriate which shall be fully
empowered to act on the Board’s behalf.
4.2 Save where specifically provided otherwise in these Rules, the
Board shall have power to apply, act upon and enforce these Rules
and shall have jurisdiction over all matters affecting the Company or
the Competition including any not provided for in these Rules.
4.3 All decisions of the Board shall be binding, subject to a right
of appeal to The FA pursuant to Rule 17. Decisions of the Board
must be notified, in writing, to all concerned within fourteen days of
the making of such decision.
4.4 Any Club or person committing a breach of any Rule shall be
liable to the penalties set out in the Fines Tariff, or if not therein set
out, such as the Board may decide.
4.5 All fines and charges imposed by the Board shall be
received by the Company within twenty-eight days of the date of
notification of imposition (unless otherwise ordered). Any Club or
person breaking this Rule or defaulting in paying any Football
Creditor shall be liable to such penalties as the Board may impose.
The Board shall have the power to place an embargo on the
registrations of transfers by any Club defaulting in the payment of a
transfer or compensation fee to another Club.
4.6 If a Club fails to comply with an order or instruction of the
Board within fourteen days of notification of such order or
instruction, or within fourteen days of an operative date specified in
that order or instruction, it shall not be allowed to play or take part
in the business of the Company until the expiry of 7 days from the
day the order or instruction is complied with. See Fines Tariff.
4.7 Except where otherwise mentioned, all communications
shall be addressed to the Competition Secretary, who shall conduct
the correspondence of the Competition [and keep a record of its
proceedings].
4.8 A Club must at all times attend satisfactorily to the business
of the Competition and/or the correspondence of the Competition
or Company.
4.9 If a Club is asked to submit a report in relation to any
violation of these Rules it may have a personal hearing, providing it
notifies its intention of such within fourteen days of the date of
notification from the Company, or the case will be dealt with in its
absence.
4.10 The Board shall have the power to arrange representative
matches at their discretion.
4.11 A match may be played each season between two clubs
nominated by the Board, usually the Competition Champions and
the Competition Cup Winners (or, if no Cup Competition is played
for, or if the same Club wins both competitions, between the
Competition Champions and a club nominated by the Board). The
venue and the date for playing the match will be decided by the
Board. The distribution of the proceeds of the match, after the
match expenses have been deducted, will be decided by the
Board.
4.12 No Club shall move to another ground or seek to share a
ground, including its own, without first obtaining the consent, in
writing, of the Board. Any ground sharing agreement for a period in
excess of 13 weeks must be in writing and be approved by the
Board before being entered into and (except in an emergency)
completed by 31st May in each year to be effective for the following
Playing Season. A copy of the completed agreement must be sent
to the Competition Secretary within 7 days of signing.
4.13 Within ten months of its accounting reference date, each
Club shall submit to the Company a copy of its full financial
statements as presented to its members/shareholders with
confirmation that the accounts have been approved by the club’s
members at a duly convened general meeting.

5. INTERESTS IN MORE THAN ONE CLUB
Except with the prior written consent of the Board no person,
company or business institution (including insolvency practitioners)
may at any time be interested in more than one Club or in a Club
and any other club playing in a Competition sanctioned by The FA.
The definition of "interested" shall be the same as provided for by
the Rules of the FA Challenge Cup Competition in force from time
to time.

6. PLAYERS
6.1 STATUS OF PLAYERS
The FA Rules will apply in respect of all matters concerning players.
Players will be contract, non-contract or scholars. All players must
be registered on forms provided by the Competition. A bona-fide
player of a Club is one who has signed a Competition registration
form and who has been registered and approved by the Company
in accordance with a procedure set by the Board before playing in
any competition organised by the Company.
All players’ contracts shall be in the full name of the Club. If the
club is a corporate body, the contract must state the full name of
the company, and also include the company registration number.
The registration of a player shall be valid for one season only. To be eligible, a player of a Club must have obtained an International Transfer Certificate (if required), have signed a Competition registration form and have been registered and approved by the Company in accordance with a procedure set by the Board before playing in any Competition organised by the Company.
Players Registration forms will be made available to Clubs by the
League and will be charged in accordance with the Fees Tariff.
The registration of scholars must be in accordance with The FA
Rule C3(a).
It is the responsibility of each Club to ensure that any player signing
a registration form for that Club has, where necessary, the required
International Transfer Certificate.
The Board have the power to refuse or cancel the registration of any
player found guilty of undesirable conduct and to disqualify the
player in question from participating in any or all matches in the
Competition for a breach of Rule.
Except when specific approval has been given by the Board a Club
cannot sign or transfer more than one player, contract or noncontract,
from another Club at any one time, unless a period of 14
days has elapsed between each signing.
The Board have the power to place an embargo on the registration,
transfer, or loan transfer of players by any Club who are deemed to
be in breach of these Rules.

6.2 REGISTRATIONS
6.2.1 In the event of a player signing registration forms for more
than one Club, priority of registration shall decide for which Club he
is entitled to play. The Club submitting the later form shall be
notified of the prior registration of the player and the circumstances
under which the registration forms were signed shall be
investigated by the Board. Any player found to have signed
registration forms for more than one Club or any Club found to have
knowingly induced a registered player of another Club to sign a
registration form, shall be dealt with by the Board in such a manner
as it shall think fit.
6.2.2 At least 15 players per team must be registered 7 days prior
to the commencement of each playing season.
6.3 LATE REGISTRATION
Subject to the provisions of Rule 6.5, a player will only be eligible to
play in a match organised by the Company under these Rules if the
appropriate forms are received by the Company (including by
facsimile) by twenty four (24) hours preceding the scheduled kick
off time of such match.
No player whose registration is received after twenty four (24) hours
preceding the scheduled kick off time of any match will be eligible
to play in a match organised by the Company on that day.
If a registration form is sent to the Company by facsimile or by email, that form
must then be received by the Company within five days of the sending
of the facsimile or email and in default the player will not be eligible to playin the Competition unless and until a valid registration form is received.
The form when received must be identical to that received by facsimile.
Any Club deemed to have falsified any form will be deemed to have played an ineligible player.
and dealt with in accordance with Rule 6.8.
The late registration of a player by facsimile is not automatically
valid and it is the responsibility of the Club to ensure that the player
is NOT registered with any other Club. When the player involved
was previously registered with another Club, it is necessary for that
Club to complete the transfer form prior to or at the same time as
the registration or transfer to the new Club.
6.4 TRANSFERS
6.4.1 The transfer of the registration of a contract player from one
Club to another must be in writing, on the Competition transfer
form, duly signed by the contract player and the two Clubs and
forwarded to the Company for approval and registration. Such
contract player does not become a bona-fide player of the Club
seeking his transfer until that Club has received from the Company
a certificate of registration or the provisions of Rule 6.3 have been
complied with. The registration of a contract player whose contract
is cancelled by mutual consent shall be automatically cancelled
upon receipt by the Company of a copy of the relevant FA form.
Where a Club cancels the registration of a contract player, for any
reason whatsoever, the Club must notify the Competition Secretary
immediately, in writing and such notification must be signed by an
authorised signatory of that Club to be valid.
A non-contract player whose registration for a Club is cancelled by
the Board or transferred for any reason whatsoever, cannot return
to his original Club until a minimum of four weeks has elapsed from
the date of the cancellation or transfer without the consent of the
Board.
6.4.2 Should a Club wish to register a Non-Contract player who is
registered by another Club, both Clubs if in agreement must sign
the standard Competition transfer form applicable to Non-Contract
players.
If a non-contract player also registers for a club not in membership
of the Competition, his registration for the Competition may be
retained by the Club.
6.4.3 THIS RULE DOES NOT APPLY TO THE WESSEX
FOOTBALL LEAGUE
6.4.4 SHORT TERM LOAN TRANFERS
THIS RULE DOES NOT APPLY TO THE WESSEX FOOTBALL
LEAGUE
6.4.5 THIS RULE DOES NOT APPLY TO THE WESSEX
FOOTBALL LEAGUE
6.4.6[The maximum number of Short Term Loans will be 8 per Season and Long Term Loans will be 2 per Season. Whilst a Club may register any number of Work Experience players only 2 may play in any one match in accordance with FA Rules. A Club may name up to a maximum of 5 players on a team sheet who are either Long Term Loans, Short Term Loans or Work Experience players with no more than 2 from any one Category]
LONG TERM LOAN TRANSFERS
6.4.7 The Company may, at its discretion, refuse any further
registration of players to any Club which has not completed
payment of a transfer arrangement made with another Club or
arranged for the payment to be adequately secured. The Club
concerned will continue to pay the player in accordance with his
contract.
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6.4.7 No player shall be entitled to more than one (1) transfer in
any one season.
6.5 CLOSING DATE FOR REGISTRATIONS
After 5pm on the 1st March each season, registrations and transfer
of registrations will be declined or will be approved subject to such
limitations and restrictions as the Board may determine and, if so
determined, the player shall only be eligible to play in the matches
for which permission is granted by the Board.
6.6 THIS RULE DOES NOT APPLY TO THE WESSEX
FOOTBALL LEAGUE
CLUB LIST OF PLAYERS AND TRANSFER LIST
THIS RULE DOES NOT APPLY TO THE WESSEX FOOTBALL
LEAGUE
6.7 SUBSTITUTE PLAYERS
A Club at its discretion may use three substitute players at any time
in a match. Substitution can only be made when play is stopped for
any reason and the Referee has given permission. A Club shall use
a numbered board to show the number of the player to be
substituted and the number of the substitute player.
A maximum of FIVE SUBSTITUTES may be nominated and they
must be included on the official team sheet handed to the Referee
before the match in accordance with Rule 8.11.1. A substitute may
not be used to replace a player who has been suspended from the
match by the Match Officials.
If a player does not take part in the match for which he is a
nominated substitute he shall be deemed as not having played for
the Club in that match.
If a named substitute is not a registered player with the Club for the
Competition and does NOT take part in the match, the offending
Club may be fined in accordance with the Fines Tariff.
6.8 PLAYING AN INELIGIBLE PLAYER
Any Club found to have played an ineligible player in a match shall
have any points gained from that match deducted from its record
and have levied upon it a fine in accordance with the Fines Tariff.
The Company may vary this decision in respect of the points gained only in circumstances where the ineligibility is due to the failure to obtain an International Transfer Certificate or in the case of where a substitute player who is ineligible participates in a match or is listed on the official team sheet but does not participate in that match.
The Board may also order that such match be replayed on such
terms as are decided by the Board which may also levy penalty
points against the Club in default.

6.9 FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS
6.9.1 Subject to clauses 6.9.2 to 6.9.7, and to the Rules and
Regulations of The FA, a Club may negotiate a financial
arrangement with its players.
6.9.2 All players under a written contract must be registered with
the Competition and The FA.
6.9.3 All payments and benefits due to the player must be shown
in the contract.
6.9.4 All payments made to players must be made by the Club
and fully recorded in the accounting records of the Club.
6.9.5 All salaried payments (whether to contract or non-contract
players) must be subject to PAYE and National Insurance.
6.9.6 All salary payments due on written contracts must be stated
gross, before PAYE and National Insurance deductions.
6.9.7 Any players paid expenses should be reimbursed via an
expense claim form. The club should retain all expense records in
a format acceptable to the Inland Revenue.
6.10 NON UNITED KINGDOM PLAYERS
In a Competition match a Club shall not, without the consent of the
Board, play more than three players who are not citizens of the
European Union or colonies of the United Kingdom unless such
person has been resident in the United Kingdom for a continuous
period of five years. Any Club in breach of this Rule will be deemed
to have played an ineligible player and will be dealt with in
accordance with Rule 6.8.]