The League & Rules

CHAIRPERSON: Jonathon Sands

LEAGUE SECRETARY: Vanessa Hernandez

TREASURER: Roz Harris

FIXTURES: Holly Lovell

GENERAL: Richard Manning

GENERAL: Gail Harvey

1.1 This organisation shall be known as the Herts Women’s Walking Football League (‘HWWFL’).

1.2 The League is affiliated to the Hertfordshire FA

1.3 All Clubs shall adhere to the Rules. Every Club shall be deemed, as a member of the Competition to have accepted the Rules and to have agreed to abide by the decisions of the Management Committee in relation to them.

1.4 All member Teams must be affiliated to their County FA.

1.5 Inclusivity and Non-discrimination:

(i) The Competition and each Club must be committed to promoting inclusivity and to    eliminating all forms of discrimination and should abide and adhere to The FA Equality Policy and any legislative requirements (including those contained in the Equality Act 2010).

(ii) This Competition and each Club must make every effort to promote equality by treating people fairly and with respect, by recognising that inequalities may exist, by taking steps to address them and by providing access and opportunities for all members of the community, irrespective of age, gender, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, marital status, race, nationality, ethnic origin, colour, religion or belief, ability or disability or otherwise.

(iii) Any alleged breach of the Equality Act 2010 legislation must be referred to the appropriate Sanctioning Authority for investigation.

1.6 All Participants shall abide by The Football Association Regulations for Safeguarding Children and Regulations for Safeguarding Adults at Risk as determined by The FA from time to time.

2.1 All member Teams must complete and provide to the HWWFL League Secretary an Entry Form prior to competing in the HWWFL competitions.  

2.2 A Team shall not participate in the competitions until the Entry Form has been approved and appropriate fees paid.

2.3 The Entry Fee is £50 per season to join the League.

2.4 Additionally £45 per team for each match day which must be paid at least 7 days before the match day.

3.1 The competitions shall be governed by a Management Committee (‘Committee’) which shall be elected at the AGM or other designated meeting in accordance with the Rules and Regulations of the FA. The Committee shall meet when required.

4.1 The Management Committee shall have power to deal only with matters within the Competition and not for any matters of misconduct that are under the jurisdiction of The FA or Affiliated Association

4.2 The Management Committee shall have powers to apply, act upon and enforce these Rules and shall also have jurisdiction over all matters affecting the Competition. Any action by the Competition must be taken within 28 days of the Competition being notified.

For all alleged breaches of a Rule the Management Committee shall issue a formal written charge to the Club concerned. The Club charged shall be given 7 days from the date of notification of the charge to reply. In such reply a Club may:

1.  Accept the charge and /or submit in writing a case of mitigation for consideration by the Management Committee; or

2.  Accept the charge and notify the Competition that it wishes to put its case of mitigation at a hearing before the Management Committee; or

3. Deny the charge and submit in writing supporting evidence for consideration by the Management Committee; or

4.  Deny the charge and notify the Competition that it wishes to have a hearing before the Management Committee.

Where the Club charged fails to respond within 7 days, the Management Committee shall determine the charge in such manner and upon such evidence as it considers appropriate.

4.3 All fines shall be levied by the Committee. The maximum fine permitted for any breach of a Rule is £100 and, when setting any fine, the Committee will ensure that the penalty is proportional to the offence, considering any mitigating circumstances.  

4.4 Decisions of the Committee must be notified in writing to those concerned within 7 days.

4.5 All fines and charges are payable forthwith and must be paid within 21 days of the date of notification of the decision. Any Club failing to do so may be liable to the imposition of a further fine imposed by the Committee. Further failure to pay the fine including the additional fine within 14 days will result in the Team’s fixtures being withdrawn until such time as the outstanding fines are paid.

4.6 All decisions of the Management Committee shall be binding subject to the right of appeal in accordance with Rule 5

5.1    All questions of eligibility, qualification of players or interpretations of the Rules shall be referred to the Management Committee.

5.2    All objections relevant to the dimensions of the pitch, goals, goal areas or other facilities of the venue will not be entertained by the Committee unless a protest is lodged with the Referee before the commencement of the match.

5.3    Except in cases where the Committee decide that there are special circumstances, protests and complaints (which must contain full particulars of the grounds upon which they are founded) must be lodged with the Committee within two days (excluding Sundays) of the match or occurrence to which they refer. A protest or complaint shall not be withdrawn except by permission of the Committee.

5.4 No protest of whatever kind shall be considered by the Committee unless the complaining Club shall have deposited with the HWWFL an appeal fee of £25. This may be forfeited in whole or in part in the event of the complaining or protesting club losing its case. The Committee shall have the power to order the defaulting Club or the Club making a losing or frivolous protest or complaint to pay the expenses of the enquiry or to order that the costs to be shared by the parties.

5.5 All parties to a protest or complaint must receive a copy of the submission and must be afforded an opportunity to make a statement at least 7 days prior to the protest or complaint being heard. All protests will be dealt with as written correspondence, unless either party requests a Personal Hearing when forwarding the written response. If a Personal Hearing is requested, all parties must receive seven 7 days’ notice of the hearing should they be instructed to attend.

5.6   Any appeal against a decision of the Management Committee must be lodged with the Hertfordshire FA within 14 days of the posting of the written notification of the decision causing the appeal, accompanied by the relevant fee.

6.1 The AGM shall be held not later than 1st September of each year. At this meeting the following business shall be conducted provided that at least 5 Members are present and entitled to vote to: -

(i) Receive and confirm the Minutes of the preceding AGM.

(ii) Consider any business arising therefrom.

(iii) To receive and adopt the Annual Report, and Statements of Accounts (as appropriate).

(iv) Elect clubs to fill vacancies (as recommended by the Committee).

(v) Agree the Constitution of the Competition for the following season.

(vi) Elect Officers.

(vii) Confirm Rule changes, if any (of which notice has been given).

(viii) Fix the dates for the commencement and end of the playing season.

(ix) Conduct other business of which due notice shall have been given and accepted as being relevant to an AGM.

6.2  Each member Club shall be empowered to send to an AGM no more than one delegate, and each Club shall be entitled to one vote.

6.3  Officers of the Management Committee shall be entitled to attend and vote at an AGM but cannot also cast a vote on behalf of a club.

6.4  Any continuing member Club failing to be represented at the AGM, or any other meeting called by the Committee to which they have been invited to attend, without satisfactory reason being given, shall be fined £30.

6.5  Fourteen days’ notice of the AGM shall be given to clubs.

7.1 The Committee may call a General Meeting (‘GM’) at any time.

7.2 Upon receiving a requisition signed by two-thirds (2/3) of clubs the League Secretary shall call a AGM.

7.3 Clubs will be given at least 7 days’ notice of a GM under this rule and will be provided with an agenda of the business to be conducted at the meeting. Each club shall be empowered to send up to two delegates to all GMs and shall be entitled to one vote only, as will Officers and Committee members.

7.4 If an Officer or Committee member is also a Club representative, that person’s vote will be classed as the Club’s vote.

7.5    In the event that a matter being voted upon receives equal shares of the vote, the Chairman shall have the casting vote.

7.6    Any continuing club failing to be represented at a GM without satisfactory reason being given shall be fined £30.

8.1 Dissolution of the HWWFL shall be by resolution approved at a GM by a majority of three quarters (3/4) of the member clubs present and shall take effect from the date of the relevant GM.

8.2 In the event of the dissolution of the HWWFL, the members of the Committee are responsible for the winding up of the assets and liabilities of the Competition.

8.3 The Committee shall deal with any surplus assets as follows:

Any surplus assets, save for a trophy or any other presentation, remaining after the discharge of the debts and liabilities of the HWWFL shall be transferred to another Competition or The Hertfordshire FA or to such other charitable or benevolent object in the locality of the Competition as determined by resolution at or before the time of winding up, and approved in writing by the Hertfordshire FA.

9.1 All Clubs must have valid public liability insurance cover of at least ten million pounds                                    (£10,000,000) at all times.

9.2   All Clubs must have valid personal accident cover for all Players registered with them from time to time. The Players’ personal accident insurance cover must be in place prior to the Club taking part in any Competition Match and shall be at least equal to the minimum recommended cover determined from time to time by the Sanctioning Authority. In instances where the FA is the Sanctioning Authority, the minimum recommended cover will be the cover required by the Affiliated Association to which a Club affiliates.