Amateur Football Combination

Affiliated to the Amateur Football Alliance, London F.A., Middlesex F.A. and Surrey F.A.

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Playing in the Spirit of Football, Promoting Fair Play and Respect for All

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Fixtures in the AFC

This is a guide to fixtures in the AFC. Clubs are recommended to read rule 10 (dealing with fixtures and so forth) carefully. If you are unsure about anything regarding fixtures please contact one of your League Match Secretaries.

 

Fixtures Committee

Fixtures in the AFC are controlled by a number of League Match Secretaries, who along with certain other officers form the Fixtures Committee. The League Match Secretaries are responsible for the day to day management of their divisions, but the fixtures committee meets regularly to discuss any problems which might arise.

When a club has any issue or problem regarding fixtures the first point of contact should be the appropriate League Match Secretary. If a club is unhappy with the decision of a League Match Secretary, or is unable to contact a League Match Secretary, then the club concerned should contact the Chairman of the Fixtures Committee.

 

League Match Secretaries

Click here for the various League Match Secretaries (LMS), and the divisions for which they are responsible.

 

The Fixture Bulletin

Fixtures in the AFC are appointed by the League Match Secretaries. A list of fixtures for each week will normally be sent out to all clubs, league officers and referees 10-12 days in advance of the games being due. 

These will be posted or emailed out (if possible, please provide us with an email address as this is quicker and cheaper) as well as being published on the league website. 

If club officers or referees wish to receive fixtures by email rather than by post please contact Danny McConnell telling me who you are and which club you are from (or if you're a referee).  

 

Fixture Organisation and Administration

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All teams are assumed to be available every Saturday during the season, and midweek evenings in April and May.

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Each team may request "no fixture" once during the season. Such requests must be made at least four weeks in advance, and may be granted or declined at the League Match Secretary's discretion.

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County Cup Fixtures take precedence over other Cup Fixtures. Cup Fixtures take precedence over School and League Fixtures. School Fixtures take precedence over League Fixtures. League Fixtures take precedence over friendlies.

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Teams may not be entered in more than three Saturday Cup Competitions.

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Clubs must ensure their strongest team is the first team, second strongest team is the second team and so forth. If a team does not have a game one week, the club should not use that as an opportunity to "load up" lower sides with players from the higher team.

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If a team is shown as "spare" on the fixture list, don't arrange a friendly or assume you have no game until you have confirmed with the League Match Secretary.

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If you plan to use an artificial pitch, even as a reserve option, make sure you agree this with the referee and opposition in advance.

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If you have to cancel a fixture due to lack of players, or availability of pitches, you must cancel the fixture of your lowest team.

 

Postponed Games

When a game is postponed (Cup or League), a lot of different people need to be told promptly:-

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The Opposition (check whether the game can be switched to their home ground).

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The Referee (and any Assistant Referees)

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For AFC and LOB Cup games, the Assistant Referees' Secretary (who may be able to find the referee another game).

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The League Match Secretary (who will need to re-arrange fixtures). This includes postponed Cup Fixtures, which must be notified by 9pm.

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For "Press Games" Trevor and Vivien Syms (see reporting scorelines).

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Your own players

 

Completing The Season

At the end of the season it may be necessary for League Match Secretaries to arrange double headers and/or midweek games to complete the fixture programme, either because of poor weather, or because of long cup runs for some teams.

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If a club wishes to withdraw a side it must do so by writing to the Chairman of the Fixtures Committee. Normally a club shall only be allowed to withdraw its lowest team.

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If a team is regularly cancelling fixtures due to lack of players, the Fixtures Committee may require it to withdraw from the league (as a rule of thumb, at least 25% of league games should be completed by the end of January).

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Teams who do not complete their fixtures will be fined, may have points deducted and may be refused entry into the league for the following season.

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Double headers are played 60 minutes each way, with each game counting separately. Referees should be offered a separate match fee by each club and substitutes should be nominated prior to each game. Clubs normally share the match expenses. You cannot play one match for "double points".

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Midweek evening games are played under natural daylight, so games must kick off promptly. The referee will reduce the match time if required (min. 60 minutes).

 

Referees

The AFC�s Referees Secretary will appoint referees for as many AFC, London Old Boys Cup and London Financial Football Association Cup fixtures as possible. Referee appointments will also be shown on the fixtures� list sent out to clubs. Where a referee is appointed to a game the club concerned must accept that appointment. Where no referee is appointed to a game the club concerned should assume that the AFC will be unable to provide a referee, and the responsibility for providing a referee passes to the Home club. It is possible that at a later stage the AFC might provide a referee, but clubs should assume this will not happen.

Clubs are reminded that referees for AFA and other County Cup Competitions are appointed by those competitions, and are not covered by the Amateur Football Combination. Referees for the London Old Boys and London Financial Football Association Cups will be covered by the AFC.

 

Referee Adjustments

In the week prior to games, it is likely a number of adjustments to referees will be necessary. Whilst occasionally this may mean more referees becoming available, it is more likely that referees will be lost to county cup games and so forth. These adjustments will be made by the Assistant Referees� Secretaries.

Clubs should not be contacting the Referees Secretary regarding adjustments to referee appointments, but should contact the Assistant Referees Secretaries. When a club is not allocated a referee for a home game and arranges a referee themselves the club should inform the Assistant Referees Secretary that they have covered that game and no longer require a referee. If a club really is struggling to cover a game with a referee, please let the Assistant Referees Secretary know so if they do get a spare referee they can re-allocate the referee quickly.

 

The Fixture Sheet

The fixture sheet issued should list ALL fixtures involving AFC clubs, including those in outside cup competitions. Clubs are reminded that AFA Cups, County Cups, the London Old Boys Cups, the London Financial Football Association Cups and so forth are not controlled by the AFC, and any queries should be directed to those competitions.

Spare - If a side is shown as �Spare� on the fixtures list this means that at the time of publication the League Match Secretary has been unable to assign that side a fixture. Clubs should be aware that this might change closer to the time, and each League Match Secretary has the right to assign a fixture to any �spare� side up until the Monday preceding the date games are due. 

Free - If a side is shown as �Free� then this indicates that under rule 10 the club has requested no fixture for that side on a given weekend, and this request has been granted. Such sides will not normally be allocated a fixture at late notice.  

Cups/AFA/LOB/LFFA/etc - a number of sides will be shown on the sheet as "AFA", or "LOB", or various other codes to show they're in a cup competition that week. You can quickly cross reference with the part of the list showing cup fixtures to check which.

 

Cancellations

Clubs are reminded that if a fixture is cancelled, then they need to immediately notify the opposition, the match officials and the Assistant Referees� Secretary (who may well be able to reassign the referee to another match). The home club should also inform the appropriate League Match Secretary not later than 9pm on the same day (even if the match concerned is a Cup Match, as this will possibly affect the following week�s fixtures).

Clubs are reminded that if a Club has to cancel a fixture because of shortage of players such cancellation must be notified to its opponents no later than 7pm on the day preceding the fixture (i.e. 7pm on a Friday for a Saturday fixture).

 

Results

Click here for details about submitting results.

 

Click here to return to the main fixtures menu.