AGM

This Friday is WMCFL's AGM. The meeting will be held in our normal venue, Zion Christian Centre in Halesowen and the meeting starts at 7.30pm.

All clubs must attend.

Amongst other things, we will be electing new clubs, formating the divisions and drawing the first and second rounds of the League Cup.

Five a Side Competitions

Robbie Ridler is helping organise a charity 5-a-side tournament in aid of St Giles Walsall Hospice. It will take place on Saturday 2 July from 11am onwards at Pulse Soccer and Fitness, Friar Park Road, Wednesbury WS10 0JS.

For further information please contact Robbie on 07988621691.

Or visit the web site: http://stgileshospice.com/football_competition.html

Match Based Discipline

There are going to be significant changes to the way players are suspended by the FA when found guilty of misconduct starting from this coming season. I was lucky enough to attend a conference and represent WMCFL at Wembley Stadium last Monday night where all was explained.

In short, there has been a discrepancy between the upper echelons of football and us down at grass roots level, inasmuch as if Wayne Rooney is found guilty of misconduct whilst playing for Manchester United, he will serve a match based ban. Whereas if I was playing for Amblecote at Lion Farm on a Saturday morning and was sent off, I'd be suspended for a period of time.

From 1 July 2011, players playing in WMCFL will be suspended for a number of games, not serve a ban that covers a number of days. So if you commit a foul that the referee considers serious enough for a red card playing in WMCFL, it's likely that you will serve a three match ban. In the past you probably would have served a 21 day suspension.

For more detail, read on:

-There are no appeals on standard charges, the only exception being mistaken identity or where video evidence is available. And then the match official would have to have made a serious error.
-Match suspensions will apply only to the type of football that they occured in. i.e. if someone is sent off playing for a WMCFL club, they will still be able to play on a Sunday and at Powerleague, unless the offence is considered very serious. Football type offences: handling the ball on the goal-line to prevent a goal, or serious foul play will be pertinent to the day's football, whereas headbutting an opponent will carry a more lengthly ban and it will apply universally.
-If a player is sent off in a match and on his way off the pitch abuses the referee or gets embrolied in some other altercation, he or she will have committed another offence. The ban is then likely to apply universally to all football. This is to further embed the RESPECT campaign. i.e. accept your sending off and leave the field of play and for the club to accept the referee's decision without appeal.
-Punishment WILL start 21 days after the offence: If someone is sent off on 1 September, their ban will start on 22 September. Non-receipt of paperwork is not a defence against playing a suspended player. If the club secretary does not receive any paperwork, they should contact the County FA to query the matter.
-There is no requirement for the player to sign the paperwork before it's returned to County.
-If six or more players receive a card in any one game, then the club will be charged with misconduct. A letter of censure will be sent from County to the club, followed by a £25 fine if it happens again in the same season, then £50 etc.
-Suspensions for serious offences may be appealled.
-Players suspended last season will still be suspended in 2011/12
-Matches that can be used to serve suspensions are league matches, our League Cup and Birmingham FA's County Cup. Any minor cup that we organise would also count, such as the Kevin Kovacs Memorial Trophy or a secondary cup as they are registered with County.

You can read the FA Discipline Handbook by clicking on the link below or visiting www.thefa.com and clicking on dicipline, where everything is explained in full. I'd recommend that club secretaries read the handbook. It is 69 pages long but not all of it will be pertinent to you, you can skip some parts.

FA Discipline Handbook

Grass Pitches Available during the Summer

Two grass pitches near Stourbridge are available for hire throughout the summer months. Please contact Stephen Lea on 07886 118668 if you are interested. Post code DY9 9JW. Unfortunately there are no changing facilities.