League Cup Rules

SOUTHEND AND DISTRICT JUNIOR SUNDAY FOOTBALL LEAGUE

CUP COMPETITIONS and PLAY OFF MATCHES RULES  2024- 2025 season

1..    The Competitions shall be conducted in Age groups U11/U12/U13/U14/U15/U16 & U17/18 in accordance with the Rules , Regulations and Laws of the F.A. and shall be open to every member which is a member of the Southend and District Junior Sunday Football League.  The competition shall be affiliated to the Essex County Football Association and may be played in a knock out basis or a qualifying group basis with a knock out format at its conclusion

2..   Entrance to the competitions shall only be open to SDJSFL member clubs

3..   Players shall be registered as per League rule 18 ,  

4..    A player shall not play for more than one team / club in any one competition during the same season . The onus is on all clubs  to ensure that their players are not cup tied by having played for any other team in the said competition during the current season

5     To play in the semi final and Final of a SDJSFL cup competition a player must have been registered to play for that team at least 29 days in advance of the scheduled fixture and played in at least one previous SDJSFL game .

6      Any team playing found proven to have played an ineligible player will be fined £50 and may be struck out of the competition and the match awarded to their opposition or order the tie to be replayed  at the discretion of the management committee

7     At the end of normal playing time should the scores be level the tie (knock out competition) will be decided by the taking of kicks from the penalty mark – penalties  NO EXTRA TIME REQUIRED 

8     The league reserve the right to switch grounds should the first named team(home) ground not be available.

9    The draw for the competitions shall be made by the automated FULL TIME website  and posted on that site as the competition progresses.   The first drawn team shall be considered the Home team and shall be responsible providing the match balls and the venue.  In the Finals the League will always provide the venue , match balls and setting the kick off time. 

10    Referees and assistant referees may be appointed to the Semi Finals/Finals  by the League . In the semi finals fees are to be split between the competing teams , In the final the referee and assistant may receive a mementoes and expenses in lieu of fees.

11     Pitch fees match officials fees shall be shared equally between the two teams in all rounds but it is the responsibility of the home team to pay the match officials .  Any claim for pitch fees should be supported with an providers invoice.

12      Any team failing to keep its engagement through being unable to field a team shall by default have the match awarded to the opposition (both group and knock out).  If a match is cancelled for any other reason other than players being unavailable the defaulting club shall be charged under League rule 6D and the management shall decide the outcome in accordance with the League Rules

13     For competitions with group qualifying section the following shall apply .  All matches should be completed by the group completion date as notified  at the start of the competition . Any matches not completed and not under a charge shall be treated as unplayed fixtures. 

14     For competitions with group Qualifying sections  if more than one team finishes the group on the same points the following shall apply

A  Play off  match (if the League determine  time allows) 

A  Head to Head results between the teams (not aggregate scores)  win loss or draw

B   Drawing of Lots / toss of coin

15 When the League is in a position to stage extra competitions to offer more fixtures, these competitions shall be know as “spring competitions” .   Entry into these competitions shall be by invitation only and entry fee of £10 will be charged and entry shall be dependant on the Fixture situation of each team . Once accepting the invitation ,withdrawal from the competition once it has started will result in a charge being raised against the club and may result in a fine not exceeding £20

Agreed and accepted by members at AGM August 2020

Rule 6 amended AGM June 2019

Rule 6 amended AGM August 2020  

Rule 7 Amended AGM July 2021 

Rule 5 Amended AGM June 2022

Rule 7 Amended AGM June 2022

Rule 15 added AGM June 2022

Rule 5  added AGM June 2023