15(a) Any Club failing to keep an appointment for a scheduled league or cup fixture will be issued with a fine not exceeding £50.00. Decisions on points and matches being then awarded to teams will be made, in conjunction with the league directives, by the League Council, on an individual basis, at their next scheduled meeting or a meeting arranged for such a purpose. In a case of a match that effects the league positions and, therefore, the league titles and/or Cup competition championships, please refer to league directive 41.

Any Club failing to have, or causing a game to be delayed by not having, a change of colours will be issued a fine of £20.00

Any Club having kit with no visible shirt numbers will be issued a fine of £10.00

Any Club being responsible for a match not starting at appointed time will be issued a £20.00 fine. unless special circumstances, being agreed by a league council official or referee, are accepted.

Any Club failing to provide a completed match form 10 minutes before the kick-off time to the appointed referee will be issued a fine of £10.00

Any Club failing to present their “First Aid Kit” to the match official 10 minutes before the kick-off time will be issued with a fine in conjunction with Directive 14.

Any Home club not having a suitable match ball available for a specific match, or not presenting it to the referee prior to the match, will be issued a fine of £10.00

Failure of a Club to exchange Player Identity Cards in the prescribed manner. (As in Directive 16) or not having Player Identity Cards available at a match will result in a fine of £20.00 being issued against the club and the incident immediately referred to the Management Committee for consideration.

This consideration in the case of Identity Cards not being available at a match will deal with the possible ineligibility of players for the offending team and may result in the offending team loosing any points gained, being removed from a cup competition, having further points deducted or being suspended from playing within the league for a specific period of time.

Teams thus suspended forfeit all the matches scheduled for them whilst serving the suspension. If the issue surrounds a league fixture, points gained may be awarded to the offending teams opponents. In the case of cup competitions, the offending teams opponents may be deemed to "walk over" into the next round of the competition.

Any Club playing an ineligible player, for whatever reason, will be issued with a fine of £50.00 for each player judged to be ineligible. In all cases, points won by the team in a game where any ineligible players have featured will be lost and awarded to the opponents should the offending team have won the fixture.

In all cases in a cup competition fixtures where “ineligible players” have featured the offending team, assuming that they actually won the fixture, will be removed from the competition and their opponents will be deemed to have "walked over" into the next round of the said competition. The matter will be further referred to the Management Council who may take further action as they deem fit.

In the event of BOTH teams fielding an ineligible player, or ineligible players, in a cup competition fixture, BOTH teams will be removed from the competition. If this should happen in a Semi-Final match, the League Council will then convene to discuss the matter and decide the outcome.

Teams should note that in all cases, in accordance with the league directives, where points could be awarded or deducted, and matches awarded, the league council will deal with each on an individual basis at a meeting, or part of meeting, designated for that purpose. When teams are advised of the league council decision it does not negate the right of reply, or appeal status, for the offending club.

15(b) REFEREE RESPECT

Issues of disrespect shown by any individual team within the competition to league referees including any “stand-in” referees, that may be used when no official allocations has been possible, will be dealt with in several ways depending on the severity of the disrespect shown.

In the first instance, the referee may feel that he wishes to report the team, and/or any individual players, to the FA. In the initial stages of such a report being issued by the referee to our governing body, the league council will consider the suspension of any such team until the mater has been initially dealt with by the governing body. League council may then decide that further action should be taken by the league in specific cases.

If the matter is simply reported to the league, the league council may then take action or may make a decision to ask the referee in question to report the matter, or report it themselves, to the FA for their action on the matter.

If dealt with by the league council, alone, reports considered to be minor in nature may incur a warning from council to the team concerned, should it be the first offence of the kind, or a fine of £20.00 to be added to any such warning as to the behaviour of any team regarding the issue of referee respect.

Any reports that are dealt with by the league council that are considered to be serious, or repetitive, in nature, may incur a fine of up to £50.00 maximum and will be accompanied by a final warning to the specific team concerned.

Any issues that are dealt with by the league council that are considered to be a major issue, in nature, can cause the league council to issue a notification that the team concerned has been deemed to have brought the league into disrepute. The team, in question, can be immediately suspended from the league competition, fined under the directive regarding disrepute and, in severe cases, can face expulsion from the league.

Requirements and Referee Respect Issues.

(1) The referee should be greeted by the home secretary when attending a match and the correct forms should be made available, at the correct time, by both team secretaries, accompanied by the teams first aid kit.
(2) The referee should be treated with common courtesy, by all officials and players, throughout the game. Whilst the designated captains of each side may make incidental enquires of the referee, players and officials should not query his decisions and/or show dissent and disapproval of his decisions or his performance.
(3) Foul and abusive language directed at the referee, by players, team officials or team supporters, will be treated as serious disrespect at all times.
(4) Threatening behaviour, by action or word, by players, team officials or team supporters, will be treated as a major issue of disrespect at all times.
(5) The respect of any Referee equipment used by teams, at any given match, is also deemed as part of this category. The responsibility of the well being of such equipment is the responsibility of the team using such equipment and should any breakage occur the team will be expected to reimburse the referee should any replacement be required. This matter would be dealt with by the league council.
(6) The questioning of referees following a match is also deemed as showing disrespect and will be treated in the same manner as anything that occurs throughout the match itself.
(7) At the conclusion of a game the referee should be dealt with immediately. All Match Forms and the Referee Report Forms should be made available to him without excessive delay, as should the fee payable by the teams for his services.

The League Directives give each, and every, team the right to send in a report about a referee. All of your issues regarding decisions etc: should be limited to that report. The Solihull & District Oakbourne Football League fully support the Football Association “Respect” campaign and will not tolerate member teams showing disrespect to their referees.