The MJPL Competition Rules 2012-13

The season will be divided in to two parts.

The Regular Season, and the Championship Play-Offs.

 Regular Season 

The Regular Season will run from Saturday 8th September 2012 until Saturday 23 March 2013. (The end date may change if necessary.)

All games will be played for the following points.

2 points for a win.

1 point for a draw.

0 points for a loss.

During the Regular Season all teams will play no more than 20 fixtures to determine their final positions in the Performance Table.

If a team fails to play 20 fixtures their final points total will stand with the amount of games played.

These may change if necessary and will be reviewed by the Management Committee in the event of continued bad weather. 

The Aim Of The MJPL

The aim of The MJPL is to encourage the development of the football skills of the boys who play in the league.

This competition allows for the development of players without the pressures of promotion and relegation, and still arranging competitive fixtures.

All teams will be included in a performance table which can be viewed on the leagues website.

Also all player data can be viewed online after each team has updated their match data after each game. 

Match Data and Information

The home team only provides the online match report. Each team has two days after the fixture date to complete their match data. Both teams will have 7 days to check and report any discrepancies between the data entered onto the system and the team sheet swapped before the match.

No game will be allowed to be called off due to losing a player(s) to county call ups.

The MJPL is a development league and the League Management Committee will encourage teams to use all players within their squads.

Failure to do so the offending teams will be charged with league rule (10F) for non-fulfilment of fixture, and the game will be awarded to the opposition and 2pts deducted.

 Match Fixtures 

Teams will be expected to play a fixture every Saturday.

The amount of fixtures may be decreased by the League Management Committee if during the season bad weather causes too many fixtures to be postponed.

Fixtures will be provided by the Fixtures Secretary and will be done so by the following criteria.

1.       One and a half hour travelling rule.

2.       Current form of teams to keep fixtures competitive where this is possible.

Local fixtures will be arranged for the winter months where possible.

All fixtures will be arranged by the Fixtures Secretary. If a fixture is played without the permission of the Fixtures Secretary the fixture will be void.

 Season Breaks 

During the season the following dates have been set aside to have no fixtures to allow for school holidays. These dates are as follows-

October 2012 Half Term one Saturday – please let us know which Saturday you wish to have off.

February 2012 Half Term one Saturday - please let us know which Saturday you wish to have off.

Saturday 30^th March 2013 (Easter Saturday)

Each team has one 28 day notice that can be used during the regular season.

This notice allows a team to close a date where that team will not be given a fixture.

A winter break will be used this season and will be between- Sunday 16^th December 2012 – Friday 4^th January 2013.

No fixtures will be played between these dates.

Fixtures can be arranged on these School Holiday dates if a team’s request a fixture in writing to the Fixtures Secretary.

All fixtures will be played on Saturdays with the exception of a Beneficial Experience.

A fixture can be moved forward to be played on an evening when the use of a first team ground under floodlight is available.

The teams involved must gain permission from the fixtures Secretary before a fixture can be moved

Competition Benefits 

Any postponed fixtures do not have to be rearranged.

If a team resigns from the league all results gained against the team will still stand.

All teams during the season will play fixtures against similar level teams were possible. This can't always be guaranteed.

Teams get the chance to play more teams during a season than if stuck in the same division.

Any team where possible could end up playing 20 different teams during a season.

Once a team has completed 20 fixtures then friendlies can be arrange against other teams that have also completed 20 fixtures.

The MJPL Championship Play-Offs 

The MJPL Championship Play-Offs will commence on Saturday 6^th April 2013.

The start date may be moved forward if all clubs have managed to complete all 20 fixtures earlier than expected. This will be monitored by the League Management Committee.

Teams 

All teams that have played 75% of their fixtures in the regular season will play in The MJPL Championship Play-Offs.

Teams will be seeded according to their final position in the Performance Tables.

Championship Set -Up

At least two Championship Play-Offs competitions will be organised for each age-group. A third or fourth competition may be arranged in age-groups with a large amount of teams. 

Tables

The Performance Table will be split at the end of the Regular Season into the different Championship Play-Offs competitions.

All teams will be seeded according to their final Performance Table position.

The highest seeded team in each round will play the lowest seeded team and so on with all teams that remain in the competition.

 If an uneven amount of teams were left in a competition then the lowest seeded teams would enter The MJPL Wildcard Play-Off until the required amounts of teams are left.

Venues 

The highest seeded team will have first choice of home venue. If the venue is not available then the tie will be offered to the opposition.

If neither home ground is available the League Management Committee will arrange a venue for the fixture to be played.

If a team refuses to play a Championship Play-Offs fixture the offending team will forfeit the tie, and the opposition will be awarded the tie.

All rounds of The MJPL Championship Play-Offs will follow this rule with the exception of the final.

The Final

The Final venues will be decided by the League Management Committee.

If a team refuse to play on the arrange Championship Play-Off Final date the team will be removed from the competition and their place awarded to the team they beat in the Semi-Final.