English Schools' Football Association

Darren Alcock is currently the English Schools' FA's Acting National Competitions' Manager and has addressed the following letter to those schools, colleges and associations that will be participating in ESFA National Cup fixtures during Season 2012-2013:

Dear Colleagues,

Welcome to another season of Schools’ Football - I hope the summer break has left you feeling revitalised for the challenges that a new school year presents! To view your ESFA National Cup fixtures go to www.esfa.co.uk/schools or www.esfa.co.uk/associations and login using your private number and password, that has been sent to you directly.

As you will be aware, British Sport is currently riding high on the crest of a ‘feel good’ wave following the success of our athletes at the London 2012 Olympic Games. No doubt, many of your students will come back to school brimming with enthusiasm and will be keen to experience and participate in as many different sports as possible. Let us embrace this enthusiasm and not deny our students this privilege by needlessly withdrawing from inter-school sport fixtures. Far too many ESFA National Cup matches last season were forfeited by teachers in the early rounds of our competitions and consequently deprived their pupils of the chance to compete at national level. This is an issue which I intend to address this season, so I urge all schools to be aware of their responsibility to provide for our youngsters; the opportunities missed today will be lost forever!

One of the ESFA priorities over the next few years is to attract as many new participants as possible to our national game. Therefore, we have instigated a new competition at the Under 12 age group to cater for ‘B’ teams. This will afford a chance to those students who do not usually represent the school football team, the opportunity to represent the school in the ESFA National Cup. Hopefully, by doing so, we will recruit new participants. I will observe with interest how this particular concept develops.

The success of last season’s Under 13 Small Schools’ Trophy has been expanded to provide a natural progression into the Under 14 age group. Again, this idea is specifically designed to encourage more participants as it allows those schools which feel that they cannot compete with larger schools, the chance to experience ESFA National Competition at its very best.

As always, at the beginning of a new season, there are some important matters that I must bring to your attention regarding rule changes - I have listed these items below:

Discipline: From the start of Season 2012-2013, all football will operate under the MATCH BASED disciplinary procedures of The Football Association and Schools’ Football will be regarded as ONE category (i.e. Inter-School, Inter-District, Inter-County and International). Therefore, if your school football team has a player sent off for a standard red card offence, the suspension will automatically commence 21 days after the date of the game from which the player was sent off and will apply to all levels of School Football. This is mandatory and there is no right of appeal except under claims for mistaken identity or if DVD evidence can be supplied to prove that an obvious error has been made by the match referee. If you have not received a suspension notice from the ESFA within 10 days of a red card, then you must contact the ESFA immediately. Non-receipt of paperwork is not a valid defence and a charge will be issued if a student plays whilst under suspension to both the School/College and the player.

Any suspension that is imposed as a result of a standard red card offence will only apply to the category of football from which the player was sent off. This means that a player who is sent off for a Youth Club team can still play in Schools’ Football and vice-versa.

A Misconduct Charge will be issued where an incident is reported which does not fall under standard dismissal offences or is a serious offence. A Discipline Commission will convene to consider all Misconduct Cases, whether the response to the charge is accepted or denied. If you receive a Misconduct Charge and it is found proven, the suspension is from ALL Football. If you are issued with a Misconduct Charge you will receive a charge letter, response form and any evidence that the ESFA has received which we have based our charge upon. You must ensure you respond to the charge within 14 days.

An administration fee of £10 is applied to all discipline cases. For further information on the new discipline process visit the ESFA website or refer to pages 37 – 46 of the ESFA handbook.

Academy / Centre of Excellence Players: It is important to note that the following rule was passed at the ESFA AGM in June and will apply from the start of Season 2012-2013: “In Individual School/College competitions, a maximum of three players who attend the same FA Licensed Academy/Centre of Excellence run by a club that employs contract players can participate in a match.” The rationale behind this rule change was to (1) minimise the impact that a whole team of players from the same Academy/Centre of Excellence can have on a National Cup Competition, and (2) to ensure that schools field genuine school players, rather than a whole team of those who have joined the school as part of an Academy-based programme.

Mixed Football: The FA has amended its rules to extend the age at which mixed football is allowed from the U13 age group to the U14 age group. The FA requested this change in order to allow further research into mixed football at this older age group during the 2012-13 playing season. The resolution was fully supported by The FA Board, FA Executive and FA Council and the result means that girls and boys will be able to play in the same teams up to and including School Year 9.

Repeated Substitutes at Under 18 level: During Season 2012-2013 and Season 2013-2014 the ESFA will partake in a trial instigated by The Football Association to allow the repeated substitutes rule to be applied at Under 18 level. Therefore, the following amendment will apply to Rule 7 (Substitutes) of the General Competition Rules published on page 72 of the ESFA handbook:

‘Repeated’ substitutions are allowed in all competitions up to and including the Under 18 age group. In these age groups, a player who has been substituted during a match becomes a substitute and may, in turn, replace another player at any time subject to the substitution being carried out in accordance with Law 3 of the Laws of the Game.

11-a-side matches: Teams are permitted to use 5 substitutes from five named players.

The FA’s rationale behind this trial is to seek more flexibility on substitutions in the amateur game in an effort to help increase participation in 11 v 11 competitions.

The FA Youth Review: As you may already be aware, The FA’s Youth Review is now complete and here is how it will affect Secondary Schools’ Football over the coming seasons:

- All changes made following the FA Youth Review relating to formats of the game that children will play are optional for Season 2012-2013. This enables Schools and Associations to have an additional year of lead-in time to support the implementation, if required.

- Player Pathway for Season 2013-2014:

Age Group	Maximum Format	Recommended Pitch size	Ball Size	Recommended Goal Size
U12	11 v 11	90 x 55 yards	4	21 x 7 or 24 x 8 (ft)
U13	11 v 11	90 x 55 yards	4	21 x 7 or 24 x 8 (ft)

- Player Pathway for Season 2014-2015:

Age Group	Maximum Format	Recommended Pitch size	Ball Size	Recommended Goal Size
U12	9 v 9	80 x 50 yards	4	16 x 7 (ft)
U13	11 v 11	90 x 55 yards	4	21 x 7 (ft)

ESFA U12 Schools’ Cup will remain as 11 v 11 for Season 2012-2013 to allow schools the chance to action the correct pitch and goal size for that age group. The ESFA’s advice on this matter is that where possible, the early introduction of 9 v 9 football at your school may facilitate the purchase of goals before the main rush at the end of this season. The Football Foundation is currently operating a scheme to fund 50% towards the cost of new goalposts for 9 v 9 football. For more information on this scheme please visit www.footballfoundation.org.uk

Football Kit: The use of a full black football strip is becoming an increasing cause of concern – it is not permitted at this level of football. If you are seeking to purchase a new football strip for your school, please ensure that you do not acquire black shirts, as this colour is reserved for the match officials only. All football shirts must be numbered.

I remind you that if you wish to undertake an FA Level 1, 2, 3 or age appropriate Coaching Qualification, you can receive a significant discount from the cost of the course as long as you are a full time teacher. This bursary scheme has also been expanded to support both teachers and students to gain basic Referee and FA Medical Coaching Qualifications. For more details on this scheme visit www.esfa.co.uk/coaching

Finally, I take this opportunity of wishing you and your students the very best of luck for the forthcoming season. Remember, winning is important, but not paramount. The importance of offering our youngsters the opportunity to experience National Competition in an educational environment should not be underestimated. I urge you to promote the values of The FA’s Respect Campaign – information on this can be found in the ESFA handbook and on www.thefa.com/respect

Best regards,

Darren Alcock
NATIONAL COMPETITIONS’ MANAGER
email: darren.alcock@schoolsfa.com