Northwich & District Pool League 2021/22

Northwich & District Pool League - RULES
2018 - 2019 Season
1. a) The League shall organise championships for as many divisions as deemed necessary to suit member clubs with promotion and relegation annually between each division as directed by these rules and subject to the number of membership applications at the Annual General Meeting each season . Each team to consist of seven players.
(The league management reserves the right to reject any application for membership)
b) All new teams will be placed in the lowest division. If however the committee consider that a new team contains too many experienced pool players, they reserve the right to place them in a higher division.
c) The management committee reserve the right to restrict additional signings of players with 1st Division experience by lower division teams, after the initial registration forms have been submitted to the secretary.
2. a) All clubs will provide to the Secretary a full list of names of players to be registered with the league. These names are to be entered on the league registration forms provided and submitted to the Secretary at the first captains meeting.
b) Other players may be registered during the season by submitting to the Secretary all names of additional players. All players listed to play must be registered with the Secretary before the game commences. Players may be registered on the night of the fixture providing that the Fixture Secretary has been informed before 8pm. Players can be registered by phone, text, messenger or via Facebook.to the Fixture Secretary.
c) Please Note; any landlord/steward is allowed to play for any team from their venue, regardless of division, but can only play for one team in any given fixture week.
d) Clubs selecting and playing non-registered players in Championship or Knock-out matches may be reported to the league management committee and be fined not more than £5.00 and will lose any points gained.
e) Players may transfer to another team in the same league providing that the player has not played more than four games for their present team. If the player has played more than four games then both captains have to be agreeable to the transfer. The Secretary has to be informed prior to the transfer.
3. a) Clubs engaged in Divisional Championships shall have fixtures with all other clubs in their division during the season playing each other home and away and the respective Championship shall be won by the club having scored the highest number of points at the end of the season. In the event of there being no outright winner, the Championship & Runners-up places will be decided firstly on wins then on legs difference. If still tied then a play off will decide the final placings.
b) Points will be awarded as follows:
2 points for a win, plus
1 point for each frame won (including the losing team who shall also receive 1 point for each frame won).
4. a) A minimum of 4 players is required to fulfil a fixture, any less means the fixture will be forfeited
7-0.
b) In the event of a club defaulting on a Championship fixture, the offending team will forfeit the match 7-0 and fined (see fines) plus 2 points deducted.
c) A team failing to provide any players for 2 matches in any one season will be expelled from the league and banned from the competition for the following season.
d) Any team failing to provide any players for a match in the last 6 weeks of the season will be reported to the Committee and could be banned for a period of 12 months from the start of the following season. The result and additional fines for such instances will be in line with rule 4 (a)
e) All players registered with an ‘expelled’ team will also be banned for the following season, but they may have their ban lifted by paying a fee of £10. This fee may be paid by the individual player or the team signing them.
f) In the event of a club resigning from the league during the first half of the playing season, all their previous results will be deemed void.
g) In the event of a club resigning from the league during the second half of the playing season, all 1st half results will stand and any 2nd half fixtures played will be deemed void.
5. Subject to special conditions incorporated in these rules all matches must be played under rules laid out by the ‘Northwich & District Pool League’.
6. All Championship matches shall be played on Wednesdays and shall consist of seven frames.
7. Championship and Knockout matches may be rearranged providing that both captains and the Secretary are informed, matches can only be arranged FOR A DATE PRIOR TO THE OFFICIAL MATCH DATE, no matches will be permitted to be arranged after the official match date unless the Match Secretary and the Committee agree under very exceptional circumstances.
8. All matches shall commence at 8pm prompt. No frame should be started after 11pm, unless both captains and the venue agree. Any frames not completed will not be replayed and the result will stand. This rule applies to league games only.
9. The home captain shall be responsible for the organisation and smooth running of each match.
10. a) If at 8.15pm the first player is not available for play the offending team will forfeit that frame and that frame will count as a win for their opponent
b) If at 8.30pm a team has no further players available when called to play, the offending team will forfeit the remaining frames to their opponents. This will be reported to the Committee and may be subject to a fine. (See rule 21 of the League Constitution)
An official match result card will be completed by the team captain with full details and signed by a suitable witness.This is subject to ratification by the Management Committee.
11. 8-BALL BREAKS A player making an 8-ball break will receive a trophy to mark their achievement.
PLEASE NOTE: A recognised 8-ball break, is when a player pots all their seven allocated coloured balls followed by the black 8 ball, during their first visit to the table. If a player makes their first visit to the table with ‘2 shots’ following a foul break, a genuine 8-ball break can only be achieved by potting the necessary 8 balls without using their ‘2nd shot’ , as the ‘2nd shot’ constitutes a second visit.
Also in the event of a player making their first visit, and one or more of their allocated coloured balls have been potted during their opponents first visit, it would be impossible for that player to make a genuine 8-ball break.
In the event of a player achieving an 8-ball break, the team captain must ensure the said player and beaten opponent (as witness) sign the appropriate space on the match score cards.
12. ORDER OF PLAY ON MATCH CARDS – Before the start of each frame, both captains shall write down the name of their nominated player on their respective match cards.
Each captain shall then simultaneously reveal to each other those names.
13. a) REFEREES. All referees decisions should be accepted and any disputes arising are expected to be resolved at the time of the match, However if a referees decision is questioned and it cannot be
sorted out amicably on the night the disputing captain should refuse to sign the match card and follow the complaints procedure (see Rule 20 of the Constitution)
Failure to comply with this procedure renders any such complaints void.
b) All signed on players are registered referees.
14. MATCH RESULTS. At the end of each match an official result card will be completed and signed by both captains. It is the responsibility of the home team to post a photo of the score card on our Northwich and District Pool League Facebook page. however it is beneficial to the committee if the score card can be posted by both teams.
Match records must be kept by all team captains.
15. a) TEAM K.O. COMPETITIONS. To be played on Wednesdays. The team K.O. competition is open to all member clubs. Only players registered with the league may play in competitions. A team will consist of seven players and games will consist of seven frames.
b) Players who have transferred during the season and have already competed in the Knockout competition will be cup-tied for the remainder of the season and not be permitted to take part in future Knockout matches.
Match rules as for the Championship will apply to the Team Knockout competitions.
c) If a match over-runs the 11pm deadline and the pub/club, landlord/steward, insists that the match is called to halt, any outstanding frames will be played on another date agreed upon by both captains. (N.B. only the players already named on the match card must be used). If no amicable agreement can be reached, the management committee will decide on a date to complete the tie.
16. a) LEAGUE PAIRS & INDIVIDUAL K.O. COMPETITIONS. These competitions are open to all players registered with the league. All details for these competitions will be on our website www.northwichpool.weebly.com
b) For each player a team enters into the singles or doubles knock-out’s, a charge of £1 will be added to their league fees. However if all their teams players honour all their ties, the full amount will be credited, but if any one of their players renege on a fixture then the total amount will be charged.
c) Any player who fails to fulfil a fixture (without notice to either the opponent or the Competitions Secretary) will be immediately removed from all other events that season and will subsequently be banned from entering the following season's competitions.
d) Matches will consist of three frames in all rounds up until the semi-finals which will be the best of five and the finals which will be the best of seven. All matches MUST be of the number of frames stated and played on league tables ONLY. Failure to comply will result in the match being declared VOID.
e) The initial match at each venue shall have a scheduled 8pm start. Any player not checked in at their venue by 8.30pm may forfeit the match to their opponent (unless pre-arranged with opponent).
f) It is the responsibility of the winning player(s) to ensure that the results of any singles/doubles matches are sent by text to the Competitions Secretary on the evening of the match, or no later than Thursday following the Tuesday fixture date.
Late results or failure to comply with this rule, will result in the winner(s) or both players being scratched from the competition.
17. VENUES. At the beginning of each season the committee will decide on the venues where all finals will be played based on the quality of the tables in the current season.
18. a) DOUBLES K.O. MATCHES Conferring between partners must cease once a player makes his/her first shot of the visit, they may not confer again until the visit is over.
(The start of a visit is recognised as being ‘when a player plays their first shot’)
b) Double partners may confer for a period of no more than 90 seconds before making a shot. After 1 minute of conferring the referee shall inform the players that they have 30 seconds remaining before having to make a shot. If after 90 seconds there is no effort being made to take a shot, the referee may call a ‘foul’ and award two shots to their opponents.
(This rule applies only to semi-final and final K.O. matches of 5 & 7 frames with neutral referees).
c) A player may replace their partner at any time up until playing their first game in the competition. (Please Note: Claiming a match or receiving a ‘bye’, constitutes having played the game).
19. MIXED DOUBLES K.O. MATCHES These matches are played to a Scotch Doubles format which means that each player takes alternate shots. We currently allow partners to confer in between shots in this competition.
20. All singles/doubles games must be decided by the specified deadline date. No games should be played after the deadline however results need to be submitted no later than midnight on the Thursday following the original fixture date.