Northern Federations Soccer League
s United Soccer 1, Soccer2 and Force Three Federations s
P O
Box 151 280, New Lynn, Auckland — Email admin@nfsl.org.nz
Phone (09) 817 2988 —
JANUARY 2006
Welcome to the 2006 season of the Northern
Federations Soccer League. Preparations
for the season are well underway and the information contained in this memo
will assist officials, coaches, players, the media and all other stakeholders
in their planning for the season. Please
feel free to copy and distribute this information widely.
2006
ENTRIES
Teams
entered in the 2006 leagues are as follows:
|
lotto sports premier division |
1st division |
2nd division |
|
|
Ellerslie |
|
|
Bay
Olympic |
|
Claudelands
Rovers |
|
|
Lynn
Avon United |
Fencibles
United |
|
Central
United |
Melville
United |
|
|
East
Coast Bays |
Metro |
Manurewa |
|
Eastern
Suburbs |
Mt
Albert Ponsonby |
Ngaruawahia
United |
|
Glenfield
Rovers |
North
Force |
Onehunga
Mangere United |
|
Mangere
United |
Onehunga
Sports |
Otahuhu
United |
|
|
Papakura |
Papatoetoe |
|
|
|
Takapuna |
|
University-Mt
|
Three
Kings United |
Waitemata |
|
|
|
Play-Off
Winner*1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
premier reserves |
1st division reserves |
lotto sports premier women |
|
|
Ellerslie |
|
|
Bay
Olympic |
|
Claudelands
Rovers |
|
|
Lynn
Avon United |
Eastern
Suburbs |
|
Central
United |
Melville
United |
Glenfield
Rovers |
|
East
Coast Bays |
Metro |
Lynn
Avon Unite |
|
Eastern
Suburbs |
Mt
Albert Ponsonby |
Three
Kings United |
|
Glenfield
Rovers |
North
Force |
|
|
Mangere
United |
Onehunga
Sports |
Western
Springs |
|
|
Papakura |
Play-Off
Winner*2 |
|
|
|
Play-Off
Runner-Up*2 |
|
University-Mt
|
Three
Kings United |
|
|
Waitakere
City |
West
Auckland |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
youth league (20) |
|
|
|
Albany
United |
Bay
Olympic |
Bucklands
Beach |
|
Birkenhead
United |
Central
United |
East
Coast Bays |
|
Eastern
Suburbs |
Ellerslie |
Fencibles
United |
|
Glenfield
Rovers |
Manurewa |
Melville
United |
|
Metro |
North
Shore United |
Papatoetoe |
|
Three
Kings United |
University-Mt
Wellington |
Waitakere
City |
|
West
Auckland |
Western
Springs |
|
*1 New entries for the 2nd Division were received
from Te Atatu and Pukekohe, which has resulted in Western Springs, as the
bottom 2nd Division team in 2005, being relegated to their
Federation League. Te Atatu and Pukekohe
will compete in a play-off series with the winner taking up the remaining place
in the 2nd Division. (Refer
to Play-Off Matches for more information)
*2 New entries for the Lotto Sports Premier Women’s
Division were received from Hibiscus Coast, Papakura and Hamilton North. A 10-team competition has been confirmed,
involving all 8 teams that completed the 2005 season and two of the three new
entries. Hibiscus Coast, Papakura and
Hamilton North will compete in a play-off series with the top two sides taking
up the remaining two places in the Lotto Sports Premier Women’s league. (Refer to Play-Off Matches for more
information)
*3 The Youth League received 20 entries. The first round will be strictly a grading round between two sections of 10 teams each. The top 5 from each section will then play off for the Premier Youth Championship and the bottom 5 will play off for the Youth 1st Division Championship.
PLAY-OFF
MATCHES
2nd
Division
Pukekohe
and Te Atatu will play a two-leg play-off series to determine who will take up
the final place in the 2nd Division.
Te Atatu won the toss and elected to play their first match away.
Games
are as follows (home team named first)
11 March Pukekohe v Te
Atatu 2.00 at McLennan Stadium
19 March Te Atatu v Pukekohe 12.00 at Trusts Stadium
Hibiscus Coast, Papakura and Hamilton North
will play one round of matches, all at neutral venues, to determine who will take up the
final two places in the Lotto Sports Premier Women’s Division. Papakura won the toss and elected Hibiscus
Coast to play Hamilton North in the opening match of the play-off series.
Games
are as follows
12 March Hamilton North v Hibiscus
Coast 2.00 at McLennan Stadium
15 March Hibiscus Coast v Papakura
(time and venue to be confirmed)
19 March Papakura v Hamilton
North (time and venue to be confirmed)
All team entry fees are payable by 20 February 2006. In a change from previous seasons, payments are to be sent to the Leagues Manager (PO Box 151 280, New Lynn) and not Burns McCurrach.
All NFSL competitions will commence on the weekend of 1-2 April. In addition to normal weekend matches Lotto Sports Premier Division, 1st Division, 2nd Division, Premier Reserves and 1st Division Reserves will also play on Easter Monday (17 April) and ANZAC Day (Tuesday 25 April). The 2nd Round of the Chatham Cup and the Reserves Knockout Cup will be played on Queen’s Birthday (5 June).
There will be no Youth League matches on 23 April, 9 July and 13 August due to school holidays and the national Secondary Schools tournaments.
Default playing days and kick-off times apply to all divisions of the NFSL. These are currently set as follows:
Lotto Sports Premier Men Saturday or Sunday 2.45 pm
1st and 2nd Division Saturday 2.45 pm
Premier Reserves Saturday or Sunday 12.30 pm
1st Division Reserves Saturday 12.30 pm
Lotto Sports Premier Women Sunday 10.45 am
Youth Sunday 12.30 pm
In the Lotto Sports Premier Men’s Division the home team is able to nominate its preferred playing day, except in the case of double-header weekends, when no games will be played on Sundays. In a significant change from past seasons Premier Division clubs will also be able to nominate their preferred playing day for their reserve team’s home matches. For travel purposes Premier and Premier Reserve matches involving Tauranga City United will need to be scheduled on the same day.
Clubs may apply to me (in writing) for a change to the above kick-off times and playing days. In some cases I may approve changes to kick-off times, but the opposing club must agree to any changes to playing days. If an agreement can’t be reached between the two clubs the default playing day and kick-off time will apply.
Congratulations to the following 2005 NFSL Award winners:
Premier Men
· Player of the Year Jake Butler (Bay Olympic)
· Young Player of the Year Shaun van Rooyen (North Shore United)
· Sportsman of the Year Shaun Irvine (Papakura)
· Coach of the Year Sean Hird (Bay Olympic)
· Golden Boot Brad Scott (North Shore United)
Premier Women
· Player of the Year Terry McCahill (Lynn Avon United)
· Young Player of the Year Ria Percival (Lynn Avon United)
· Sportswoman of the Year Jenny Carlisle (Lynn Avon United)
· Golden Boot Helen Collins (Claudelands Rovers)
· Jeremy Ruane Trophy Lynn Avon United/Rebecca Tegg (Eastern Suburbs)
Referees
· NFSL Referee of the Year Nick Waldron
· Premier Women’s Referee of the Year Nick Waldron
Administration
· Club Administrator of the Year Debbie Naylor (Bay Olympic)
RULES AND REGULATIONS
The NFSL Regulations have been updated and are awaiting ratification by
the NFSL Board and NZ Soccer. Once this
has been received the Regulations will be circulated and will also be available
through the NFSL website.
Some of the key changes are as follows:
·
Any player registered with a New Zealand Football
Championship franchise may play in an NFSL competition if he is temporarily
released by the franchise back to the club he was registered with prior to the
commencement of that NZFC season.
·
A New Zealand Football Championship franchise may
temporarily loan guest players to NFSL clubs at their discretion, on the
condition that no NFSL club may play more than one (1) New Zealand Football
Championship guest player in any one season.
·
The NFSL ball of choice is Lotto and only Lotto
balls will be permitted in all games under the control of the NFSL. Failure to adhere to this condition will
result in a fine for offending clubs.
· The Youth League is restricted to players under the age of 19 on 1 January, i.e. players in the 2006 League must be born in 1987 or later. No over-age players will be permitted in the Youth League.
NFSL SPONSORSHIP
Lotto Sports have come on board as a sponsor of the NFSL. As part of their sponsorship arrangement Lotto
Sports will provide 100 balls to NFSL clubs, with a retail value of more than
$10,000. The balls will be allocated to
clubs on a pro rata basis, dependent on the number of teams the clubs have
playing in NFSL competitions.
The Premier Men’s and Women’s Divisions will now be known as the Lotto
Sports Premier Division and Lotto Sports Premier Women’s Division. Lotto Sports will also sponsor Player of the
Month awards in both of these divisions.
TEAM CARDS
The standard of information on team cards in 2005 was extremely poor
throughout most divisions. A number of
teams often failed to complete their team cards correctly or missed the
deadline of their card being received within three working days of the match
being played.
All teams must hand their team card to the referee no later than 30
minutes before the scheduled kick-off time.
At this point the card must be fully completed, except for the score,
misconduct records, referee details and the signature of a team official. Every player (and substitute) must be
recorded on the card as surname first, then first name (not initials), and must
be listed with a shirt number.
At the completion of the game the referee should add the score, goal
scorers, misconducts, substitution details and the names of the match
officials, sign the card and return it to a team official.
If the team official is happy that these details are correct they
should sign the card. If not, any issues
arising should be discussed with the referee at that time.
The information requested on the team card is mandatory and failure to
provide that information may result in a fine for each breach.
NFSL 2006 LAUNCH EVENT
The NFSL will hold a season launch event on Sunday 19 March at Trusts
Stadium, in Henderson. The event will
coincide with the 2nd leg of the 2nd Division play-off
between Te Atatu and Pukekohe and will precede the NZFC match Waitakere United
v Team Wellington. Entry to the lounge
area will be from 12.00 and brief formalities will commence at 12.45.
A finger food lunch will be served and a cash bar will operate. Clubs will be able to collect their team
cards and balls (donated by Lotto Sports) and receive an update on events and
activities of the NFSL. Invitations to
the launch event will be sent to stakeholders of the NFSL. Entry to the launch event will be by
invitation. Each NFSL club will be
invited to send up to two representatives.
DISPENSATION TO DEFER MATCHES
There is no regulation within NZ Soccer or the NFSL that guarantees the
deferment of any club matches if players are required for international
duty. However, I have the discretion to
consider such requests from clubs. As
the playing schedule is already very tight, we don’t have many opportunities to
play catch-up matches. For that reason
most requests for matches to be deferred will be declined. However, in exceptional circumstances
requests may be granted and in those instances the matches will need to be
played as soon as possible after the deferment.
MATCH PROGRAMMES
From 2006 clubs will be required to produce a match programme for all
Premier (men and women), 1st and 2nd Division
matches. The minimum requirement for the
programme will be the publication of team lists, including numbers, for both
teams. Visiting clubs must provide the
home club with a squad list by 10.00 am on the Wednesday preceding the
match. All clubs must send a copy of one
match programme to me before the end of April.
PLAYER REGISTRATION
Clubs are reminded that all players must be registered
with their federation prior to them playing in any match. Players who are transferring to a club must
have a clearance from both their previous club and their federation before they
play in a match for their new club. If
the transfer is to a club in a different federation a clearance is required
from both federations involved. If clubs
don’t adhere to these regulations they risk the loss of any points gained
and/or a fine.
GROUND AND FACILITIES CRITERIA
Jim Church has volunteered his services to assist me with ground and facility
inspections. Jim has previously worked
with Alan Fraser in this capacity for the Northern League and the Auckland
Football Association. I will work with
Jim to develop a schedule of club visits, which will be circulated to clubs and
federations.
The criteria has been circulated to all clubs and additional copies can
be obtained from me on request. Clubs
are encouraged to be self-policing with their own facilities, completing the
evaluation forms internally and taking steps to address areas of the criteria
that are not being met.
PITCH BARRIERS & ROPING OF GROUNDS
Clubs are reminded of their obligations to provide a safe playing area
for players and match officials. Premier
grounds (men and women) have to have a permanent barrier around the entire
ground. Clubs that don’t currently have
such a barrier must work with their councils and federations to meet this
requirement.
All other grounds must have both sidelines roped off
extending the length of the sideline, with the ropes being no closer than 2
metres from the sideline. There is no
requirement to rope off behind the goal lines, but clubs can choose to do so if
they wish. If they do the ropes should
be no closer than 3 metres from the goal line.
Some clubs have chosen not to rope off grounds that have an athletics
or cycling track around the outside of the playing area. This is acceptable as long as all
spectators are kept outside the track.
If this is not the case the playing area will need to be roped off, as
outlined above.
TECHNICAL AREA
A marked Technical Area is a requirement of all grounds used for NFSL
matches. Where games are transferred or
scheduled at neutral venues it is the responsibility of the designated home
team to ensure that a Technical Area is marked in white. The Technical Area extends one metre either
side of a team’s bench area or dugout and extends forward to a point no closer
than one metre from the touch line. The
size of the Technical Area is determined by the width of the bench area and the
space that exists between the seating and the touch line.
The Board has appointed Peter Goldsmith to conduct an independent
review of the NFSL. The first stage of
the review will involve Peter interviewing the Chairman and CEO, plus a coach
and one other stakeholder, of each Federation, in one-on-one meetings. The purpose of stage one is to ascertain
whether there is still a need for the NFSL in the present era. If so, stage two will look at how we can best
take the NFSL into the future.
Feedback from the review, and decisions resulting from that, will be
communicated to stakeholders during the season.
LIAISON OFFICER FOR MATCH OFFICIALS
The safety and well-being of match officials must be a high priority
for all clubs. To assist in this area
clubs are encouraged to appoint a Referee’s Liaison Officer to assist and
support referees on match days. Duties
should include meeting the referee/s on arrival, managing the key to the
referees’ room, general hospitality, and providing security if required.
Best wishes for an enjoyable and successful season.
Peter Courtney