Conference Rules and Regulations

STATUS OF PLAYERS

The FA Rules will apply in respect of all matters concerning players.

Players will be contract, non-contract or scholars. All players must be registered on forms provided by the Competition.

To be eligible, a player must have obtained an International Transfer Certificate (if required), have signed a Competition registration form, and have been registered and approved by the Company in accordance with a procedure set by the Board before playing in any Competition organised by the Company.

All players' contracts shall be in the full name of the Club. If the club is a corporate body, the contract must state the full name of the company, and also include the company registration number.

The registration of a player shall be valid for one Playing Season only.

Each Club will be issued with Competition registration forms prior to the start of each playing season and will pay a fee in accordance with the Fees Tariff.

Additional forms will be available from the Competition for the fee stated in the Fees Tariff.

The registration of scholars must be in accordance with The FA Rule C3(a).

The Board have the power to refuse or cancel the registration of any player found guilty of undesirable conduct and to disqualify the player in question from participating in any or all matches in the Competition for a breach of Rule.

Except when specific approval has been given by the Board a Club cannot sign or transfer more than one player, contract or non-contract, from another Club at any one time, unless a period of 14 days has elapsed between each signing.

The Board have the power to place an embargo on the registration, transfer or the loan transfer of players by any Club who are deemed to be in breach of these Rules.

It is the responsibility of each Club to ensure that any player signing a registration form for that Club has, where necessary, the required International Transfer Certificate.

REGISTRATIONS

In the event of a player signing registration forms for more than one Club, priority of registration shall decide for which Club he is entitled to play.

The Club submitting the later form shall be notified of the prior registration of the player and the circumstances under which the registration forms were signed shall be investigated by the Board.

Any player found to have signed registration forms for more than one Club or any Club found to have knowingly induced a registered player of another Club to sign a registration form, shall be dealt with by the Board in such a manner as it shall think fit.

Clubs must have at least 11 players registered 14 days prior to the commencement of each Playing Season.

TRANSFERS

The transfer of the registration of a contract player from one Club to another must be in writing, on the Competition transfer form, duly signed by the contract player and the two Clubs and forwarded to the Company for approval and registration.

The registration of a contract player whose contract is cancelled by mutual consent shall be automatically cancelled upon receipt by the Company of a copy of the relevant FA form.

A non-contract player whose registration for a Club is cancelled or transferred for any reason whatsoever, cannot return to his original Club until a minimum of four weeks has elapsed from the date of the cancellation or transfer without the consent of the Board.

Should a Club wish to register a Non-Contract player who is registered by another Club, both Clubs if in agreement must sign the standard Competition transfer form applicable to Non-Contract players.

If a non-contract player also registers for a club not in membership of the Competition, his registration for the Competition may be retained by the Club.

PLAYING AN INELIGIBLE PLAYER

Any Club found to have played an ineligible player in a match shall have any points gained from that match deducted from its record and have levied upon it a fine in accordance with the Fines Tariff.

The Conference Board may vary the decision in respect of the points gained only in circumstances where the ineligibility is due to the failure to obtain an International Transfer Certificate or in the case of where a substitute player who was intended to be a participant in a match or was listed on the official team sheet did not participate in that match.

The Board may also order that such match be replayed on such terms as are decided by the Board which may also levy penalty points against the Club in default.

FOREIGN PLAYERS

In a Competition match a Club shall not, without the consent of the Board, play more than three players who are not citizens of the European Union or colonies of the United Kingdom unless such person has been resident in the United Kingdom for a continuous period of five years.

PLAYERS' AGENTS

A Players' Agent cannot have an involvement in any Club in an official capacity (as defined by the Board) nor may he hold office with the Competition.

All Clubs must comply with The FA Regulations concerning Players' Agents.

FOOTBALL CREDITORS

Where a Club defaults in making any payments to any Football Creditor, the Club shall be subject to such penalty as the Board of Directors may decide.

SPORTING SANCTIONS

If an Insolvency Event shall occur in relation to any Club that Club shall be deducted 10 points.

The deduction shall be made forthwith on the happening of the first Insolvency Event.

WITHDRAWAL OF CLUBS

A Club must notify the Company not later than 31st December each year of its intention to withdraw from the Competition at the end of that Playing Season.

Failure to do so will make a Club liable to a fine in accordance with the Fines Tariff.

This Rule shall not operate so as to preclude promotion, relegation or lateral movement of any Club to another competition.

MISCONDUCT OF CLUBS, OFFICERS, PLAYERS

Any person charged and found guilty of bringing the Competition into disrepute and any Club, officer or Member charged and found guilty of misconduct as defined by the Board or of inducing or attempting to induce a player of another Club to

join his own Club shall be liable to such penalty as the Board shall deem appropriate.

ALTERATIONS TO RULES

No alteration to the Rules shall be made until they have been approved by The FA.

Alterations to Rules shall only be made by special resolution passed at a general meeting of the Company in accordance with article 26 of the Articles of Association of the Company.

THE FOOTBALL CONFERENCE PLAY-OFFS & PROMOTION FINAL SEASON

At the end of the season, the clubs who finish in 2nd, 3rd, 4th, & 5th and whose registered home ground has been inspected on or before 1st March in the season and meets the Criteria for Admission to Membership of the Football League Grading requirements in force that season and the Criteria for Admission to Full Membership of the Football Conference Limited shall be eligible to enter the end of season Football Conference Play-Offs and Promotion Final competition.

Play-Off Semi-Final matches shall be played over two legs on a Home and Away basis with a single leg Promotion Final at a neutral ground selected by the Football Conference Board of Directors.

This rule may be varied prior to the season at a formerly constituted AGM/EGM, or Special Meeting of all clubs, but must not be varied following commencement of the season.

In the Play-Off Semi-Finals, the two teams who finish Second and Third respectively in the Conference at the end of the Playing Season, will play away from home in the First Leg, 5th v 2nd, 4th v 3rd with the Second Legs being reversed to

2nd v 5th & 3rd v 4th.

If for any reason the clubs in second or third place are unable to stage the second leg ties at Home on the dates required the tie will automatically be reversed.

Any club not able to forfill a fixture (first or second leg tie) on the scheduled date may be subject to exclusion from the Play-Offs.

Should teams in first, second, third, fourth, or fifth place not meet the Criteria of The Football League by 1st March in the season or the Criteria of the Full Membership of the Football Conference Limited they will be excluded from participating in any Play-Off matches.

In the event of any club(s) not able to meet the criteria Play-Offs may be replaced by a club in the next qualifying position, should the club being excluded being based on a reduced position at the end of the playing season by a points sanction, which places their final position below 5th place and the draw for the matches will be made on the basis of final qualifying positions.

In the Promotion Final Tie the highest placed club in the playing season will be at home in a single leg tie except where a neutral ground is agreed in accordance with these regulations.

In the Play-Off Semi-Finals, in the event of the aggregate scores being level at the end of 90 minutes play in the second leg, extra time will be played in two equal periods of 15 minutes.

The team which has scored the most goals will be declared the winner at the end of the two periods of extra time. If the tie is still undecided after extra time the winners will be determined by the taking of Kicks from the

Penalty Mark in accordance with the International Board Decision in the Laws of the Game (i.e. 5 kicks per team taken alternatively followed by sudden death).

In the Promotion Final Tie of a single leg (in the case of two legged ties this means the second leg aggregate scores over the two legs), in the event of the score is level at the end of 90 minutes play, 30 minutes extra time will be played in two equal periods of 15 minutes at the end of the two equal periods of extra time the team scoring the most goals will be declared the winner.

If the tie is still undecided, the scores still being level, after both period of extra time the winners will be determined by the taking of Kicks from the Penalty Mark in accordance with the International Board Decision contained in the Laws of the Game. (i.e. 5 kicks per team taken alternatively followed by sudden death).

The Club declared winners of the Promotion Final will be eligible for promotion to the Football League from the Football Conference and will be replaced in the Football Conference by the club who finish in 23rd place in League Two of the Football League. Membership of the Football League will require the club eligible for promotion to meet the Criteria of Membership of the Football League and can only be included in the Play-Offs and Promotional Final if they have achieved the required standards on or by 1st March in the current season.