Rules of Lapton Football Club

1. TITLE
The Club shall be called Lapton FC [the Club] and shall be affiliated to such Leagues that the Management Committee shall decide. The following rules govern all teams of the Club. The qualifying date for players to be eligible for different age groups shall be August 31st [or other such date which shall be determined by any League [s] at the start of the season] of the year which the season follows. The players age on that date shall determine his/her age group.

2. MEMBERSHIP
The membership of the Club shall be:
a) Playing members. Playing members under 16 must have written permission from parent [s] or guardian [s] on the registration form before becoming eligible for membership. Playing members under 16 shall be without a vote.

b) Parent members [of members defined in A above] who shall be full members with one vote per playing member.

c) Non-playing members who wish to assist the Club who shall be associated members without a vote.

d) Members of the Management Committee who shall be full members with one vote each.

3. OBJECTIVE
The objective of the Club shall be to promote girl's/boy’s and women's/men’s football.

4. STATUS OF RULES
These rules [the Club Rules] form a binding agreement between each member of the Club.

5. RULES AND REGULATIONS
a) The Club shall have the status of an Affiliated Member Club of the Football Association by virtue of its affiliation to/membership of the Football Association. The Rules and Regulations of the Football Association and parent County Association and any League or Competition to which the Club is affiliated for the time being shall be deemed to be incorporated into the Club Rules.

b) No alteration to the Club Rules shall be effective without prior written approval by the Management Committee.

c) The Club will also abide by The Football Association's Child Protection Policies and Procedure, Codes of Conduct, and Equal Opportunities and Anti-Discrimination Policy.

6. SUBSCRIPTIONS
a) All players will be required to agree to a Players Commitment, which will include acknowledgement of the Club Rules and Codes of Conduct.

b) Subscriptions are managed as follows: -
i) Such subscriptions as the Club may determine by proper voting by the Management Committee shall be paid by Playing Members who shall be duly and officially advised
ii) Each member shall sign a Players Commitment Form to confirm having read the Club Rules and that they undertake to pay the subscriptions due by one payment by 1st September. It is the responsibility of each Team Manager, or a nominated person, to collect the subscriptions from their Players and maintain a record in a Subscriptions Book/Register. The Treasurer will record, by each individual age group, the subscriptions collected and show in the Accounts accordingly.
iii) In cases of hardship, members may be allowed to pay a reduced subscription or pay in instalments. This shall be at the sole discretion of the member's Team Manager who shall be duly satisfied that there is a genuine case of financial hardship.
iv) Subscriptions shall not be repayable.
v) The Management Committee shall have the authority to levy further subscriptions from the members as are reasonably necessary to fulfill the objectives of the Club.

7. MEETINGS (including EXTRAORDINARY or ANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGS)
a) Meetings will be arranged as follows:
i) The Annual General Meeting of the Club shall be held in August of each year or at some convenient time after the season ends, to be decided by the Management Committee. For an Annual, or an Extraordinary General Meeting, the Secretary shall give 21 days notice to all members, together with an agenda for an AGM and, in respect of an EGM, with a statement of the business to be transacted.
ii) The Chairman or Secretary may call an EGM or must do so if an EGM is requested in writing by more than one third of the Club Membership.
iii) The Chairman or Secretary shall call other such meetings of the Club as necessary.

b) The AGM shall be held in each year to:
i) Receive a report of the activities of the Club over the previous year.
ii) Receive a report of the Club's finances over the previous year.
iii) Elect the members of the Management Committee.
iv) Consider any other business.

c) Nominations for election as members of the Management Committee shall be made in writing by the proposer and seconder, both of whom must be current members of the Club, to the Club Secretary not less than 21 days before the AGM. Notice of any resolution to be proposed at the AGM shall be given in writing to the Club Secretary not less than 21 days before the meeting.

8. OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES
a) The Club will constitute the following committee to manage all aspects of the Club activities:
Management Committee comprising of the Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, and Social Secretary.
The Management Committee will have the ultimate authority for setting policy and determining the roles and responsibilities for the Management Committee.
The property and/or assets of the Club shall be vested in the Management Committee.
The Disciplinary Committee (see rule 11) shall have the power to suspend or expel any member deemed guilty of conduct prejudicial to the good name of the Club. The Management Committee will have power to fill such vacancies as may arise in its constitution between Annual General Meetings, such appointments to be resubmitted to the members at the next AGM.

b) The Officers of the Management Committee shall govern the Club.

c) The voting members of the Club at its AGM shall elect the Officers of the Management Committee. They shall serve a term of office of one year unless otherwise decided at an interim EGM.

d) The appointment of Team Managers shall be the sole responsibility of the Management Committee. A simple majority will be required to appoint a Team Manager, and, in the event of a tie, the Chairman will also hold a casting vote.

e) Save as that provided for in the Rules and Regulations of the Football Association and the County Association, to which the Club is affiliated, the Management Committee should have the power to decide all questions and disputes arising in respect of any issue concerning the Club Rules.

9. COMMITTEE MEETINGS
The Management Committee shall meet at least quarterly in pursuant of managing the Club activities.

10. ADMINISTRATION
a) All Club correspondence, minutes of meetings and administrative records shall be the responsibility of the Club Secretary. Team Managers are responsible for the general running of their teams' affairs including the provision of player registration information, the collection of annual subscriptions, and any other information as requested by the Management Committee.

b) Player registration shall be in a two-year age band below the specified age. Occasionally a player will be allowed to play in a higher age group subject to the full agreement of both Team Managers concerned prior to the beginning of the season. No such invitation shall be made to the player concerned until this full agreement has been reached.
Subject to League rule (s) a team will have the right to call up players from a younger team, if that team does not have a match and the players agree. In the event of a younger team having a match, younger players may play for an older team with the agreement of both Team Managers concerned and the players.

11. DISCIPLINARY COMMITTEE
A Disciplinary Committee when required shall be selected from full Members.
The Management Committee will appoint the members of the Disciplinary Committee.
All members will be required to be present and vote on any issues before the Disciplinary Committee.

12. VOTING
All full members will have one vote except the Chairman who shall not vote unless a casting vote is required to decide an issue on which the voting is otherwise equal.

13. FINANCE
a) All monies subscribed to, or raised on behalf of the Club, shall be applied to further the objectives of the Club and for no other purposes.

b) The Treasurer shall record and keep true and proper accounts of all finances of the Club (receipts, credits, payments, assets and liabilities), closing the accounts annually before the AGM or no later than 31st August.

c) An audited statement of accounts for the financial year, shall be submitted to the AGM or no later than 31st August by the Management Committee to the members at the AGM.

d) The bankers for the Club will be Natwest Bank.

e) Designated signatories shall be the Secretary and the Treasurer and all cheques shall be signed by both signatories.

14. ALTERATIONS AND AMENDMENTS TO THE RULES
a) Any proposal to alter or amend the Rules must be submitted in writing 21 days prior to the meeting at which such alteration is to be first considered.

b) Any such alteration or amendment will require a two-thirds majority of members present and voting at a General Meeting.

15. DISSOLUTION
a) A resolution to dissolve the Club shall only be proposed at a General Meeting and shall be carried by a majority of at least three-quarters of the members present.

b) The dissolution shall take effect from the date of the resolution and the members of the Management Committee shall be responsible for the winding up of the assets and liabilities of the Club.

16. CLUB RULES
A copy of the Club Rules, duly certified as agreed at the AGM, dated as stated and signed by the Secretary shall be deposited with League (s) to which the Club is affiliated. Any subsequent constitutional change shall be notified by the Club Secretary to the League (s) to which the Club is affiliated.

17. CLUB PROPERTY
All items of kit and equipment issued to the Team Managers/players are the property of the Club and must be returned to the Club on leaving. It is the responsibility of the Team Managers to recover items from any player who leaves the Club. Kit and equipment purchased by teams through fundraising events or sponsorship is the property of the Club, unless specifically paid for by the Team Manager/player. No Club property should be loaned out to any other Club or person without prior permission of the Management Committee.

18. EXPENDITURE AND RECEIPTS
Receipts must be obtained for everything bought for the Club, or as a normal consequence of running Club affairs, and must be supplied to the Treasurer when seeking reimbursement. The only exception to this is the paying of referee's fees. The Management Committee, or a Management Committee member, must pre-approve any expenditure.

19. OTHER BUSINESS
The Management Committee, whose decision will be final and binding, shall deal with any other matters not governed by the foregoing Rules.

Dated: July 2002