Burton District Clubs Snooker League

League & Competition Rules

1. The league shall be called the “Burton & District Clubs Snooker League”.

2. Subscriptions shall be £50.00 per team, payable on nomination. Nomination for entry to the season and subscriptions must be paid on the night of the AGM. One further week will be allowed with the subscription increasing to £60 per team. Failure to comply with this shall forfeit your entry to the league.

3. Players must be bona-fida members of the club for which they play.

4. Matches to be played under WPBSA rules, with the exception that a “miss” cannot be called in the league.

5. The teams shall consist of four players and matches decided over two frames per player. One point shall be awarded for each frame won and match win. The team with most points in the premier division to be named champions.

6. There shall be no more than sixteen teams in any one division. The top three teams of each division below the premier shall be promoted, and the bottom three teams of each division other than the lowest shall be relegated. The exception to this shall be when the entries for the league exceed the present capacity of three divisions. The league will then be constructed into four divisions. More teams will be relegated from each division to enable equal distribution of teams in each division. In other years, more teams may also be promoted to allow each division to fill up to sixteen teams. Any team withdrawing from the league or not completing their fixtures is placed in the relegation zone until season end. They rejoin in the lowest division.

7. Once a player has played one match for any team he cannot play for any other team without prior consent of the committee. With the exception of a registered floating player. Each club may register with the league 3 floating players per season (to be named). These players may play 6 matches per team per season. On completion of a seventh match for any one team that player may only play for that team for the rest of the season. Floating players may be registered on the match card. Clubs with up to four teams may register three floating players. Clubs with five teams may register four floating players and clubs with six teams may register five floating players etc.

9. All matches to be played as the Fixture Book.  If this is not possible, FOR ANY REASON, both captains must inform the Fixtures & Competitions Secretary within 48hrs prior to the original match date, giving details of the re-arranged match and sent to the Fixtures & Competitions Secretary asap.

a)  The claiming of matches under Rule 9 will only be accepted when the Fixtures & Competitions Secretary has full knowledge of all the circumstances under which the claim is being made from both teams involved.

b) Failure to comply with Rule 9 and 9(a) will render the match result void until ratified by the full committee under the dispute procedure as in Rule 10 

c) Should a fixture not take place as per the league handbook then the team at fault will receive a 4pt penalty.

d) If Rule 9 is not adhered to (48hrs notice) then the team at fault will receive a 9pt penalty.

e) All penalised teams have 14 days to appeal.

11. This rule to apply for championship, promotional or relegation purposes only. Teams at the end of the season tied on points will have their placing decided with priority to wins and draws. If still tied, placing will be decided by a play-off on a neutral table with players playing two frames. If drawn, nominated players (before match) play a sudden death frame.

12. Match cards must be received by the Fixtures and Competitions Secretary no later than 12.00 noon, Monday following the match. Failure to comply will result in the actual match result and points being entered into the league tables, with 2 points being deducted from the home team.

13. That no alteration to these rules shall take place except at the AGM or SGM convened for that purpose. Any proposed alterations to the rules must be submitted to the secretary 14 days before any such meeting. Votes allowed, one per person per team (e.g. if a club with four teams is represented by two members, two votes are allowed, if represented by more than four members then only four votes are allowed). Any changes made at the AGM or SGM will take effect immediately.

14. A player can play for one club only during the season, unless prior consent of the committee is obtained.

15. There shall be a prize for the player in each division with highest average and break at the end of the season. The average will be calculated in the following way. Frames won divided by frames played. A player must play three-quarters of all possible matches (21 out of 28) to qualify. Frames in claimed matches count towards the averages.

16. In all singles and doubles competitions, home player(s) are responsible for arranging for the fixtures to be played by the closing date as issued by the Competitions & Fixtures Secretary in the Burton Mail or Competition Draw issued direct to each individual club. Should the fixtures not be played OR the result not made known to the Competitions & Fixtures Secretary by the closing date, then the home player(s) will be removed from the competition. It is the responsibility of the home player(s) to contact the Competitions & Fixtures Secretary with the match result. In the event of players unable to make contact, the Competitions & Fixtures Secretary to be informed by the home player(s). Disagreements between players to be dealt with at the discretion of the Competitions & Fixtures Secretary.

17 a. Orme Shield matches will be played on the date published. At the start of the match all five members to be entered onto the card, and these players will be deemed to have played and are not allowed to play for any other team that season.

The winning side must send the match card to the Competitions & Fixtures Secretary within two days of the match. Failure to comply will result in elimination at the discretion of the committee.

The final to be played at a venue to be arranged in two parts on one night.

Matches to be drawn in two halves.

The wearing of T-shirts, jeans (both blue and black) and trainers is prohibited for league semi-finals and finals. Players attired in said garments will forfeit the fixture.

17 b.  Presidents Team Handicap matches will be played on the date published.

The team shall consist of four players.

These shall be the same players that play for that team in the league.

If there are more than four players in the league team then any combination of those players will be allowed.

A floating player for the club may be used and should be indicated on the card, but after playing for that team in the competition will not be allowed to play for any other team in the competition.

The use of a floating player may affect any handicap should that team gets to the semi-finals.

At the start of the match all four players to be entered onto the card. The home team will decide the order of play and indicate this on the card. The match will be played as four singles games.

If after four frames the match is a draw then each team captain will nominate two players to play the deciding doubles game over one frame.

The doubles game if required will start within 10mins of the singles games finishing.

The winning side must send the match card to the Competitions & Fixtures Secretary within two days of the match.

Failure to comply will result in elimination at the discretion of the committee.

The final will be played in two halves when there are four divisions. Should the result be a draw then a doubles frame will decide the match. When there are three divisions then the final will consist of a round robin competition.

The wearing of T-shirts, jeans (both blue and black) and trainers is prohibited for league semi-finals and finals. Players attired in said garments will forfeit the fixture.

18. All matches to be played with “Super Crystallite” or equivalent balls.

19. (1) Where a club, for what ever reason, has rules of its own which excludes a member or members of visiting clubs from playing snooker, either as an individual or as a member of a team, that club shall notify the League Secretary of the fact prior to the commencement of the season or, in the event of such an exclusion occurring during the season, within seven days of the rules being made.

   a) If a player of a team has been barred from another club due to alleged misconduct, then the team must produce another player to play in the match and not claim the points.

(2) Where such an exclusion exists, the intending visiting party shall contact the home club no later than seven days before the date of the match to rearrange the match according to the following provisions: -

   a) In the event of a league match the away team will forfeit two frames (where one player only is barred) or produce another player as per Rule 19 (1a). If more than one player is barred the home team will forfeit home advantage. In the former case the home team must produce four players before 8.00pm as Rule 8).

   b) In the case of all other competitions the home team or player(s) shall forfeit home advantage. 

   c) The match card should indicate that the match has been rearranged in accordance with this rule.

20. That the committee shall not suspend, ban or caution any player or players until the defendant’s have been given the opportunity to defend themselves at a committee meeting. 

   a) The defendant to be informed in writing 14 days before said meeting.

   b) The defendant to inform the secretary 7 days before the meeting if he is unable to attend, listing dates when he is able to attend OR the case will be adjourned to the next meeting.

   c) If unable to attend the next meeting, case to be heard without the defendant.

If you have any questions on the rules above, please contact us.