Club Constitution and Rules The name of the Club shall be Boothstown Junior Football Club (the Club).
2. Objects
The objects of the Club shall be to provide the fullest opportunity for young people in and around Boothstown to participate in junior association football, and to provide a safe and enjoyable learning environment to maximise opportunity and potential. The Club shall promote social and community activities in furtherance of this objective.
3. Status of Rules
The rules (the Club Rules) form a binding agreement between each member of the Club. Every Club member (player), officer and official shall be entitled to a copy of these Rules.
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 Limited 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.
Any alteration to the Club Rules shall only be made with the majority approval of the Club General Committee. Amy alteration to these Rules must be submitted to the Club Secretary, in writing, formally proposed and seconded, 14 days before a meeting of the Club Executive Committee. Any decision of the Club Executive Committee regarding alterations to the Club Rules must be ratified by the next meeting of the Club General Committee before formal adoption.
The Club will also abide by the Football Association's Child Protection Policies and Procedures and Codes of Conduct. The Club will have its own Child Protection Policy and Codes of Conduct, and these shall be deemed to be incorporated into the Club Rules. The Club will abide by the Equal Opportunities and Anti-Discrimination Policy of the Football Association.
Save as provided for in the Rules and Regulations of the Football Association and the County Association to which the Club is affiliated, the Club shall have the power to decide all questions and disputes arising in respect of any issue concerning the Club Rules.
4. Membership
Membership of the Club shall be open to any young person eligible, by virtue of age, to register for any of the Club's teams.
The acceptance of a new member (player) into any of the Club's teams shall be at the discretion of the team's manager, on the basis of full equality of opportunity.
New members (players) must pay the Club registration fee before their initial membership is accepted, and all members (players) must pay the annual club registration fee and weekly subscriptions for their membership to be retained.
Each team manager will maintain a current list of members (players), and shall make this list available to the Club Secretary upon demand. The Club Secretary shall make a full register of Club members available to the Football Association or parent County Association on demand.
5. Annual Registration Fee
An annual fee payable by each member shall be determined by the Club's General Committee. Fees shall not be repayable. Players shall only be eligible to play for the Club after payment of annual registration fees. The General Committee may deem that annual registration fees shall be collected as part of membership subscriptions.
6. Subscriptions
Club members (players) shall pay membership subscriptions of an amount determined by the Club's General Committee to fulfil the objects of the Club. Subscriptions shall be collected by team managers at intervals agreed by the General Committee, and shall then be paid to the Club Treasurer. Subscriptions shall not be repayable. Players shall only be eligible to play for the Club after payment of membership subscriptions.
7. Team Selection
Team selection shall be at the discretion of each team manager. Team managers shall make all players and parents aware of selection policies when players register to join these teams.
8. Conduct and Discipline
The Club shall abide by the Codes of Conduct of the Football Association and shall have Club Codes of Conduct for members (players), managers and officials, and spectators. These Codes of Conduct shall be deemed to be incorporated into the Club Rules. The Club will expect that:
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9. Equipment and Premises
The manager of each team shall have overall responsibility for the safe-keeping of all equipment (including nets, footballs, corner posts, training equipment etc.) provided by the Club.
All equipment shall remain the property of the Club at all times. Managers shall be expected to return equipment to the Club upon request.
The players will be provided, at the start of each season, with full kit. Kit will remain the property of the Club. It shall be the responsibility of each player to care for the kit. Kit must be returned to the Club upon request. In the event of loss the player will be charged at full replacement cost.
The Club colours are Burgundy (predominant) and Sky Blue. Club officials or managers procuring new kit, for example in collaboration with sponsors, shall ensure that all home match kits are predominantly Burgundy with some Sky Blue.
The Club is dependent upon the goodwill of those who provide premises and playing areas for training and matches. Any member found damaging these premises (or the Club's equipment) will be deemed to be in breech of Club Rules and Codes of Conduct.
Managers and players will be responsible for ensuring that, at the end of each match, any changing facilities and pitches are left in first class condition and that all Club equipment or waste is removed. Where the premises are owned by another party then the manager must also ensure that they are left in secure and safe condition.
10. Resignation and Expulsion (Player Members)
A member (player) shall cease to be a member of the Club if, and from the date on which, he/she gives notice to the Club General Committee via the team manager of their resignation.
A member whose annual registration fee or weekly subscriptions are more than two months in arrears may be deemed to have resigned.
The Club shall have the power, though a majority vote of its General Committee, to suspend or expel any member who is deemed to have committed a serious breach of Club Rules or Club Codes of Conduct. Suspension for a determined period or expulsion shall require 14 days' written notice. In either instance the member will have the right to appeal to a specially-convened Club Disciplinary Committee, which shall consist of four members of the Club General Committee, nominated by the Club General Committee. The appeal shall be heard within the period of written notice.
A member who resigns or is expelled shall not be entitled to claim any, or any share of, the Club's property.
11. Club Officers and Officials
The Club's Officers and Officials shall be members of the Club Executive Committee and the Club General Committee.
12. Club Executive Committee
The Club Executive Committee shall consist of the following officers:
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The Club Executive Committee shall have the authority to make any decision relating to the running of the Club, based on a majority of its members. The Club Executive Committee shall refer all its decisions to the monthly meeting of the Club General Committee for consultation, and may reconsider any decisions at the request of a majority of the Club General Committee.
Five shall form a quorum at meetings of the Club Executive Committee.
Decisions of the Club Executive Committee will be on the basis of a majority present, with the Chairman having a casting vote only.
13. Club General Committee
The Club General Committee shall consist of the members of the Club Executive Committee plus the managers and assistant managers of each of the Club's teams. The names of the members of the Club General Committee shall be held by the Club Secretary, and only those members shall be entitled to cast a vote at meetings of the Club General Committee.
Team managers and assistant managers will only be deemed to be members of the Club General Committee if they have fulfilled all requirements specified by the Club Child Protection Officer in respect of their application to work as a team manager or assistant manager, and if they have fulfilled the requirements of the Club Standards Officer in respect of their qualifications or intentions to gain qualifications within a given period of time.
The Club shall have the power, though a majority vote of its General Committee, to suspend or expel any member of the General Committee (including from team management duties) who is deemed to have committed a serious breach of Club Rules or Club Codes of Conduct. Suspension for a determined period or expulsion shall require 14 days' written notice. In either instance the member will have the right to appeal to a specially-convened Club Disciplinary Committee, which shall consist of four members of the Club General Committee, nominated by the Club General Committee. The appeal shall be heard within the period of written notice.
Ten shall form a quorum at any meeting of the Club General Committee.
The Club shall not hold fewer than six meetings of the General Committee each year.
The Club General Committee shall be given 14 days' notice of any meeting.
The Club General Committee shall be chaired by the Club Chairman, or Club Vice-Chairman in the absence of the Club Chairman.
The Club Chairman, or Club Vice-Chairman in the absence of the Club Chairman, shall be the sole interpreter of the Club Rules at meetings of the Club General Committee, and shall determine every point of order.
Decisions of the Club General Committee will be on the basis of a majority present. The Club Chairman, or Club Vice-Chairman in the absence of the Club Chairman, shall have a casting vote only at meetings of the Club General Committee.
Team managers will present a report of the activities of the team to meetings of the Club General Committee.
An Annual General Meeting (AGM) shall be held annually at an agreed date and at such place as the General Committee decide, and shall be the occasion for the presentation of the Club's Annual Report of Accounts. Notice of any resolution to be proposed to the AGM shall be given in writing to the Club Secretary not less than 21 days before the AGM. Ten shall form a quorum at an AGM.
A Special General Meeting (SGM) of the General Committee may be called at any time by the Club Executive Committee, and shall be called within 21 days of the receipt by the Club Secretary of a requisition in writing, signed by no fewer than five members of the Club General Committee, stating the purpose of the SGM and the resolutions proposed. Fifteen shall form a quorum at any SGM.
14. Bridgewater Park Committee
The Club shall delegate members of its Executive Committee or General Committee, along with the Club Ground Officer, to form the Bridgewater Park Committee as a sub-committee of the Club.
The delegated members of the Bridgewater Park Committee shall act to the furtherance of the objects of the Club in respect of the use and development of the Bridgewater Park football ground.
15. Club Finances
A bank account (or accounts) shall be maintained in the name of the Club (the Club Account). Designated account signatories shall be the Club Chairman, the Club Vice-Chairman and the Club Treasurer.
Under normal circumstances no sum shall be drawn from the Club Account, or paid from the Club Account, except by cheque signed by two of the three signatories.
In exceptional circumstances sums may be paid from the Club Account by one of the three signatories using a Club debit card. In such circumstances at least one other signatory shall be informed, and proof presented.
All monies received by the Club, and payable to the Club, shall be received by the Club Treasurer, and deposited in the Club Account.
The income and asset of the Club (the Club Property) shall only be applied in the furtherance of the objects of the Club.
The Club Executive Committee shall have the power to authorise the payment of remuneration of expenses to any member of the Club, or to any other persons for services rendered to the Club.
The Club shall prepare an Annual Report of Accounts.
All fines imposed on individual players by governing bodies or leagues shall be the responsibility of the individual player, who must ensure that fines are paid promptly. The Club may take disciplinary action against any player who fails to pay fines on time.
A separate set of accounts will be maintained in respect of the Bridgewater Park Committee to ensure that Bridgewater Park is funded and managed on a sustainable basis.
16. Dissolution
A resolution to dissolve the Club shall only be proposed at a Special General Meeting of the Club General Committee, and shall be carried only by a three-quarter majority of members present.
The dissolution shall take effect from the date of the resolution being passed, and members of the Club Executive Committee shall be responsible for winding up the assets and liabilities of the Club.
Any surplus assets remaining after discharge of the Club's debts and liabilities shall be transferred to the parent County Association who shall determine how the assets should be utilised for the benefits of the game. Alternatively, such assets may be disposed of in such other manner as members of the Club Executive Committee, with the consent of the parent County Association, shall determine.
Constitution and Rules adopted by Boothstown Junior Football Club on 31 January 2005.