Match Postponement & Cancellation Policy

In the event of needing to postpone/cancel a competition match, it is best practice to provide your Divisional Secretary notice at least 14 days in advance of your published competition match that you wish to cancel, providing a detailed reason as to why.

At the earliest opportunity, the team who needs to request the league for a postponement is to ensure the Divisional Secretary and the team they are playing are aware of any potential problems.

The League recommends that the two teams try to find an amicable solution first before approaching the Divisional Secretary to ratify the new date for the competition match.

The Divisional Secretary will set a new date if the teams are unable to agree – noting that towards the middle or end of the season, the Divisional Secretary may insist that the two teams find a midweek date – or potentially play a “double header” if both home and away league competition match s are still to be played.

If the request to cancel the league competition match is within 14 days of the published date, then it will be the decision of the Divisional Secretary to confirm the outcome, which will be ratified by the League Committee. 

Cancellations within five days of the game, regardless of age group or fixture type, may result in the home club incurring match fees & referees not having a game. Any costs incurred will be passed onto the defaulting club. Furthermore, a charge could be issued to the defaulting club before the match for any games cancelled five days or fewer. 

This outcome of any cancellation will include, but not be limited to, one or more of the following:

1. agreement to rearrange competition match (it would be helpful if both teams have agreed a new competition match date in advance)
2. a charge may be issued to the defaulting club (depending upon circumstances)
3. game awarded to the non-cancelling team
4. warning issued to a club where there are multiple requests by a team to cancel at short notice 
5. a charge is issued to a club for multiple cancellations

The League Committee ruling will be final – and will be based upon the recommendation from the Divisional Secretary who will consider the reasons given by the team for cancellation, the number of times a team has cancelled competition match(s), or potentially how difficult a team has made it to rearrange postponed games. 

In extreme breaches of the cancellation policy, where a team is found to have cancelled for direct gain, the club will be issued with a ‘1 strike rule’ and a reminder issued about future conduct to the club over cancelling games. Failure to follow the league rulings on future cancellations will result in fines and automatic awarding of results to the non-cancelling team.

For festival matches, where time constraints legitimately apply and matches need to be completed prior to pre-booked finals day, then it may be appropriate and/or necessary for the game to be recorded as a draw, with 1 point awarded to each side (with no bonus point available). In the event of this occurring, it will be the decision of the Divisional Secretary and the League Committee to make the final ruling over the result & awarding of points. In the event of these circumstances, the decision will be final with no opportunity to appeal.

In the event of games needing to be cancelled where circumstances are out of the club's control – such as weather events – then the League will re-arrange competition matches with no penalty to either club (again, it is always helpful if teams have a pre-agreed alternative date).