Durham County Schools FA

Discipline

From, the start of Season 2012-2013, all football will operate under the MATCH BASED disciplinary procedures of The Football Association and Schools' Football will be regarded as ONE category (i.e. Inter-School, Inter-District, Inter-County and International). Therefore, if your school football team has a player sent off for a standard red card offence, the suspension will automatically commence 21 days after the date of the game from which the player was sent off and will apply to all levels of Schools Football.

This is mandatory and there is no right of appeal except under claims for mistaken identity or if DVD evidence can be supported to prove that an obvious error has been made by the match referee. If you have not received a suspension notice from the ESFA within 10 days of a red card, then you must contact the ESFA immediately. Non-receipt of paperwork is not a valid defence and a charge will be issued if a student plays whilst under suspension to both the School/College and the player.

Any suspension that is imposed as a result of a standard red card offence will only apply to the category of football from which the player was sent off. This means that a player who is sent off for a Youth Club team can still play in Schools’ Football and vice-versa.

A Misconduct Charge will be issued where an incident is reported, which does not fall under standard dismissal offences or is a serious offence. A Discipline Commission will convene to consider all Misconduct Cases, whether the response to the charge is accepted or dented. If you receive a Misconduct Charge and it is found proven, the suspension is from ALL Football. If you are issued with a Misconduct Charge you will receive a charge letter, response form and any evidence that the ESFA has received which we have based our charge upon. You must ensure you respond to the charge within 14 days.

An administration fee of £10 is applied to all discipline cases. For further information on the new discipline process visit the Disciplinary Procedure page of this website.

The FA's Discipline Handbook can be viewed by clicking here. It gives advice and guidance to discipline managers, clubs, schools and participating players.

Caution Report Form can be downloaded here.

Misconduct Report Form can be downloaded here.