O35 General Rules 2023

General
1. This is a summer competition as defined by the FAI fai-handbook
2. Teams must have at least 14 properly registered players on the FAIConnect national database with a status of ACTIVE on the O35 Team Roster no later than 7 days before the first fixture. Otherwise, they may FORFIT the first game. If the team does not have 14 players for the next fixture, they may be removed from the competition. Action is at the discretion of the GFA O35 sub-committee.

Players
3. Players must be aged 35 before the competition starts.
4. Players must be registered on the FAIConnect national database with a status of ACTIVE on the O35 Team Roster no later than 48 hours before a fixture.

Fees
5. Player registration fee is €15, payable to the GFA
6. Team affiliation fee is €50, payable to the GFA

Referees
7. GFA will appoint a referee to all games
8. The home team will pay the referee €50 fee before the match starts
9. Match cards will be completed by both teams. Max of 18 players per team.

Junior Players
10. Players who already have an Active status for an adult team in any league for the season 2022-2023 will not be allowed to play in any of the non-Junior O35s leagues in 2023. The O35 Junior league is an option for those players.

Transfers
11. Re-Registration rules (a player registered with a Club is re-registering with a different Club for O35s) will be governed by the FAI rulebook fai-handbook
12. Players may transfer up to and including the third round of scheduled games. This includes transfer between divisions and transfer to other Clubs.

Fixtures
13. All matches are mid-week, every week, normally Wednesdays, but can be changed by the GFA due to referee availability.
14. League games are set for Wednesday evenings at 7pm KO but can be moved once game is played that week and both teams agree, good notice is given to the GFA and a referee is available.
15. If a game is not played prior to the next round, the GFA will make a decision how to award the points based on all available data.
16. Home team to submit result via sportsmanager
17. Roll-on, roll-off, unlimited substitutions, 45 minutes a side.
18. The match duration can be changed, once agreed by both clubs in advance and notified to the referee prior to kick-off

Players Conduct
19. We remind all clubs that your player's behaviour must follow acceptable standards and both teams must follow all instructions and accept all decisions of the referee on the night of a game.
20. Any bad conduct will be treated as a serious matter requiring a proper disciplinary procedure, which may result in sanctions to the player and/or club involved.
21. The referee should always use the Yellow Card and Red Card as normal.
22. Players should be sent off if there is any violent conduct and reported to Ger Ryan.

Team Photos
23. Team photos should be taken by both managers of both teams before KO of each game, and they should be submitted by whatsapp to Ger Ryan.
24. Random checks against registered players will be conducted by the GFA.
25. If a manager suspects a player has arrived late to avoid the team photo, that manager may ask the referee to instruct the opposition team to stand for a subsequent team-photo to be taken by the requesting manager either at half-time or just after the match finishes, at the referee discretion. Failure to comply with the referee request must be noted in the match card and will be considered an attempt to conceal an illegal player.

"Sin Bin" (Temporary Dismissals) – see below for more info

26. Sin Bin is used in leui or in addition to a yellow card. Players do not have to receive a sin bin for every yellow. The sin bin is used by the referee to de-escalate a situation or in addition to dissent.
27. Referees should use the “Sin Bin” to deal with matters of dissent and in support of the Respect programme.
28. The match official may impose a sin bin in addition to a yellow card if warranted.
29. The Player sanctioned by the referee will be off the pitch for 10 minutes.
30. Team will be down by 1 player (substitute not allowed to replace the player that is in the bin; but can choose to put another player on after the 10 minutes is up).

Next Year 2024
i. GFA will focus on the continued expansion of recreational football at the non-junior level.
ii. GFA will not be running a Junior O34 competition in 2024. When it comes to August-23, players will make a clear choice “I want to either play junior football or O35s this season coming (not both)”.

"Sin Bin"
Sin Bins (Temporary Dismissals) were brought in to O35s in Galway at the request of referees to improve the match experience for everyone involved with the game.

Referees should use the “Sin Bin” to deal with matters of dissent and in support of the Respect programme. It should not be used in place of a yellow card or red card.

See https://www.fareferees.co.uk/sin-bins

 

 

FYI - O35 General Rules 2022

Player Registration & age

  1. Players must already be aged 35 before being added to any team on FAI.NET
  2. First issues require photo ID and DOB official paperwork
  3. FAInet Registration document containing the Signature of any player/players two days (one calendar day in-between upload date and fixture date) in  advance  of any game
  4. Players must be approved to play O35s on FAInet at least 24 hours prior to the match.
  5. A player must not be banned from all football activities (i.e., a serious ban).

Rules specific to O35s Junior

  1. Current junior Players can play in the same club for o35s but still require their name added to the o35 teamsheet, signature and eligibility date must be granted.
  2. FAInet transfer from 1 club at Junior to another club for o35s can only happen from 1-June
  3. Players can transfer back to Junior winter league after the finals and will still be eligible for O35s Junior next summer 2023.

Rules specific to O35s Non-Junior

  1. Current junior Players cannot play in Non-Junior o35s, no exceptions will be allowed.
  2. For the avoidance of doubt and the sob story requests for exemptions for fellas who signed junior this season but didn't play, or only signed to give the reserves a dig out the odd time, or played only a bit of junior, and now want to play o35s Non-Junior.
    1. The short answer is NO
    2. The long answer is "N O"; they are welcome to play O35s in the Junior O35s competition.
  3. Players can transfer to Junior winter league after the finals, but will then not be eligible for Non-Junior O35s next year in 2023.

Official O35s Referee List 2022

  1. Brian Lynch 086 364 6912
  2. Danny Corbett 087 243 5233
  3. Joe Hession 085 131 1127
  4. Lukasz Szkwarek 085 198 8519
  5. Mick Walsh 085 883 6286
  6. Mike Cubbard 087 415 5391
  7. Mike Shaughnessy 087 322 3526
  8. Ned Ward 087 933 4461
  9. Niall Crosby 086 059 8574
  10. Paul Healy 085 191 9863

Fixtures and Appoint Referee

  1. Fixture
    1. All matches are mid-week, every week, normally Wednesdays.
    2. League games are set for Wednesday evenings 7pm KO but can be moved once game is played that week and both teams agree.
    3. If both teams come to an agreement for every group game, that can be accommodated as long as they are played that week and referee is available.
    4. If both teams don't agree a fixture; then it defaults back to Wednesday evening.
    5. If a game is not played in the week, the GFA will make a decision how to award the points based on all available data.
    6. The appointed O35s Coach must post the agreed date and time to the coaches whatsapp group for transparency.
    7. Any request to postpone/or move a fixture past that week must be submitted to Ger Ryan and confirmation received in writing.
    8. Semi finals and finals dates will be set and cannot be moved.
  2. Appoint Referee
    1. It is up to the home team to appoint and pay referee a set fee of €50 for all league matches.
    2. The GFA will be appointing 3 officials for all semi finals and finals; split 50/50 between home&away clubs.
    3. Home team arranges time and day of match with away manager, and then appoints official referee from one of the official list only.
  3. The home team can only appoint a referee from the Official Referee list - see section above

General Rules

  1. Competition is run by the Galway FA
  2. O35s competition is a summer league
  3. Match Cards to be Completed by both teams and the referee.
  4. The home team to send result via the home club secretary on evening of fixture. This is using sportsmanager software
  5. Roll-on, roll-off, unlimited substitutions, 45 minutes a side.
  6. Players Conduct
    1. We remind all clubs that your player's behaviour must follow acceptable standards and both teams must follow all instructions and accept all decisions of the referee on the night of a game.
    2. As organisers of this competition, the GFA wish to assure you that any bad conduct will be treated as a serious matter requiring a proper disciplinary procedure, which may result in sanctions to the player and/or club involved.
    3. Red cards will have 1 match automatic ban.
    4. More serious bans for more serious bad conduct, which may also include points reduction for the team.
  7. "Sin Bin".
    1. 10 minutes.
    2. Team will be down by 1 player (substitute not allowed to replace the player that is in the bin; but can choose to put another player on after the 10 minutes is up)
    3. It is designed to allow a referee to get a player to leave the field having done something stupid; to cool down.
    4. The referee should always use the Yellow Card and Red Card as normal. Players should be sent off if there is any violent conduct and reported to me.
  8. Covid-19
    1. Hopefully this is behind us

 

Yours in Sport,

Contact Details

Ger Ryan • 087 9823033

GFA Registrar / FAInet • Jamie Warrick  • 083 470 8251

Galway Football Association