WIDNES & DISTRICT BILLIARDS & SNOOKER LEAGUE

RULE CHANGES FOR 2007/2008

1. An amendment to the existing rule 15 was made which means that scheduled fixtures can be re-arranged through the Executive Committee on two conditions. Both parties agree to the change and that the fixture date is brought forward.

2. An amendment to the existing rule 9 was also made which means that The Executive Committee shall have the final decision on any matter whether covered by the rules or not.

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Widnes & District Billiards & Snooker League

Official Rules

1     The league shall be known as ‘The Widnes & District Billiards & Snooker League’.

2     The league shall be governed by a council. This will consist of 1 President, 3 Vice- Presidents, 1 Chairman, 1 Treasurer and 3 Secretaries. These together with one representative from each member club will meet on the second Tuesday of each month from September to May at 7:30pm. Representatives of at least nine clubs must be present to form a quorum.

3     The retiring Chairman automatically becomes an ex-officio member of the council.

4     The Executive Committee shall consist of the officers of the league together with elected members who will meet when required. Four members need to be present to form a quorum. Attendance records will be presented at each Annual General Meeting.

5     The Annual General Meeting will be held not later then 31st July for the consideration of rules and bye-laws, to agree the yearly accounts and to elect the President, Vice-Presidents and officers for the ensuing season. All members of the league are welcome to attend but each club is only allowed 1 vote.

6     Proposals for new rules, or amendments to existing rules, must be received in writing by the Secretary not less than 14 days prior to the meeting. No rule or bye-law shall be altered unless agreed to by at least two-thirds of those voting at the Annual General Meeting.

7     The Secretary shall call an Extraordinary General Meeting on notice to him signed by the representatives of five clubs, or upon the request of the Executive Committee.

8     Any club failing to send a representative to the monthly secretaries meeting will be fined. Executive Committee members are eligible to represent their club at such meetings and when their own representative is present will still be allowed to vote.

9     NEW any matter arising whether covered by the rules or not shall be dealt with by the Executive Committee whose decision will be final.

10   All fees and fines shall be set by the Executive Committee.

11   Any club or team infringing the rules will be liable to expulsion and/or fine if decided upon at a monthly or general meeting.

       Any team playing an unregistered player will forfeit the points and be fined.

       Any team failing to play the required number of players in a match will be fined for each absentee. Teams making false returns, or party to such, will also be fined.

12   The registration sheets must be received by the Secretary on or before the Annual General Meeting, clubs must register a minimum of 10 bona-fide members per team.

       Requests for late registrations will only be accepted at monthly meetings. Snooker teams requiring such registrations may incur a handicap penalty depending on the player, but additional billiard players will receive a handicap based on their ability.

The Executive Committee reserve the right to consider any application for late registrations after the above date in exceptional circumstances.

13   The committee reserves the right to refuse the registration of any club or member.

14   Matches to commence at 7:30 pm except where specified in the handbook. In such cases the match will commence at 7:00pm.

       Should a team not have a player present at the stated start time then that team will forfeit either one or two frames dependant on the number of tables registered, they will also forfeit the match aggregate.

       After commencement of a match play can not be suspended for over 15 minutes or the defaulting team will be penalised as above.

       Both captains must agree to accommodate shift workers and students attending evening classes when no other players are in attendance, such players must be present within 15 minutes of the shift or class finishing otherwise the frame(s) will be forfeited.

15   All league & cup matches must be played on the date specified in the fixture handbook apart from two exceptions:
(a) Where a player or team is involved in one of the competitions which take     preference (see rule 31).
(b) NEW both parties agree to the fixture change and that the fixture is brought forward. This must be put to The Executive Committee in the first instance.

16   The handicap for team knock-out competitions will be assessed on team registrations except where a request has been received to de-register a player for the remainder of the season.

17   Scoring System

       Snooker

       Each team will be allocated a team handicap. League matches in all divisions will have 9 points available, 1 point for each individual frame plus 3 points for the aggregate (including handicap).

       Frames ending in a draw will have the black ball re-spotted to decide the frame point but this will not count towards the aggregate total. When a match ends in a draw, the aggregate points will be decided by the last two players re-spotting the black ball.

       In the event of draw in the last frame and in the match aggregate, the re-spotted black will decide both the frame and the aggregate points. Any team not providing the required number of players will lose the frame point for each absent player and will also forfeit the aggregate point(s).

       Billiards

       All players will be allocated an individual handicap with games played to 100 up excluding the handicap. 1 point will be awarded per frame to the player with the highest aggregate (frame score & handicap), where the aggregate score is level the point will be shared. 1 point will also be awarded for the overall team aggregate including handicaps. This means there will be 7 points available in each match, all points scored will count in the league table.

       Any team not providing the required number of players will lose the frame point for each absent player and will also forfeit the aggregate point(s).
      
       If a team drops out of the league, having played less than half of the fixtures, all of the team’s records will be expunged. If however a team drops out after playing more than half of the fixtures, their records up to the halfway point will be expunged.

18   In the event of teams tying for places governing prizes, the deciding games will be played on neutral tables. Players are not allowed to practice on neutral tables prior to the match.

19   In all team competitions, the order of play shall be decided by the captains. The home captain will nominate his players first and the away captain will then pair off his players. Home teams will break off in all frames and be marked spot. The home captain will have choice of tables and the home team will mark all frames where possible.

       In the Billiards League the home team shall break with the plain ball, the away team will play with the spot ball.

       Where matches are played on neutral tables the nomination of players will be alternated.

       All games to be played under the English Association for Snooker & Billiards (EASB) rules.

20   Promotion & Relegation:

       Billiards
       Promotion and relegation will apply in the Billiards League with two teams being relegated and two promoted from each division where applicable.

       Snooker
Promotion and relegation will apply in the Snooker League, with two teams being relegated and two promoted, from each division. The only diversion to this rule will be between divisions 2 and 3 where promotion and relegation will not be compulsory, as this would incorporate a change of match night. The Executive Committee will endeavour to accommodate the requirements of the teams finishing in the relegation positions in the second division, and promotion positions in the third division wherever possible. Should any dispute arise, the Executive Committee's decision will be final.

22(a) The Captain of the winning team shall send full particulars of the match result, in duplicate to the Records Secretary arriving no later than noon on the Sunday following the match.

(b) The Captain of the winning team shall also be responsible for telephoning the       result in before midnight on the night the match is played. 

(c)Failure to abide with either of the above rules (22a – b) will result in the loss of points and/or financial penalty for the winning team.

23   Where an objection arises during a match, the result sheet should not be signed as this would confirm the result to be correct. The objection should be made in writing to the Secretary not later than 48 hours after the match. The Executive Committee's decision will be final in all cases.

24   All monies due to the league from clubs and individuals must be paid by the April monthly meeting of the season in which they are due. Failure to pay by this date will result in suspension for the following season and until such time as the debt is cleared.

       All clubs will be eligible for the monthly draw up to and including the December monthly meeting. Thereafter they will only be eligible once their bill has been paid in full.

25   Players who register for Billiards and Snooker at different clubs are only allowed to enter the individual competitions from the club at which they play the particular game. Home fixtures must be played on a table at the respective club unless mutually agreed.

26   Individual Competition Rules:

       In all individual and pairs competitions, play should commence at 7:30pm unless mutually agreed otherwise. In the event of a player not turning up within 30 minutes of the agreed start time the match will be forfeited.

       It is the responsibility of the home player(s) to contact their opponents to arrange the date of the match. Such dates must not be later than the closing date set by the league. The home player(s) must offer their opponent(s) three non-consecutive dates (Saturdays & Sundays excluded). If no contact is made the home player(s) will be scratched.

       It is the winning player’s responsibility to communicate the result to the Competitions Secretary. Where a result is not received within 72 hours of the closing date the home player(s) will be scratched from the competition.

       It is the player’s responsibility to ensure that matches are played with the handicaps as designated by the handicapping committee. If players are uncertain of handicaps then the match must not be started until the handicaps have been verified. Once a match has started the result will stand.

       Team Cup Competition Rules: 
      
27(a)The captain of the winning team shall send full particulars of the match result, in duplicate to the Records Secretary arriving not later than noon on the Sunday following the match.

    (b)The Captain of the winning team shall also be responsible for telephoning the result in before midnight on the night the match is played.

    (c)Failure to abide with either of the above rules (27a – b) will result in financial penalties to the winning team.
      
28   All matches or competitions organised by the league must be played in a member club of the league.

29   Players are only allowed to play for 1 team. They cannot play for 1 team on a Wednesday night and another on a Thursday night.

30   All trophies must be handed back by the last monthly meeting prior to the finals.

31   The only members of the W.P.B.S.A. who will be eligible to play in the Widnes & District League are those who were already members on joining the W.P.B.S.A. and who are ranked outside the top 128 at snooker and outside the top 16 at billiards. Such players will be penalised 7 points in the Snooker Individual Championship competition.

32   For the guidance of players and clubs, the following competitions shall take preference over Widnes & District billiard and snooker matches when a stipulated date is set by one of the following bodies:

(a) English Championship Competitions.
(b) Northwest team (pairs and individual competitions).      
(c) Merseyside team (pairs and individual competitions).

       Affairs of other leagues are of no concern of the Widnes & District League and no preference will be given to them.