AITC Masters Football will operate as 2 leagues: Northern Division (Princes Risborough) and Southern Division (High Wycombe).

The Northern Division fixtures will be played on a Monday evening at Princes Risborough School.

The Southern Division fixtures will be played on a Wednesday evening at Highcrest School.

Fixtures will take place weekly between 7:30pm and 10:00pm.

Each team will play each other twice.

The team with the most points at the end of the season will be crowned champions of their division.

At the end of the season there will be a grand final between the Northern and Southern division champions to crown the AITC Masters Champions.

The leagues will not run during school holidays or bank holidays, however teams can play friendlies during those weeks if they wish.

Forfeiting Matches:

• If a team is unable to fulfil a fixture, they must contact the league organiser at least 48 hours before the fixture is expected to take place.
• If the team does not contact the league organiser 48 hours before a fixture cancellation, they will still have to pay their £40 match fee.
  The forfeiting team will incur a 5-0 loss for the fixture.

Match Fees are to be paid via electronic transfer prior to kick off.

Duration – Fixtures will be 48 minutes (24 minutes each way).

Pitch – Our indoor pitches will be played wall to wall, with the ball only going out of play when trapped behind the goal. The only markings within the pitch indicate the following:

Goalkeeping area – This is defined at each end of the pitch as a semi circle around the goal. This area is exclusive to the goalkeepers.

Halfway mark – The centre mark is indicated at the midpoint of the halfway line. At the start of a game or following a goal, teams start and restart the game from this point.

Penalty mark – A penalty spot is the mark just outside of the goalkeeping area.

Overhead height ruling – The ball is not allowed to go over head height unless the ball has deflected into the air from a save or off the goal frame.

Squad:

• A match is played by two teams, each consisting of not more than 5 players on the pitch at one given time. There is no limit to the amount of players you can bring as part of your squad.
• The game is officially played with 4 outfield players and 1 goalkeeper per team. Formations and positions are set by each team. There are no limits to the amount of defenders or attackers per team.

Substitutions:

• Substitutions during a game are unlimited. A substituted player may return to the pitch again for another player. This is known as rolling substitutions.
• Substitutions can only take place during a stoppage in play (e.g. a goalkick, free kick, restart, etc.). If a referee is present, then the referee must be notified of this change. 
• All substitutes must remain outside the pitch, or behind their goals if there is no gate or barriers.
• Goalkeeper substitution – Any player or substitutes can replace the goalkeeper. The game will continue, even if the new goalkeeper is putting goalkeeper gloves on.
• Time wasting during a switch will result in a free kick/goal kick to the opposing team.

Goalkeepers

• No player except for the goalkeeper is allowed inside the goalkeeping area. If a defender enters the area to defend and makes contact with the ball, the attacking side is awarded a penalty. If an attacker enters the area to score, the defending team restarts with the goalkeepers ball or advantage played.
• If a goalkeeper makes contact with the ball outside of the area, a resulting penalty for the attacking team is awarded.
• The goalie can either throw or roll out the ball with their hands. The goalkeeper cannot kick the ball to teammates.

Pass back rule:

• If a goalkeeper distributes the ball to a defender, that defender must then pass to an outfield player before returning the ball to the goalkeeper.
• As per the example; a defender cannot receive the ball from their goalkeeper and then pass directly back to them. As a result of the committed ‘back-pass’, the attacking team are awarded an indirect free kick from the position of the passed-back pass (minimum of 2 yards outside the goalkeepers area).

Free Kicks:

• The ball must be stationary when taking both a direct or an indirect free kick. The free kick taker cannot touch the ball a second time, until it has touched another player.
• All opponents must retreat at least 2 yards from the free kick position. The ball is back in play once the free kick taker has touched the ball.
• No Slide Tackling allowed.

Penalties:

Below are fouls that would result in a penalty kick:

• Players inside of the area – Outfield players cannot make contact with the ball inside the area
• Goalkeepers outside of the area – Goalkeepers cannot make contact with the ball outside the area

There are two ways that penalty kicks are awarded against a team:

• An outfield player makes contact with the ball inside their own goalkeeping area.
• A goalkeeper makes contact with the ball outside their own goalkeeping area

Penalty kick takers have a maximum one yard run-up to strike the ball. All defending players can wait outside of the goalkeeping area during the penalty kick.

Players can be excluded from play if they commit any of the following offences:

• Striking or attempting to strike another player
• Continuous tackling recklessly or carelessly
• Spitting at an opponent
• Unsportsmanlike conduct
• Verbal abuse to the opposition or referee

Players that are dismissed from the game will not take any further part in the match. It is within the referee and officials power to forfeit a game and award a victory to a team, without the finishing the game.

*We reserve the right to suspend and/or ban players for breaching our misconduct guidelines.*