The County 5IVES Management Group have made the decision to change a rule to help assist with teams fielding a side.

The rule change relates to the ability for players to dual register for teams in the same division. Please see below the previous wording of the rule:

"A player can be registered for more than one team within the County 5IVES competitions. However, they can only be registered for one team in a specific County 5IVES division each league season"

The new wording for this rule is as follows:

“A player can be registered for more than one team within the County 5IVES competitions, as long as those teams do not play in the same division. In exceptional circumstances, a player may also be registered with two teams in the same division. Such permission is at the sole discretion of the County 5IVES Management and League Co-ordinators and will only be granted when a team requires additional player(s) in order to make up the number of players applicable to the format of football being played, such as a 6th player should the format be 6-a-side. In order for permission to be granted the County 5IVES Management and League Co-ordinator must be notified prior to the commencement of the match and if permission is granted it shall only apply for match(es) played by the team on that day.’

The rule has been amended purely to assist with teams getting the required number of players for that format, ie a 6th player for a 6 a-side game and so on.

We have recently had examples of teams turning up for games and relying on players from other teams in their division to play for them to give them enough to fulfill the fixture. It is our belief that instead of sending both teams away without a fixture, wasting everybody's time and expense - a better alternative is to adjust the current ruling to assist with teams being able to fulfill fixtures and ensuring everybody has a game of football.

As you can see the rule is not there to be abused and the league co-ordinators and County 5IVES Management reserve the right to not grant permission if the case is not exceptional and not being used to give teams the minimum number of players for the particular format being played.

As always should you have any questions or there is anything you are unsure of please do not hesitate to get in contact with me directly on 01603 704050 option 5 or e-mail Adam.Gusterson@NorfolkFA.com