EFL Charter

EFL Charter

Equatorial Football League Charter

Approved June 28th 2025 for Season 2025/26

Purpose

The purpose of the charter is to outline the standards and ethics each club in the league needs to adhere to, in order to remain a member of the league.

Disclaimer

The league is not a recognisable organizational body and has no legal status. Players competing in the league do so at their own risk, and should endeavour to get their own insurance or medical cover before playing.

The league is not responsible for the health and safety of any players competing in the league.

Guiding Principles

Fairness and Equality – Teams are playing for fun and therefore all players, teams and nationalities are welcome. Costs for pitches and referees are to always be shared equally between the competing teams i.e. no profit should be made from other teams.

Social football ahead of Winning – We would all rather play and lose, than not play at all. Therefore, players do not need to be registered and “ringers” can be drafted in in order to put teams onto the field to ensure a fixture takes place.

Transparency – Any incurred costs should be transparent. Pitch invoices should be shared where possible with other teams.

Failure to Adhere to the Charter or the Principles

Teams that are found to breach the charter could face a financial penalty or be evicted from the league. If a club feels that another club is not adhering to the charter, they can make their case at the Executive Committee. The chairman will propose a punishment for such breaches and then if a majority of the executive committee approve the punishment, the team accused will either take aforesaid punishment or choose to leave the league. If the issue relates to the Chairman’s club then the division co-ordinator who manages the division in which the Chairman’s team is not in has the final say.

Executive Committee

The Executive Committee comprises of the chairman and all appointed division co-ordinators.

Voting Committee

The voting committee comprises of one representative from each team registered in the league. In all decisions they receive one vote each in all league matters. For clubs that have multiple teams for example Hibs United, Hibs Athletic, they are entitled to two representatives and two votes.

The voting committee is required to meet twice a year (AGM and Pre-Season Get together Meeting).

Quorate decision making is 60% of the voting committee being present and more than 50% voting in favour of an action/decision. This means that not all clubs need to have representation at an AGM in order to make a decision.

Division Coordinator Role

Each Division in the league needs to appoint a division co-ordinator. These positions are voluntary, but essential for the running of the league. Those that volunteer need to have the intention for committing for the whole season to the role. New Division coordinators can volunteer and be appointed in the AGM through the voting system. In the event that a Division coordinator needs to leave midway through the season, a new volunteer will be requested from the teams in the division.

Core responsibilities:

  • Arrange initial fixtures schedule.
  • Records results of the games and updates the league table.
  • Escalation point for disputes over money in the event of a disagreement between clubs.
  • In the event the disagreement cannot be resolved by division co-ordinators, it will be escalated to the chairman (who’s decision is final). If the chairman’s team is involved in the dispute final say falls on the Division co-ordinator from the division in which the Chairman’s team do not play.

Booking Pitches and Referees

Each home team is responsible for sourcing and securing a pitch for their home fixtures as well as booking the referee. As much as possible we should avoid any block booking companies like Farrer Sports.

Where possible, matches should be on a Saturday, but depending on pitch availability, and in agreement with the opposition, alternate arrangements can be made i.e. Sunday or weekday evening kick off.

Teams with a regular pitch booking but have an away game, can either share the pitch with other teams or encourage home team to take up the option to play the game there.

In the event a pitch cannot be sourced by the home team, the match should be rearranged to the next convenient slot.

If a pitch is paid for and a team withdraws 5 days or less before the fixture, the home team or team that has booked the pitch should attempt to get a refund, if a refund is not possible, then the team withdrawing should pay for the full cost of the pitch and incur a 3-0 defeat. Referees can be cancelled at short notice with no fee. Booking team should share invoices and proof of booking for transparency. Teams can rearrange a fixture with a team but game cannot be postponed more than twice or it is a walkover to team that cancel or if both teams cancel result is 0-0.

Any matches that cannot be scheduled and played prior to the end of June will be assumed as 0-0 to avoid one season rolling into the next.

As Singapore weather is so changeable, referees cannot call a game off due to bad weather before the official kick off time. If teams ask a ref to stay beyond the kick off time, hoping the weather will clear, but the game is still abandoned, then the ref should be paid in full and shared by both teams.

If teams do not follow these principles and they incur a financial loss where the other team does not honour their contribution, it is mandatory to report this to the Division Co-ordinator to monitor anti-social behaviour.

New Additions to the League

New teams can enter the league on approval of the Voting committee and on agreement to the league charter. Ideally this will happen prior to the league commencing for that season, but teams can join mid way through the season but only participate in friendly matches with the clubs until the new season commences.

Team Dropouts or Mergers

In the event a team drops out or merges with another team, all results against that team become null and void, points, goals scored for and against are removed from the league table.

Use of Cosmo, S-League or NFL Players

In order to ensure fairness, competitiveness and enjoyment, teams should refrain from fielding Cosmo, S-League, NFL or, EFL premier league players in the EFL Championship. players unless necessary to ensure a fixture goes ahead. If a team is fielding such players in the squad, then it is polite to inform the opposition manager that you are doing so and how many. If 5 cosmo or more players are required to field a team, the opposition manager can choose to request a rescheduling of the match. Fringe Cosmo or over 40 years old cosmo players do not need to be declared (just regulars under 40).

Wig Rule: Players that are aware they shouldn’t be playing, under no circumstances should wear wigs and pretend that it is ok.

Player Registrations

Players do not need to register because the admin would be too much, therefore all managers need to honour the guidelines and respect the opposition.

Bonnie Blue Rule: Players should be loyal to their teams and not playing for multiple different teams one week to the next. Players should ideally only play for one team, but can transfer to another club, and maybe one more in a season, but not continually moving. Managers need to be mindful of this and prevent when necessary.

League Structure

The League currently comprises of EFL Premiership, EFL Championship and EFL League One. Changes to this structure will be discussed annually at AGM for example collapsing divisions or creating new ones.

Promotions and Relegations

The top two teams in each division will be promoted to the division above, and the bottom two teams will be relegated. Obviously, teams in the Premiership cannot be promoted and the teams in League One cannot be relegated. This is not optional unless decided by Voting Committee at AGM following a withdrawal or arrival of new teams better equipped in the higher or lower division.

Cup Format, Structure and Timings

The cup in the EFL will be known as the “Crouchy Cup” in recognition of the first player to be initiated into the EFL Hall of Fame.

This will combine teams in both EFL Premiership, EFL Championship, and EFL League One together. Format is as follows:

With 29 teams for season 2025/26:

Top three teams in the Premiership get a bye to the first round. All remaining teams will be placed in the draw and randomly selected against each other. Winners of the first match will go into the Cup, all losing teams will then default to the plate. The losers of the first plate match head to head will then default to the bowl. All matches after this are straight knock out. The road to the finals will be pre-drawn at the start of the season get together. We will endeavour to have all cup finals played on one date in June. If we can get 3 guest teams to enter before the draw, then there will be no bye’s.

Top Goalscorers and Top Assists

Each manager needs to submit to the person responsible for the website their top 3 goalscorers and top 3 assists on a quarterly basis. This will then be updated on the EFL website. Top Goalscorer and Top Assist in each division will win a trophy.

Goal of the Month and Goal of the Season

Teams who record their games can submit their goal of the month which will be published by ThunderWear and the goal with the most votes wins goal of the month. At the AGM all goals of the month will be played and a goal of the season award will be given out.

AGM Structure and Purpose

Voting Committee to meet toward the end of every season to discuss the following season:

Standing Agenda:

  • Review and make any amendments to the football league charter.
  • Discuss financials for trophies and changes in team contribution for the following year.
  • Review and discuss the League structure and divisions.
  • Discuss any charter breaches.
  • Admission of new teams or eviction of existing teams.
  • Elect new chairman
  • Elect new division co-ordinators
  • Elect new head of Trophies and Awards
  • Admit new players to the hall of fame.
  • AOB put forward by any member of exec committee.

Pre-Season get together and Purpose

Social to ensure everyone is ready for the season ahead, appoint or renew division coordinators, discuss pitch availability, blackout dates and draw the cup fixtures. Prior to the get together the schedule for the next season will be produced by division co-ordinators. Division coordinators will also have to work together to agree cup dates.

Trophies and Prizes

  • Each team contributes $200 for prizes and trophies. Any money remaining will be rolled over to the next season and a reduced contribution requested.
  • League winners and Runners up Trophies plus medals for each player 16 for each team
  • Crouchy Cup winners  Trophies for Cup, Plate and Bowl Competition as well as medals for each player for winner and each player for runners up =32 medals.
  • Top Goalscorer trophy and Top Assist Trophy will be available for each division.
  • If EFL 7s tournament is to take place money will also be taken to fund these trophies and medals.
  • Goal of the season award to be voted on at AGM based on Goal of the Month submissions throughout the season.
  • Bottom of EFL League One: Receives a wooden spoon and a $100 Harry’s Bar voucher to drown their sorrows.
  • Chairman and Division Coordinators receive a small token of appreciation for their role in the season.

Executive Positions

  • Chairman of the League is to be voted on by managers. Responsible for arranging AGM and post season review. Escalation point in the event disputes cannot be resolved by Division Coordinator.
  • Division Coordinator roles: as described above.
  • Trophies and Prize Manager: Responsible for collecting monies from clubs at the start of the season and then purchasing trophies and prizes.

Match Related Rules and Disciplinary

  • A match will only be deemed complete if abandoned after 60mins have been played. Results in games cut short due to lightning or other related reasons will not stand unless 60mins has been completed and the match will need to be replayed starting again at 0-0 at the next convenient date. This is unless both manager’s agree to allow the result to stand regardless of the time completed.
  • Referees are a cost on the clubs and so only one match official is required for a match day. Additional referees can be brought in on agreement of both teams.
  • Red Cards – A player receiving a red card will be banned for 1 match (this includes 2 yellow cards). Managers must honour this. Players shown a red card for serious foul play or misconduct (including fighting, racial abuse or other such antisocial behaviour) will be banned for 3 matches. In the event of extreme behaviour the Chairman can be approached to establish a disciplinary committee of 4 neutral managers plus the chairman themselves to decide if a player should receive a longer ban i.e. full season or life time ban. Impacted teams and the player involved can state their case in this disciplinary process which will be finalised by the Chairman if the event occurs.
  • Disputes between teams on violent conduct can be resolved through video evidence. If video evidence exists it must be provided by the team and cannot be withheld to Division Co-ordinators and EFL Chairman. If video evidence cannot be obtained the option for a reenactment is also allowed providing done so with flair and the air for the dramatic.

EFL Hall of Fame

At the end of every season each club can admit one player into the hall of fame by submitting to the Voting Committee for approval. This will be published on the EFL Website.