2013 Season Guide

This Season Launch Edition of Offside covers everything you need to know for the 2013 winter season. More detailed information is available on the ESFA website.

Please note that the information may be subject to change as a result of unforeseen circumstances such as withdrawals, ground closures and wet weather. If this is the case we will notify you via the ESFA website.

Remember, if you have any questions throughout the season your Club Secretary is there to help you out!

Read the full version on the ESFA Website

Checking the Draw

The draw for Round 1 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, 28 March 2013. Further rounds will be released shortly after and as soon as practically possible.

We strongly encourage that you check our Draws and Results Page regularly for the latest fixtures and results.

You can register for email updates for your matches including fixture changes and reminders using SP Passport.

You can also view your fixtures with the official SportingPulse app for iOS. Click here to download for a link to the app on the iOS App Store. The official iOS app is the only one that fully supports our draws and results system. We cannot guarantee the accuracy or support of any other mobile app.

Wet Weather

On matchdays with inclement weather you can check for announcements to see if your ground is closed using any one of the following methods:

Wet Weather Voicemail: 8347 8806

SMS "ESFA" to 19922767 - (each SMS costs a flat fee of 55c. For SMS help please call 1300 552 189)

ESFA Wet Weather Twitter Feed: @ESFAWetWeather

Visit our Wet Weather Page for full details.

Player Cards

ALL players must have a player card to be eligible to play. This will be enforced from Round 1.

Card checks must be completed before the start of the match. The referee will need to cite that a card check has occurred on the match sheet. The referee does NOT check the cards themselves. This is the role of your team’s RTO. Please ensure the referee is aware that you have completed a card check before the match to avoid any issues.

If there are any disputes you must notify the referee and note it on the back of the team sheet.

New Match Sheets

New match sheets will be used this season that will automatically print the names and player numbers of all the members of your team.

Your Club will have access to your team’s match sheets every week. Please speak to your Club Secretary to arrange how you will get your match sheets throughout the season. 

Only the official ESFA Match Sheet will be accepted for sanctioned matches. Fines may apply for the use of incorrect or incomplete match sheets.

Laws of the Game Changes 2012/13

For the 2013 football season FIFA have made changes to the Laws of the Game. 

Some of the changes are relevant only for professional matches (eg. field advertising). However, there are changes that are relevant to local football, including:

• The number of substitute players
• Changes to the drop ball rule

For a full description of the changes you can read the:

• Amendments to the Laws of the Game 2012/13

The current version of the Laws of the Game for this season are:

• Laws of the Game 2012/13
• Small Sided Football Laws of the Game 2013

Local competition rule changes

There have been several changes to the local 2013 Junior and Senior Competition rules.

Junior Football

The changes to the Junior Competition Rules 2013 include:

• Eligibility of players where two teams are in the same division
• Rescheduling of final series matches

Senior Football

The changes to the Senior Competition Rules 2013 include:

• Premier League squads may request to use All Age Goalkeepers
• Extra time replaces 'golden goal'

Read the full description of the changes on the ESFA website.

Headscarves

FIFA have also made Law changes in regard to players wearing headscarves. If a player, now only a female player, wishes to wear a headscarf during a match then the following regulations apply. The headscarf must:

• be of the same colour as the jersey
• be in keeping with the professional appearance of the player’s equipment
• not be attached to the jersey
• not pose any danger to the player wearing it or any other player (e.g. opening/closing mechanism around neck)
• only be worn by female players

This does NOT affect the wearing of any head-covering for religious reasons

Jewellery policy

Jewellery or anything dangerous is NOT to be worn. Referees will continue to strictly enforce this. These include:

• Taping of earrings/rings
• Anything metallic, including bobby pins or hair clips (fabric may be used to tie up hair)
• Casts/splints
• Wrist bands
• Spectacles that are hazardous may not be worn and will be at the discretion of the referee. ‘Sports goggles’ are both safe and acceptable

Remember that the jewellery policy is put in place for your safety.

No Smoking and No Alcohol

There is to be NO SMOKING at all ESFA matches. The NSW Government has introduced a ban on smoking in spectator areas of sports grounds or other recreational areas while organised sporting events are being held.

Please remember that many of the fields we use are on public parks and there is a NO ALCOHOL policy for all ESFA matches. We ask everyone to please be mindful of this for the forthcoming season.

Injury report form

If you get injured, either whilst playing or training, we encourage you to complete our injury report form.

This will allow us to keep track of the number of injuries that occur whilst playing football so we can build a profile of the value of football insurance and it will provide you with a point of reference should you lodge an insurance claim.

Please note that this form IS NOT an official insurance claim. You will still be required to complete an Insurance form if you choose to do so.

Click here to complete our Injury report form.

Incident reports

If an incident occurs and you wish to report it you can download and complete our Incident Report Form from our website Library.

You will need to report and submit the form to your Club Secretary. They will sign the form off and submit it to us for you. All reports will be taken seriously so please provide as much factual detail as possible.

Referee dissent

The dissent of the referee or assistant referees, whether by a player, coach, manager or spectator, will not be tolerated under any circumstances.

The Referees Branch have expressed their gratitude that the respect shown from players, coaches and spectators has improved and hope that this can continue.

Please keep in mind that many of our referees are still young and are learning. There are also a number of new referees this year and we ask everybody to stay patient as referees, just like players, do occasionally make mistakes.

Referee Evaluation Form

As in previous years, we have an anonymous Referee Evaluation Form that teams may submit. Constructive feedback is always appreciated. Only constructive reports will be considered.

Click here to access the form