League introduces raft of new charges

August 1978

From this season onwards, it will be considerably more expensive for clubs to take part in the Wexford & District Football League. Hardest hit will be clubs guilty of offences such as late kick-offs or not bringing two footballs to a game.

The most contentious charge is the introduction of a registration fee for each player. A club must now send 50p for every registered player to the League Registrar. For clubs with say two teams and two big squads, totalling 50 players, this will mean an increase of £25 in their outlay.

The League says this is necessary to revive the rather ailing fortunes of its finances, which were hard hit by inflation over the past couple of years, and the long-sought representation on the Leinster FA senior and junior committees, which meet weekly in Dublin, bringing considerable travelling expenses.

The committee has also issued a scale of fines for late kick-offs and other offences, which leave clubs in no doubt whatsoever that they would be well advised to conform to the regulations.

The scale is: after five minutes late for kick-off, 5p for every subsequent minute (to be doubled to 10p for subsequent offences); for having no football, £1; for only having one football, 50p; for having no pitch markings, £2; for having bad nets, £1; for not having corner flags of the required standard, 50p. All these fines will double where a club repeats an offence, so it can easily be seen how expensive it could be if clubs don’t learn their lesson quickly.