Soccer: The Football Association

 

Northern Counties East Football League (General Information):

NCEFL is considered a semi-professional league in England.  It is an independent league under the overall jurisdiction of the English FA.

The National League System was set up to promote an organized system of promotion/relegation links between participating leagues so that a club could progress from the lowest level to the highest provided it fulfilled criteria of both ground quality and sporting success on the field.

At level 1 is the Football Conference (1 Division-22 teams) feeding to Division 3 of the Football League.

At level 2 in the north of England (which is the NCE’s area) is the Northern Premier (Unibond League) (2 Divisions-Premier Division with 23 teams and Division 1 with 22 teams).  There is promotion/relegation between their two divisions and from the Unibond Premier Division to the football conference.

At level 3 in the north of England are three ‘feeders’ to the Unibond League-the NCE, North West Cts League and Northern Leagues all of which may supply a club to Division 1 of the Unibond League.  The NCE has three divisions-Prem. Div. (20 clubs); Division 1 (16 clubs) and a Res. Div. (16 teams).  In all cases of promotion from these three ‘feeders’ to the Unibond, the club must be a champion, must have suitable graded ground and must wish to be promoted.  Under certain circumstances the opportunity for promotion can pass down to the 2nd placed club.  To take the place of promoted clubs, the bottom clubs in Division 1 of the Unibond League are relegated to the appropriate feeder.

Players in English Soccer (other than ‘trainees’ or ‘schoolboys’) are either “contract” or “non-contract”.  The FA’s definitions of the two are:

Contract:  any player (Other than a trainee or a schoolboy) who is eligible to play under a written contract of employment with a club.

Non-contract:  any player 9other than a trainee or player on a scholarship) who is eligible to play for a club but has not entered into a written contract of employment.

The majority of players in the NCE fall into the Non-contract category receiving either no remuneration for playing at all or limited expenses.  A few are placed on Contract if they receive additional expenses/fees as they perhaps undertake additional duties (e.g., coaching) at a club.  Further up the National League System, the ratio of non-contract to contract changes.

A non-contract player is not tied to a particular club and may play for more than one club at any one time in a different league (and there are safeguards to prevent indiscriminate changing of clubs.  A contract player may not play for other clubs (except as a trialist under special circumstances) and can move clubs only by having his contract cancelled or being formally transferred to another club under FA rules.

Northern Counties East Football League Contact Information:

Barry Wood

Secretary/Treasurer

Northern Counties East Football League

6 Restimore Avenue

Guissley

Leeda  LS20 9DG

Tel & Fax:  01943 874558

Additional Information on the English National League System:

The National League System was set up to promote an organized system of promotion/relegation link between participating Leagues so that a club could progress from the lowest level to the highest provided it fulfilled criteria of both ground quality and sporting success on the field.

At level 1 is the Football Conference (1 Division-22 teams) feeding to Division 3 of the Football League.

At level 2 in the north of England (which is the Northern Counties East Football League) is the Northern Premier (Unibond League) (2 Divisions-Prem Divs. With 23 teams and Division 1 with 22 teams).  There is promotion/relegation between their two divisions and from the Unibond Prem. Div. To the Football Conference.

At level 3 in the north of England are three “feeders to the Unibond League –the NCE, North West Counties League and Northern Leagues, all of which may supply a club to Div. 1 of the Unibond League.  The NCE has three divisions-Prem. Div. (20 clubs); Div. 1 (16 clubs) and a Res. Div (16 teams).  In all cases of promotion from these three ‘feeders’ to the Unibond, the club must be the champion, must have a suitably graded ground and must wish to be promoted.  Under certain circumstances the opportunity for promotion can pass down to the 2nd placed club.  To take the place of promoted clubs, the bottom clubs in Division 1 of the Unibond League are relegated to the appropriate ‘feeder’.

Players in English soccer (other than ‘trainees’ or ‘schoolboys’) are either “contract” or “non-contract.”  Contract is any player (other than a trainee or player on a scholarship) who is eligible to play under a written contract of employment with a club.  Non-contract is any player (other than a trainee or player on a scholarship) who is eligible to play for a club but has not entered into a written contract of employment.

The majority of players in the NCE fall into the non-contract category receiving either no remuneration for playing at all or limited expenses.  A few are placed on contract if they receive additional expenses/fees as they perhaps undertake additional duties (e.g., coaching) at a club.  Further up the National League System, the ratio of non-contract to contract changes.

A non-contract player is not tied to a particular club and may play for more than one club at any one time in a different league; however, there are safeguards to prevent indiscriminate changing of clubs.

A contract player may not play for other clubs (except as a trialist under special circumstances) and can move clubs only by having his contract cancelled or being formally transferred to another club under FA rules.

Football Scholarship Program (Formerly YTS) General Information:

The United Kingdom’s government established YTS for the sport of soccer in 1983.  YTS originally provided limited educational and vocational training opportunities in addition to the opportunity to participate in soccer.  Throughout the years, the Footballers’ Further Education and Vocational Training Society Limited (FFE), the organization which manages YTS, conducted research indicating that individuals entering YTS were steadily improving their qualifications; therefore, FFE felt that YTS should be expanded to improve the academic component of YTS without detrimentally affecting the football training component.  In 1996, the government proposed to replace YTS with modern apprenticeships.  Modern apprenticeships are three-year programs, which offer the opportunity to obtain improved academic and vocational qualifications.  A proposal to increase YTS from two to three years and to include core skills was accepted by the government and the football authorities.  The changes enabled boys who entered YTS to maintain educational parity with their peers who have continued further in higher education.

In 1998, YTS was modified and renamed by the United Kingdom’s government and became known as the Football Scholarship Programme (Programme).  The change in the scheme centered on shifting from a standardized educational system to a system that focuses on each individual’s:

Educational abilities,

Personal and social needs, and

Football capabilities.

The Programme is an advanced education system for players ranging in age from 16 through 19 years old.  The Programme is similar to the American college structure; however, an individual participates in the Programme prior to entering the university system in the United Kingdom.  This scheme is utilized in most professions throughout the United Kingdom. The Programme is financed by the government and implemented and regulated by FFE.

FFE receives numerous applications each year from individuals who desire to be part of the Programme.  FFE selects which applicants will be accepted into the Programme based upon the applicant’s educational record and football capabilities.  Football players are scouted from the age of nine, while competing for youth teams throughout the country.  The scouting system is rather complex and has evolved into a very efficient system.  Once a player applies, FFE accepts applicants based predominantly on its scouting reports.  FFE assists every applicant in mapping out his three-year educational plan with an emphasis on the player’s educational, social and football development.

Upon acceptance to the Programme, the player and FFE enter into an agreement whereby the player signs a contract to be enrolled in the Programme.   At the initial signing, the agreement does not contain and incentive or bonus clause.  The player then selects which academy he wants to attend.  Under the governing body’s rules, it is permissible for an academy to provide its players with an incentive or bonus clause to the agreement.  If the academy offers an incentive or bonus, it must offer the incentive or bonus to every player enrolled at the academy.  The incentives are designed to assist the players with their living expenses over and above the standard 40-45 pounds FFE provides pursuant to the contract.  Once the player, FFE and the academy have finalized the contract; it is registered with each academy, FFE, the league in which the academy competes, and the regulating national body.  The contract is deemed to be an amateur contract by all entities in which it is registered.

An academy is operated by a professional football team within either the Premiere, First, Second or Third Divisions within the United Kingdom.  Although the government primarily funds an academy, the professional team does contribute funds to assist with the academy’s operations.  The academy is separate and distinct from the professional team, but it is affiliated with the professional team.  Each academy has a director whose sole responsibility is the academy.  The academy’s personnel do not work with the professional team.

Once at the academy, the player spends an average of ten hours per week on classroom work.  The rest of the time is spent developing the player’s social and football skills.  The players utilize the same facilities as the professional team but compete on the youth academy team. The team competes in a youth academy league.   Both the team and the league are considered to be amateur by the academy, FFE, the league in which the academy competes, and the regulating national body.

The structure in the United Kingdom is set up so a child can actually begin to play on an academy youth team at the age of nine.  The child does not attend the academy but does train and practice with a youth academy team.  The players that sign the football scholarship agreement compete on the 16-19 year old youth academy team.  The 16-19 year old team can also include players that are not attending the academy.  Players may not be attending the academy because FFE did not select the player to be a candidate for the Programme, yet the professional team or academy director believes that the player has potential to be a professional player in the future.

The United Kingdom’s professional structure and definition of a professional differs significantly from the NCAA’s.  The United Kingdom classifies its players as contract players or noncontract players.  A contract player is considered to be professional.  The minimum each professional football player can receive in the United Kingdom is 115 pounds per week.  A non-contract player is considered to be amateur.  The players enrolled in the Programme receive between 40 and 45 pounds per week and are considered noncontract players.  It is highly unlikely that a player in the Programme would play on the Premier, First, Second or Third Division professional team because if the player is that good, he will be removed from the Programme and become a contracted player with the professional team.

© The National Collegiate Athletic Association