The Name of the league shall be ‘Chester & District Snooker League’ herein after called the League.

The object of the league shall be:

• To provide an organisation governing snooker within the area.
• To promote the league and game itself locally.

Any Bona-fide club shall be allowed to apply for membership of the league.

Any club resigning from the league shall do so in writing.

All clubs must display or have available a copy of the constitution of the league.

Clubs who resign from the league shall have no rights or priority in the property and funds of the league.

All clubs shall be bound by the rules of the league, until the conclusion of the season.

Players who have played in the league shall be allowed to continue to play in the league should they subsequently become a professional player.

All players in the league shall be handicapped in relevant matches.

Handicaps shall be set by the handicap and disciplinary committee and adjusted in pre determined blocks throughout the season based on performance.

New players joining the league will receive a provisional handicap agreed by the handicap and disciplinary committee; the handicap will be based on prior knowledge of the player and/or information obtained by third parties. If no information is available, the handicap will be set at scratch; this handicap will be reviewed within a 3 game period and adjusted accordingly if necessary.

Monies raised by or on behalf of the league shall be applied to further the objects of the league as determined at the A.G.M.

The treasurer shall ensure that proper accounts are kept and an end of year statement of accounts be made available at the A.G.M.

League bills will be available from the February management meeting and must be paid by 30th April.

Any club or individual who has not paid monies owing to the league by the registration meeting will NOT be allowed to compete in the league and/or any competitions organised by the league until such debts are cleared.

Any club not returning trophies at the April monthly meeting will be subject to a £25 fine.

• Kevin Harris – Secretary
• John Gerrard – Treasurer
• Phil Brown – Handicap Administrator
• Phil Brown / Nathan Moffatt – Website Administrators
• Mark Jones – Social Media Administrator
• Kevin Maxwell – Committee member
• Simon Fawkes – Committee member
• Phil Brown – Competition Secretary

• Gary Greenway
• Mark Jones
• Nathan Moffatt
• Pat Haycock
• Phil Brown

The A.G.M. of the league shall be held prior to the new season commencing for the following purposes

To receive and adopt audited accounts for the financial year end

To receive and adopt the reports of the relevant secretaries work of the league for the past season just ended.

To elect officers of the league

To transact such business as agenda

Notice of the AGM must be given 21 days prior to the meeting; the secretary shall require proposals for amendments within 14 days of the notice for inclusion in the agenda

Proposed rule changes will be circulated to all clubs seven days prior to the AGM.

Any club with financial arrears with the league shall not be entitled to vote at the AGM.

The quorum for the AGM shall be a minimum of one member from each participating teams.

The management committee shall be the governing body of the league; the committee shall consist of the officers of the league and one delegate from each club. League committee members such as secretary, treasurer, competition secretary shall only be entitled to vote if acting as a club delegate, this is to ensure there is only one vote per team.

The management committee has the power to deal with any matters arising that may affect the league.

League rule updates can be temporarily agreed by those present at league meetings however all changes made must be approved at the following A.G.M. by the voting league members as per normal A.G.M. rules. These amendments will not include any disciplinary rules which will be handled by the H&D Committee (HDC) and at the A.G.M. in the usual way.

Management meetings will be held monthly at the discretion of the Secretary and at a venue of the Secretary’s choice, this allows the facility for a meeting to be cancelled should there be no matters which need the attention of the league members or committee.

At all management meetings, voting will be restricted to one delegate per registered club in membership, should the need arise the secretary shall have the casting vote; the quorum at a management meeting shall be 4.

A handicap and disciplinary committee shall be formed at the first management meeting and will consist of a minimum of 4 representatives from the division.

The Management Disciplinary Committee along with HDC may expel any player, team or club whose conduct is deemed to be inconsistent with the aims and objectives of the league, before any player, team or club can be expelled they must be given the opportunity to put their case to the HDC at a mutually agreed time.

The HDC shall have the power to define any league rules it sees in any case of ambiguity. The HDC shall have the power to deal with any matter not already covered by these rules.

A presentation evening shall be held at the conclusion of each season. Date, venue and format will be agreed and publicised in good time.

It is politely requested that ALL players who have won a trophy attend the presentation evening to receive it, any player failing to do so without good cause shall concede the right to said trophy.

Tables and balls to be cleaned and ready for a prompt 7.30pm start. Once a match has commenced, in no circumstances should practice of any kind take place. Respect shall be shown at all times for matches still in progress. In the event of a match taking longer than expected another match may start only if both captains are in agreement.

A team shall consist of six players with each player playing one frame, one point awarded for each individual winner.

In the event of a team only having 5 players available.

(a) Non-offending captain will choose a player to play again; this player will play against the opposition Player #6 with a 15 point handicap deduction.

(b) In the event of a team only having 4 players available the non-offending captain will utilise rule 3a for the fifth frame, a different player will then be picked to play the sixth frame and will play against the opposition Player #6 with a 15 point deduction.

(c) In the event of a team only having 3 or less players, the players available may play utilising rule 3a/b, any frame not played should be marked ‘no player’

(d) In the event of a team having reduced numbers, ALL players are required to stay and be available to play again if required.

Waiting time for each frame shall be a maximum of 10 minutes, after which a frame may be claimed.

The order of play shall be picked by the captains in the following way:

The away captain shall declare their players for the first, third and fifth frames, the home captain, second, fourth and sixth. This will be done two frames at a time.

Any club found guilty of producing false results will be subject to a 4 point deduction.

Teams should ensure that ‘no player’ is inserted on the scorecard where the missing player should be.

A list of players to be registered shall be given to the Secretary/ officer responsible by the date advised by the league.

All players must be registered with the league before they can take part in any league/ cup competitions and be designated their relevant handicap. If a non-registered player plays in a match the frame shall retrospectively be awarded to the opposition. Furthermore, the offending team shall also incur a 4 point deduction from their league total or if a cup match the offending team shall forfeit the tie. Once a player has been registered and plays for a team, he will be deemed to be a Chester Snooker League player. New player registrations will not be permitted after the end of the penultimate block.

Cup competitions.

Team competitions: Teams drawn first shall play from their usual home venue without exception.

Singles competitions: Players drawn first shall play from their usual home venue without exception.

Doubles competition: Teams drawn first shall play from their usual home venue without exception.

Where players from different teams have formed a partnership it shall be decided before the competition starts which venue shall be their designated home venue, this venue shall not change throughout the competition

ALL players entering cup competitions and venues being utilised must be affiliated and/or registered with Chester & District Snooker League.

ALL competition finals shall be independently refereed

Referees responsibilities are:

• To make sure the table and balls are prepared for the match.
• To uphold the dress code.

Competition Finals dress code:

• Collared shirt, i.e. Polo shirt (no football/sports related tops)
• Trousers/dark coloured jeans/shorts (no ripped/blue jeans, shorts to be tailored (no sports shorts))
• Shoes (plain trainer style shoes are acceptable (no logos, multi colours))

A player must only play for one team in a season unless an official request to transfer has been made to the HDC. Failure to comply shall result in:

(a) 4 points deducted per player

(b) Each frame won by offending players shall be awarded to the non-offending team.

Matches must be played on dates specified as per fixture list, no matches shall be postponed. In extenuating circumstances a match may be brought forward to a date agreed by both team captains, in this event the secretary must be made aware of the changes within 48 hours of the rearranged date.

Team failing to fulfil a fixture without contacting their opponents and the secretary a minimum of 24 hours prior to the scheduled date will be deemed to have failed to fulfil the fixture and will be deducted 3 points from their total.

Matches will commence at 7:30pm unless agreed mutually by both captains.

The captain of the home team will be responsible for (or assigning the task of) completing the online score card, a photo of the results card/board should also be forwarded to the league results Whatsapp group on the conclusion of the match.

Away team players are not allowed to practice on home tables within an hour of the start of the match. No practice to take place once the match has started.

All players and spectators must ensure that mobile phones are switched off or to silent mode whilst the match is in progress.

All registration sheets and match cards must be completed in capitals.

HDC at their discretion has the right to reduce any penalty or impose its own penalty where no penalty is expressly mentioned.

The miss rule only applies if the player on can clearly see any part of the object ball or in the opinion of the referee whilst in a full ball snooker makes a deliberate foul shot. The referee can, if he is undecided call upon the two captains only to view and discuss, at no point should any other persons give opinion or get involved. Referees should be mindful that a miss does not have to be given if in their opinion the player has made a justified attempt of escape.

(It must be stressed that decisions are at the discretion of the referee and should be respected)

Wherever possible the refereeing of matches shall be shared by both sides.

In all snooker matches the scoreboard should be marked by the referee with the home team on top irrespective of which team player wins the toss to start the frame. This will prevent any disputes arising during the frame. The exception to this would be where a match is played at a neutral club when the team first in alphabetical order shall be placed on top.

All games are played off individual handicaps

The league season shall consist of each team playing each other twice

In the event of a tie for first place there will be a playoff between the teams concerned at a neutral venue or if agreed by both captains the toss of a coin can determine the venue. If this match ends in a tie then a player from each team shall be randomly picked to play a deciding frame.

All handicaps will be assigned by the HDC. A starting handicap based on the players previous years performance will be assigned prior to the first match of the season.

If a player is not registered to play in the first match of the season, he will not have been assigned a handicap and is therefore ineligible to play until confirmed by the league secretary. This cannot be done on the day of a game. At least 48 hours’ notice must be given.

Handicaps shall be updated at set intervals (blocks) throughout the season; blocks shall be agreed at the A.G.M.

3 points will be deducted for each win in a block and 3 points added for each defeat in a block.

At the end of the penultimate block individual handicaps shall remain at that level until the end of the season.

Any player joining the league who has not played before will start with a scratch or agreed handicap, his form will dictate his future handicap.

A player re-joining the league will be assigned a handicap agreed by his captain and the secretary.

There can be exceptions to this rule where all parties agree. Any player known to the league even if he hasn’t participated in the league will have his handicap assigned to him with prior knowledge of his ability as a major factor.

The maximum handicap advantage for any frame shall be 50 points. The exception to this rule would be if League Rules 3a and/or b is being utilised, in which case the maximum handicap can be 65.

Hargreaves Singles (Scratch)

Best of 3 frames Final best of 5

Will Parry Singles (Handicap)

Best of 3 frames throughout

Bob Sconce Singles (Scratch and above)

Best of 3 frames throughout

Chester Masters Singles (Handicap Scratch and below)

Best of 3 frames throughout

Ron Woodcock Singles (Handicap over 55yrs)

Best of 3 frames throughout

Roy Baker Singles (Handicap)

2 frames, handicap doubled with points carried from frame one to frame two with a maximum of 100 points start.

Tie: Re spotted black ball

Wright Pairs (Handicap)

Accumulative handicap (rounded up if odd number) then halved

Best of 3 frames throughout

Tom Donnelly Trophy (Team / Handicap)

4 Singles / 2 Doubles

Players eligible to play both singles and doubles

Doubles play: Accumulative handicap (rounded up if odd number) then halved

Tie: 3 black balls to decide

CD McAllister (Team / Handicap)

6 Singles play down to black

Accumulative points win

Tie: 3 black balls

Chester Challenge Cup (Team / Handicap)

6 singles

Tie: 3 black balls

Team Cup Finals

Teams will be picked in the same format as the league.

The winner of a coin toss will have the choice of being the home or away team.