BACK TO NEWS ARCHIVE

YEL Update – 29th August 2025
This Update has FIVE important messages this week which we would ask you to please read.

  • Referees – Appointing, contacting and fees
  • Team officials need to add photos onto their FA personal account
  • U9-U14 – Second/final deadline for min. number of players to be registered for teams to be included in the winter season competitive divisions
  • All club officials and team contacts must log into Scoreline before the start of the season
  • Outstanding league fees by 31st August – 6 clubs face suspension

Referees – Appointing, contacting and fees


The new season is now just one week away. Here is a reminder about how the league appoints referees, contacting referees and fees.

Appointing – The YEL only looks to appoint referees to U9-U14 (U7/U8s either the home coach officiates or the team finds a willing parent or local official). Initial appointments are made via Full-Time 9/10 days before the game. If you receive a referee ‘TBC’ this means we have not been able to source one from the given availability. We will send out the TBC games on a late availability list to all registered referees on a Monday evening. Referees that pick games up from the list will be appointed and you will receive an FT email stating the name of the referee and their contact details. We will continue to appoint until Wednesday evening. If we are unable to source a referee, you will receive a final email where the status changes from ‘TBC’ to ‘none’. At this point, you will need to source your own referee. Teams MUST accept the appointed YEL referee up until Wednesday evening unless you have notified us well in advance that you have your own referee. These referees will need to be approved by the league before you can use them ie hold a referee qualification, have a current CFA registration, be registered with the league and be appropriate age for your teams playing format. Fines will be issued to any teams that try and avoid using a league appointed official.

Contacting referees – once you receive the FT email, you must contact the referee to confirm the details of the game – KO time & venue. The game is not confirmed until you receive acknowledgement. Referees should be contacted no later than 8pm Monday (or within 24hrs if it is a late appointment)

Fees – It is the home team’s responsibility to pay the referee their match fee. These must be paid before or immediately after the game has finished. If you want to pay them in any way other than cash on the day, this must be agreed with them at the time of confirming the appointment. Referees are within their right to request cash on the day. Any teams that do not pay the referee in the prescribed manner will be fined by the league for failing to follow a management instruction.

7v7 (U9/U10) – £15

9v9 (U11/U12) – £25

11v11 (U13/U14) – £30

Team officials need to add photos onto their FA personal account

We have been sending out reminders to the handful of team officials that have not yet uploaded a head and shoulders image to their personal FA account. ALL coaches have an image on the player ID sheets from a Safeguarding perspective. Once added to their personal account, it will transfer through to the player ID sheet.

YEL League Regulation 1(B)(iv) states that:

‘Team Officials (Manager/Coach/Assistant Manager/Assistant Coach) must have their photo uploaded to Club Portal. A parent can stand in if either coach is not present provided they have an in date FA safeguarding children certificate and in date FA DBS.

Failure of a team to comply with this rule will result in the membership application to join the league being rejected. If a team is not compliant with this regulation during the season, it will receive a fine of up to £100 for failing to follow a management instruction and will have its fixtures withdrawn immediately until the team becomes compliant.’

This regulation is an additional safeguarding measure to help everyone know who is standing on the coaches’ side of the pitch and to assist YEL Respect Field Officers/County FA Officials when checking that those coaching, have the necessary in date qualifications to allow them to do so.

U9-U14 – Second/final deadline for min. number of players to be registered for teams to be included in the winter season competitive divisions
As per League Reg 2(E), U9-U14 teams who have got to this stage, must have the following minimum number of players registered by Sunday 31st August in order to play in the winter competitive divisions. Those failing to meet the deadline will be removed and switched to friendlies only until Christmas. NB Friendlies will be arranged wherever possible but no guarantee it will be every week.
U9/U10 (7v7) – 9 Players        U11/U12 (9v9) – 12 Players        U13/U14 (11v11) – 14 Players

All club officials and team contacts must log into Scoreline before the start of the season
Reminder of League Reg 1. All users of Scoreline – Team contacts AND club officials, must log into Scoreline between June 1st and the start of the season in order for the club & its teams to be compliant. Logging in is all you need to do as it confirms your email address for any league correspondence and that you are a bona fide user.

Need your email & password
https://portal.yelscoreline.com/
Outstanding league fees by 31st August – 6 clubs face suspension

There are six clubs who have still not paid some/all of their teams’ league fees. They have already received late payment fines and now face the prospect of ALL of their teams’ fixtures being suspended on Monday 1st September along with an additional £20 late payment fine per invoice outstanding. This means the teams will not start the season until the debt is cleared.

An email has been sent to the clubs’ treasurer, secretary and chair.

Contacting the YEL

If you email the YEL OFFICE – office@yelonline.com – please ensure you state the team name, age group and playing day so we can quickly deal with the enquiry
Rob Harwood CEO
YEL OFFICE

Leave a comment