At a meeting of the Leagues Committee held on 12 June 2012 the Report submitted by the Step 7 Review Group was considered and the recommendations contained therein fully endorsed.

Set out below are the recommendations:

LEAGUE STRUCTURE

That, as from the commencement of Season 2012/2013 Step 7 of the National League System is structured as follows:

Step 7 – to be awarded to leagues where 100% of their clubs meet the Step 7 minimum ground grading requirements as at 31 March and the league complies with all other requirements for Step 7 status.

Step 7A – to be awarded to leagues where 75% or more of their clubs meet the Step 7 minimum ground grading requirements as at 31 March and the league complies with all other requirements for Step 7 status. (It was noted that in Season 2011/12 these leagues had been referred to as provisional)

Step 7B – to be awarded to leagues where 60% or more of their clubs meet the ground grading requirements as at 31 March and the league complies with all other requirements for Step 7 status.

In all cases, there must be a minimum of 14 clubs in membership of a Step 7. Step 7A or Step 7B division with no more than 25% of Membership comprising of reserve teams of clubs competing at a higher level in the National League System.

In future clubs joining a Step 7, Step 7A or Step 7B divisions will be allowed until 31 March in the year following promotion to meet the Step 7 Minimum Grading Requirements or they will be relegated.

The classification awarded to leagues would apply for three years however, it would still be possible for a league to apply annually (by 31 December) for a higher classification if they were of the opinion that they could meet the relevant criteria. It would also still be possible for leagues outside the System to apply on an annual basis (by 31 December) if they were able to meet these requirements.

As from the commencement of season 2012/2013 the following leagues will be granted Step 7 status:

· Anglian Combination
· Central Midlands League
· Cheshire League
· Dorset Premier League
· Essex Olympian League
· Herts Senior County League
· Humber Premier League
· Leicestershire Senior League
· Midland Combination
· Northern Football Alliance
· Peterborough & District League
· Sheffield & Hallamshire County Senior League
· Somerset County League
· Staffordshire County Senior League
· Suffolk & Ipswich League
· Wearside League
· West Cheshire League
· West Midlands (Regional) League
· West Yorkshire League

As from the commencement of season 2012/2013 the following leagues will be granted Step 7A status:

· Bedfordshire County League
· Cambridgeshire County League
· Essex & Suffolk Border League
· Gloucestershire County League
· Hampshire Premier League
· Liverpool County Premier League
· Manchester Football League
· Middlesex County League
· Northants Combination
· Nottinghamshire Senior League
· Oxfordshire Senior League
· Reading Football League
· South West Peninsula League
· Sussex County League Division 3
· West Lancashire League

As from the commencement of season 2012/2013 the following leagues will be granted Step 7B status:

· Kent County League
· Spartan South Midlands League
· Surrey Elite Intermediate League
· Teesside League

The Kent County League are being treated as a special case due to rebuilding their numbers following the creation of the Kent Invicta League at Step 6 of the National League System.

The following leagues were not granted Step 7 status as they did not currently meet the required criteria however, they would be eligible to apply for Step 7 status in the future if the required number of clubs meet the criteria by 31 March in any year:

· Brighton, Hove & Albion League
· Devon & Exeter League
· East Berkshire League
· East Sussex League
· Lincolnshire League
· Mid Sussex League
· North Berkshire League
· Northampton Town League
· West Riding County Amateur League
· West Sussex League
· Worthing & District League
· York & District League
The following league’s status is pending awaiting receipt of additional information:

· Mercian Regional Football League
· Wiltshire League.

FUNDING ISSUES
With regard to future funding opportunities, especially with regard to Administration Grants, the League Finance Sub Committee would be reviewing this new Step 7 structure at their next meeting and further information would be provided in due course.

GROUND GRADING
For information purposes a copy of the Step 7 minimum grading requirements is shown in the attached Appendix.

There has been much confusion regarding the provision of toilet facilities for players and match officials across the board at Step 7 and after much discussion it has been agreed that match officials must have exclusive use of a separate toilets and that they cannot be shared with players. It was also agreed that each team have separate toilet facilities, however it was accepted that this may not always be possible and was the ideal situation rather than a requirement. The new wording is shown in the attached Appendix and it was agreed that leagues advise their member clubs who currently do not comply, as they have shared toilets facilities, that they would have a further 12 months, until 31 March 2013, to comply fully with the requirements.

No further extension beyond this date would be provided.

Leagues Committee
June 2012