What do we know about the 2019-20 season?

When does the new season kick off?
Competitive fixtures are due to start on Saturday 21st September with a league fixture. The B&B Cup will begin the following week.

When and where will training be?
During pre-season we’ll train on Gold Hill Common: Mondays at 7:30pm. Once we hit September we’ll move to the indoor astroturf at Harefield Academy: Mondays, 8-9pm.

What competitions will we be playing in?
The 2019/20 league structure won’t be finalised until early September, but as things stand, we’ll be playing in division 2 which is set to be compromised of 6 or 7 teams.

We’re also set to compete in no less than 4 cup competitions again. We’ll be in the league cup, the Berks & Bucks FA Cup (we’ve asked to go into the junior competition this time around) and will enter the National Christian Trophy. We will also compete in the league trophy, which is a competition exclusively for division 2 teams. B&B and NCT games will be played on Saturday afternoons; all other matches will be morning kick offs.

Are there any rule changes this season?

• 10-minute sin bins are being introduced as a punishment for yellow card dissent offences (please note that sin bins can only be used for dissent – and that for now this setup applies to all English grassroots football: you won’t see it in the Premier League this season!)
• The introduction of yellow and red cards for misconduct by team officials
• A player being substituted should leave the field at the nearest point on the boundary line
• At a goal kick and a free kick for the defending team in their own penalty area, the ball is in play as soon the kick is taken (it can be played before it leaves the penalty area)
• There is now a clearer wording for ‘handball’, which includes the ball touching an arm (even unintentionally) in the build up to a goal or the the ball touching a player’s hand/arm (even unintentionally) which has made their body unnaturally bigger unless the distance is very close.
• The team that wins the toss can now choose to take the kick-off or which goal to attack (previously they only had the choice of which goal to attack)
• Attacking team players must be at least 1m away from a defensive ‘wall’ of 3 or more defenders
• The goalkeeper only has to have one foot on the goal line at a penalty kick
• There is a new dropped ball procedure (including a dropped ball being awarded if the ball hits a match official and goes into the goal, team possession changes or a promising attack starts) – essentially all dropped balls are now awarded rather than contested.

For more details of these law changes please see the following link:
http://www.thefa.com/football-rules-governance/lawsandrules/laws/football-11-11/2019-2020-law-changes-explained

Are the club recruiting new players?
Yes, we are looking to recruit a small number of new players to add to our squad from last season. Ideally we are looking for new members who would intend to commit to making themselves available for at least 75% of our training sessions (one hour per week) and matches (Saturdays, subject to selection).

I’m new here / thinking of joining. How can I find out more about the club?
As well as reading the above, we would recommend taking a look at the documents page of our website (see the ‘Information’ section). If you have any questions then please get in touch via the contact form or info@goldhillfc.co.uk.

PG, last updated 1/9/2019