Explains the additional U15 Ladder Competition

An additional U15 Ladder Competition comprising 2 ladders begins on Saturday 3rd Feb to fill as many of the free fixture dates as possible and provide additional competitive interest for the remainder of the season.

D1 ladder – 8 teams (D1 minus Ifield FC who are playing other additional fixtures arranged by the League)
D2 ladder – 7 teams

Unfortunately, it is not possible to mix the teams across the divisions in ladder fixtures this time as the free dates in each division do not correspond very well and not enough teams can be mixed together fairly in viable inter division fixtures. There are however a few inter division friendlies mixed in for some teams and there may be more opportunities later.

The aim is for teams to play a fixture against every team in their ladder. However, this will be a big challenge as dates run out, so a ladder points per game format is required to settle the competitions fairly if some games are un-played.

What is already clear is that there are not enough free dates for an extra fixture between every team. To cover this, most future league and cup fixture results will double up as a ladder result e.g. a ladder team may have 3 different teams left to play in their main division and 1 to play in the cup, those results will also count in the ladder if appropriate and 3 further ladder fixtures are added against the teams they are not currently scheduled to play again to complete the 7 fixtures.

Only one fixture is played, not a double header, the result is used twice.

Fixtures where the results are doubling up as ladder will be noted in full-time and will be duplicated by the league as a ladder fixture after the division or cup match has been played.

General Ladder rules....

The remaining division and cup fixtures are to be completed as scheduled and any rescheduled postponements take priority and may displace a ladder only fixture if this is the most suitable date for the main fixture.

All Teams may be scheduled additional ladder fixtures on free dates, how often depends on progress in completing normal League and Cup fixtures and the availability of suitable opponents.

The Ladders will end on 27th April. Teams will be able to self-arrange friendlies in May if they wish to continue playing.

Points awarded for a Ladder fixture are win 3, draw 1, loss 0.

Draws are permitted in a Ladder fixture, no extra time or penalties.

Points will only be awarded if a Ladder fixture is actually played.

Teams responsible for a late postponement default categorised under the
League postponement policy may have ladder points deducted as follows, late
postponement default – 1, very late postponement default – 3.

The Ladder competitions may be viewed under the Cup/Competition dropdown menu in Full-Time.

Ladders do not have a knockout stage.

A final ladder will only be compiled if a minimum of 4 Teams play a minimum of 4 ladder fixtures to achieve a place in the final ladder based on performance. Teams playing less than 4 ladder fixtures will not have played sufficient fixtures for a final ladder place.

Final ladder positions will be determined in the first instance on points per game played, not total points won. Then in the event of a tie, total points won, then by fair means at the Committee's discretion.

Friendlies with internal or external opponents may also be added to fill free dates if there are no suitable ladder fixtures that can be scheduled.