EASTERN REGION
Women’s · Football · League
NEW TEAMS FACTSHEET
V0.1
Jim Hill
Chairman
EASTERN REGION WOMEN’S FOOTBALL
Peter Ball
Secretary
FACTSHEET FOR COUNTY LEAGUE TEAMS CONSIDERING APPLICATION INTO THE REGIONAL LEAGUE
This factsheet is designed to give aspiring Teams important information about what to expect when
They consider entering the Promotion Pool for Eastern Region Women’s Football League (ERWFL).
The ERWFL operate at Winter Steps 3 and 4 (known as Steps W3 and W4) of the Women’s Pyramid
of Football and this brings with it new requirements and possibly some changes to the way your
team needs to be organised and funded.
Getting this information early will hopefully help you decide if entering the Promotion Pool is the
right thing for your team, and to get you prepared for any changes you might need to make for the
following season.
WHAT IS THE PROMOTION POOL?
The promotion pool is a new concept in the Women’s Football Pyramid designed to give teams the
chance to enter a Regional League without necessarily winning their County League or finishing as
runner up.
HOW DOES IT OPERATE?
Teams that have been in the County League for at least 1 season can apply to join the ERWFL by
submitting the Form enclosed with this factsheet. These applications should be sent to Tessa
Hayward at The FA by 31 March each year when they will be reviewed by the Eastern Region Joint
Liaison Committee (ERJLC) made up of equal numbers of representatives from the County Leagues
and the ERWFL.
If vacancies exist in the ERWFL, the applications will be prioritised by the finishing position of the
applying team at the end of the season, and other criteria as directed by The FA Women’s
Committee. It is the general principle that the team who won the top division of a County League
should receive an automatic place to be promoted, if they wish to accept promotion and meet any
other requirements applicable at the time. After considering the applications, the ERJLC will make
the recommendations to the Women’s Football Project Team, a Sub-Committee of The FA
Women’s Committee, who will make the final decision.
A BIT ABOUT THE EASTERN REGION WOMEN’S FOOTBALL LEAGUE
The League is directly sanctioned by The Football Association rather than a County FA and covers
Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. The
ERWFL has a promotion link with the South East Combination Women’s Football League (at Step 2 of
the Winter Pyramid, known as Step W2) above it.
The ERWFL is designed to have a maximum of 36 teams in its membership with a Premier Division
and 2 geographically organised First Divisions (one North and one South) and at present the League
has 27 teams across the three divisions, so there are places available for aspiring teams.
In addition to the League fixtures, the League offers three Knock-Out Cup Competitions – namely the
League Cup, League Plate and League Shield. All teams (Unless they are a reserve team of a first
team playing in the ERWFL.) must play in the League Cup. Losing teams from the 1st and 2nd round of
the League Cup enter the League Plate competition and losing teams in the 1st and 2nd round of the
League Plate enter the League Shield.
WHAT CHANGES CAN YOU EXPECT AT THE ERWFL LEVEL?
To compete at Regional level, you will have some additional things to think about:
Ground Grading: In the First Divisions, there are no prescribed ground grading criteria and the
ground you played on in the County League is likely to be good enough to play on. If you are
successful and are promoted to the Premier Division, you will need to meet the requirements of the
Premier Division which is slightly higher than the minimum Category C set by the Women’s Pyramid
of Football Ground Grading criteria. This Ground Grading is laid down by The FA and is
non-negotiable. If your current pitch won’t meet the standards then you will need to look at how to
improve your ground or look at an alternative venue to play at.
Sufficient Players: As we are sure you already know, the season is long and the demands on your
squad can be difficult to manage. If your squad consists of lots of younger players who may still go
on holiday with their parents or who are studying, or you have players that sometimes need to work
weekends, or you have Forces personnel who may not be in the Country for long periods, then you
will need to have a squad big enough to cope with having some players missing each weekend.
There is no restriction to the number of players you can register currently, but you will need to have
a minimum of 15 registered before the 1st of August each season. Cost of registration is £1.00 per
player.
Ability to Travel: Each step up the Pyramid involves additional travelling. At First Division level, the
allocation of teams to each division is designed to be regionalised to reduce travel as much as
possible, but there is usually some increase to the travel experienced at County League level. This
has to be a major factor when considering moving into Regional football. It’s not just cost, but also
the extra demands upon players’ time.
Club Administration: The ERWFL uses The FA Full-time website for its player registrations, fixtures,
results, and news items. Each Club will be asked to provide contact names, email address and mobile
phone numbers to submit results using the texting service, and also to put their team sheets onto
Full-time. (http://full-time.thefa.com/Index.do?league=524403811)
Referees: The League currently has a Referees Appointments Officer for the provision of
officials. This provides an important service to clubs and leagues to better ensure equality of match
day management. The current referee fee is: £30 fee in the Premier Division and £25.00 in the 1st
divisions. Expenses are at 30 pence per mile to a maximum of £15.00 for all Divisions.
Costs: Entering the League and Cups has a set standard fee which you will need to budget for. The
fee is £100.00 per team to be paid by the 1st June each season, and in addition, each new team will
need to pay a £50.00 bond by the 1st July of the season joining which will be returned when leaving
the ERWFL provided all obligations have been met
WHAT CAN WE DO FOR YOU?
Playing at Regional level is all about playing at the highest possible level in the Eastern Region; it is a
level to aspire to. But, it does place demands upon: Finance, Facilities, Organisation, Time and
Transport.
Even-so, at this level in the pyramid the ERWFL does attract funding support by the FA to support
member clubs and in recent years coach education, emergency first aid, player physiotherapy and
costs associated with achieving the FA Club Quality Standard (Charter Standard) has been provided
to member clubs.
Funding support continues to be available and this is allocated based upon a Football Development
Plan determined with member clubs and agreed with the Football Association.
WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR THE ERWFL?
If you think you want to join the Regional League, you might want to know what our aims are for the
next few years. Our ambitions are:
To increase the membership of the ERWFL to the maximum of 36 teams; with 12 teams in each of
the 3 divisions. Allocation from a County League into either the North or South Division will continue
to be based upon minimising travel for all teams in that division.
To achieve this, the ERWFL believe they need to:
 Work in partnership with County Leagues through the ERJLC. The strategy is therefore to
support County Leagues in an endeavour to strengthen their numbers and strengthen their clubs
so that teams are better prepared before entering the ERWFL.
 To continue the ERWFL’s accreditation as a Charter Standard League that better ensures quality
of provision, safety and wellbeing of players, and organisation. (This also attracts further funding
from the FA.)
 To introduce a new website that will help attract sponsorship into the ERWFL that will provide
additional financial support for member clubs to that currently provided by the FA.
 To continue to provide first class administration through the League Officers and Committee.
 To continue to provide independent qualified referees for all matches through the Referee
Appointment’s Officer and working with Regional County FA’s in the endeavour to improve
quality and the number of female officials.
 Through use of Full-time to reduce the administrative burden upon member clubs.
CONTACT POINTS FOR INTERESTED TEAMS
Of course, you should first discuss this as a club committee and with your County League, but if you
want to talk to someone from the ERWFL, the details of the General Secretary are: Peter Ball on
peter.ball2006@btinternet.com
General information can be found at our website - www.erwfl.co.uk