London Football Marathon 7th July 2012
Venue
The London Football Marathon will take place on Saturday 7th July at Wormwood
Scrubs Playing Fields.
Directions:
Click here for a map
By public transport:
Nearest tube is East Acton on the Central Line. Turn left out of the station, walk to
the end of the road and you’ll see the beginning of the park. Walk along the path
that goes between the clusters of bushes, and you’ll see the Football Marathon site
just beyond a small group of trees. It’s about a 5 minute walk from the station.
By road:
Turn off the A40 down Wood Lane (A219) and then turn left onto Du Cane Road.
Take the right turn just after Hammersmith Hospital (Artillery Lane) and follow
through to the car park. The Football Marathon site should be visible at the top of
the slope in front of the changing rooms.
Free parking and changing facilities are provided.
and marquees for shade/shelter.
We will also provide portaloos
Registration
Please arrive no later than 7.30am for an 8am kick off. To register, team captains
will come to the marquee to collect a sign in sheet with a disclaimer. This must be
signed by all players and then returned, at which point you’ll be given your t-shirts,
wristbands and match schedules.
Your match schedule sheet will tell you which pitches you are playing on during
Round 1. Set up camp in the marquee nearest your pitches, start warming up and
listen for announcements!
Please note that only players registered at the start of the day will be given a
wristband and permitted to take part – as well as the unfairness of playing with
ringers who turn up half way through the day, this is also a condition of our public
liability insurance.
Should a registered player turn up late for a very good reason, he should report to
the TackleAfrica marquee to plead with the organisers.
What to bring
Kit
We’ll be playing on grass, though it’s unlikely to take a stud.
Astros, blades or mouldies – remember to put comfort first!
We recommend
You will be provided with a set of 8 TackleAfrica t-shirts in the sizes submitted – but
will need to bring your own socks, shorts, goalkeeping gloves and all other kit.
Please bring and wear shinpads
Food and water
We’ll provide as much water as we can, but please bring enough food and water for
a very strenuous day’s activities. There are very few shops nearby, so please come
prepared.
Check out our separate guide on what to eat and drink – above all make sure you
keep hydrated.
Survival equipment
From experience, we recommend:
Something to sit on
Towel
Spare socks
Vaseline
Blister plasters
A small tent is a great idea for keeping all your stuff secure
Sun hats/caps
Very high factor suncream (you will burn even if it’s raining – believe us!)
Waterproofs
Something warm
Diarolyte or similar own-brand rehydration sachets (great for cramp)
Deep heat
Please come prepared for all weather conditions – the likelihood is you’ll experience
them all at some point during the day!
Tournament Structure
Group stage 1: Roughly 8am-12.30pm
8 groups of 8 teams, play each other once. 3 points for a win, one for a draw.
Your final position in this group will part-determine your ‘seeding points’ for the
knockout round – 8 points for winning, 7 points for second place etc.
There will be 8 rounds of fixtures on 28 pitches, during which each team will play 7
times with one rest.
Games will be 20 minutes long with a 2 minute turnaround time.
There will be a short break of about 20 minutes at the end of Round 1, at which
point you must pick up your match schedule for Round 2 from the marquee.
Group stage 2: Roughly 12.50am – 5.30pm
A repeat of Round 1, but with reshuffled groups.
There will be a short break of about 15 minutes after Round 2
Knockout round – approx. 5.45pm-8.15pm
Seeding points from league positions in Rounds 1 and 2 will be added together along
with any extra points gained from hitting fundraising targets. These will determine
the ranking for the knockout stage.
In the first round of the knockout stage, the Team ranked 1 will play the team ranked
64, Team 2 will play Team 63 and so on. At this stage any team can still win, but
your ranking gives you a huge advantage in the draw.
The winners of each round progress to the next round ending eventually in a grand
final, and the losers will play against each other in a series of playoffs to determine
final tournament positions.
All teams will play the same number of games – so even if you are ‘knocked out’ you
must still complete all your fixtures.
Game rules
Teams will play 6 aside on pitches that are 30m by 50m with a 12ft by 6ft goal.
All rules are as full eleven aside football with the following exceptions:
1.
No offside rule
2.
3.
Underarm roll-ins rather than throw-ins
Substitutes can be made at any time during the game – the outgoing player
must ‘tag’ his replacement as he leaves the pitch
4. 2 yard retreat at free kicks or other set pieces
Serious foul play of any type – including abusive language - will not be tolerated and
serious or repeated offenders will be asked to leave with immediate effect. Teams
that field unregistered players risk having their results overturned.
Please report any serious foul play to the organisers.
Referees
When your team is not playing, one or more of your team members will be required
to referee other games. This should largely be a case of reporting the score and
overseeing any controversial line-calls.
There will be a folder with a whistle, clipboard and pen on each pitch. Inside the
folder will be a refereeing slip corresponding to the game. Keep a tally of the score,
complete the slip at the end of the game, check the score with one of the players,
and return to the organisers in the marquee.
Top tips:
Health and safety
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Hydration is your number 1 priority
Eat and drink small amounts on a regular basis, even if you’re not
hungry/thirsty
Protect your head from direct sunlight as much as possible by wearing a cap
Apply suncream regularly even if cloudy – you will burn otherwise
First Aid, electrolyte drinks, ice and water are available in the marquee
Try to stretch in between each game or when substitute
In the event of serious injury, call 999 immediately
When playing
Do wear shinpads, don’t wear glasses, studded boots, watches or jewellery
Play in a friendly, fair and safe spirit all day. Remember the referees are extremely
tired volunteers like you, so don’t give them any abuse, ever, under any
circumstances.
Get to your pitches as quickly as possible – we have about 80 games to play in 12
hours and only 2 minutes between games. Use your match schedule to see where
you need to be.
When refereeing, get to your pitch asap (look at your match schedule) and pick up
the folder which the previous Ref will have left on the pitch – which includes a
whistle and ref slips. Keep a tally of the score, check it with teams at the end,
complete the slip, tear off and hand to your nearest pitch manager.
Generally
Enjoy the day, don’t push yourself too hard, for once it really is the taking part that
counts
Please try not to bother the guys in the marquee too much. Most questions can be
answered by the information in your folder
THANK YOU!!
Contacts:
Tom Colborne – tom@tackleafrica.org – 07734 450 201
http://tackleafrica.org
www.facebook.com/tackleafrica
#footballmarathon2012