Brighton Football Marathon 9th June 2012
Venue
The Brighton Football Marathon will take on Preston Park – in the flat area at the
bottom of the hill near the café.
Map:
https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=Preston+Park+Brighton&hl=en&ll=50.840433,0.146674&spn=0.003665,0.010568&hq=Preston+Park+Brighton&t=h&z=17
Nearest transport is Preston Park or London Road rail – both about a 10-15 minute
walk. Free parking is available in the car park near the Café.
The Café will be open all day selling sandwiches, cake, tea, coffee etc. and there are
toilets next to the café.
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.
Each team will also be given a gazebo to put up to provide shade and shelter.
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.
trainers, mouldies or blades.
We suggest astro
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
There is a café on site and we’ll provide as much water as we can, but please bring
enough food and water for a very strenuous day’s activities.
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
Two groups of 6 teams, play each other twice. 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 – 6 points for winning, 5 points for second place etc.
There will be 12 rounds of fixtures on 5 pitches, during which each team will play 10
times with two rests.
Games will be 18 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.
Teams ranked 1-4 will get a bye to round 2 of the knockout stage. Team 5 will play
team 12, team 6 will play team 11, team 7 will play team 10 and team 8 will play
team 9.
The winners progress to the quarter finals, where they will be joined by teams
ranked 1-4.
The losers will play against each other in a series of playoffs to determine final
tournament positions.
This will be repeated for the quarter finals and semi finals.
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.
2.
3.
No offside rule
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 metre 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 200 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 – if not, try the Pitch Managers
THANK YOU!!
Contacts:
Charlie.Gamble@tackleafrica.org – 07967 586120
http://tackleafrica.org/category/football-marathon/brighton-football-marathon/
www.facebook.com/tackleafrica