Responsibility
It’s the responsibility of the club to ensure that all match results (match report) are received by the registration secretary within 2 days of the date played and within the prescribed manner.
There are two methods that can be used to submit a match report. Firstly using the full-time system via a desktop computer with browser or mobile device and browser. The other way is by using the FA Match day App (Android or iOS).
To minimise fines for late or uncompleted match reports we recommend that club secretaries or an appointed club official have main responsibility for the submission of results for the teams involved in the competition.
The Football Association (FA) has introduced a mobile app, prompting clubs to delegate match reporting responsibilities to managers through this system. We acknowledge that this represents a shift from previous club reporting practices. In some cases, clubs have encountered challenges with managers submitting timely and accurate results.
The delegation of this activity is a matter for the club to determine, however as a league we still expect the club officers to ensure that they put necessary processes in place to ensure that the results are submitted in accordance to the rules highlighted in the handbook. We strongly suggest that club secretaries check submissions at the very least prior to the deadline date and satisfy that all the data submitted is correct and complete.
Users having issues with Matchday
From time to time we find some match reports submitted with incomplete data. and when challenged we occasionally hear that the user thought they submitted a report.
It is important to appreciate that the Match day app is used on a broad range of mobile devices and relies on a reliable network connection (often mobile data used pitch side) to transmit data from matchday to the full-time system.. It would be therefore very reasonable to expect the occasional local issue or glitch to occur especially when stood next to a pitch in a remote location on a Sunday when several thousand clubs across the country are submitting results at the same time. To mitigate any issues like this or the more common user errors we would recommend clubs ensure that they have a process to check all submissions.
The onus cannot be on the league to prove an issue is a user error, temporary technical glitch or an omission on the part of the club.
The club should ensure that they train new team secretaries on the system. The League have Simon Robinson available for advise as technical adviser and is happy to advise clubs. There are guides available with useful videos to assist you as well.
If you believe you have a persistent issue with your matchday app then please report this to the FA. They will want some examples of the issue. (suggested method is to video the issue) We would then suggest you continue to use the Full-time system for match reporting until you have satisfied the issue is resolved.
If you feel your app is freezing, crashing or having and issues in syncing data then we would suggest you either force close (IOS) or clear storage and cache (Android) and try again. Note that an issue experienced with your device does not free you from the responsibility to submit the match report given that there are other methods available (e.g Full-time) to the club for doing so.
Tips for Avoiding Unecessary Fines from Match Reporting
Before the Start of the Season
Ensure all volunteers are setup correctly on the FA Systems. We have found that those that leave this to last minute or even after the season starts tend to be the most likely to receive fines.
Before the season starts ensure you have assigned team secretary roles in Whole Game (WGS) for each team. We would strongly advise that the club secretary adds themselves to every team as well so there is always a coverage and the club secretary can correct any mistakes made. Please be aware that new teams when added will not automatically inherit these user roles so they need to be setup by the club.
Then in Full-time check the following
1) That the secretary has been invited to administer the team via a full-time Users that Cannot login to Full-time. Ask the league (Simon, Mike or Duncan) to send an invite to the approved Team Administer to allow them to login
Users having issues with Matchday
From time to time we find some match reports submitted with incomplete data. and when challenged we occasionally hear that the user thought they submitted a report.
It is important to appreciate that the Match day app is used on a broad range of mobile devices and relies on a reliable network connection (often mobile data used pitch side) to transmit data from matchday to the full-time system.. It would be therefore very reasonable to expect the occasional local issue or glitch to occur especially when stood next to a pitch in a remote location on a Sunday when several thousand clubs across the country are submitting results at the same time. To mitigate any issues like this or the more common user errors we would recommend clubs ensure that they have a process to check all submissions.
The onus cannot be on the league to prove an issue is a user error, temporary technical glitch or an omission.
If you believe you have a persistent issue with your matchday app then please report this to the FA. They will want some examples of the issue. (suggested method is to video the issue) We would then suggest you continue to use the Full-time system for match reporting until you have satisfied the issue is resolved.
If you feel your app is freezing, crashing or having and issues in syncing data then we would suggest you either force close (IOS) or clear storage and cache (Android) and try again. Note that an issue experienced with your device does not free you from the responsibility to submit the match report given that there are other methods available to the club for doing so.