The Cheltenham Pool League

The Committee: 

Chairman: Andrew Williams

Vice Chairman: Martin Griffith

Secretary: Helen Fletcher

Treasurer: Justin Jordan

League Representative: Andy McKean

The Association will have a minimum of five officers on the committee consisting of: 

Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, Secretary, Treasurer and League Representative.

Official Constitution

26th March 2026

A copy of the latest league constitution, EPA rules, and relevant league fixtures, is available on the Cheltenham Pool League Facebook page or see www.epa.org.uk for more information. 

1 THE LEAGUE 

1.1 The League will be known as “The Cheltenham Pool League”. 

1.2 The Association is formed for the purpose of promoting and managing theassociated Pool League throughout the Borough of Cheltenham. 

1.3 The Cheltenham Pool League is affiliated to The English Pool Association(EPA) via Gloucestershire County Pool.

1.4 Entry of teams from all venues will be strictly upon invitation by the LeagueOrganisers. The invitation of team venues into the League will be dependent on the teams previously maintaining a standard of acceptable conduct as set out in the League Constitution. Entry of team venues in previous seasons does not automatically give venues the right of entry into the League in future. 

1.5 The League will only invite participation in the League from teams based at venues within a ten-mile radius of Cheltenham town centre. 

1.6 Venues must ensure that games are played on authentic UK pool tables, i.e. not snooker or billiard tables. Tables must be in a satisfactory state of repair and have adequate playing space around them. League rules must be displayed within direct line of sight of pool tables. 

1.7 All games will be governed by and refereed according to the current EPAInternational Eight Ball Pool Rules with exception of time per shot rule.

1.8 All league matches will be played on a Thursday evening. 

1.9 A summary of accounts to be published at the end of each season. 

1.10 A presentation evening will be held at the end of every season. 

1.11 An AGM is to be held each year before the start of the summer season. 

1.12 For the Treasurer to make any payments they must have the authority from a majority of the committee. Receipts must be obtained and stored securely. 

2 THE ORGANISERS 

2.1 The Organisers for this league are The Committee, see top of the page. 

2.2 The Organisers are primarily volunteers. 

2.3 The League Organisers will communicate to the Captains via The Cheltenham Pool League Facebook page and Captains WhatsApp group. 

2.4 The League Organisers may call for a Captain’s meeting at any time if itbelieves such a meeting is of importance to the League. Captain’s will be given at least seven days’ notice of such a meeting and should attend. 

3 TEAM REGISTRATION 

3.1 The registration fee for entry into the League will be £40 for Summer and Winter, this amount is reviewed each season. A League Organiser must receive the fee and application form by the published deadline, or the relevant team will not be entered into the League. 

3.2 A team will consist of a minimum of four players. All players must register with the League before being considered eligible to play in League competitions. 

3.3 To register players, their names must be entered on the appropriate season registration form. 

3.4 Summer league positions will be taken into consideration when placing teams for the divisional Winter league. 

4 MEMBERSHIP 

4.1 New players can register with the League no later than seven days before a League match to be considered eligible to play. The League will accept registration either by social media, e-mail, or phone. Registration is considered an agreement to abide by the League Constitution. 

4.2 The League Organisers must approve requests for the transfer of a player between teams. A player may only request a transfer once per season. No transfers or new registrations will be considered later than halfway through a season.

4.3 A transferred player who has already played in the “Team Cup” competition for their original team, is not allowed to play for their new team in the same “Team Cup” competition (Cup Tied). 

4.4 Players under the age of sixteen must have the consent of the Licensee of the match venue before able to play. 

4.5 A player may only be registered with one team at any time.

4.6 All tournament draws will be done electronically and online. 

4.7 As an affiliated League, all registered players will be eligible to take part in the Interleague and County competitions (if selected). 

4.8 The Local County committee will have the right to examine any player registration, with reasonable notice of their intention to do so. 

5 PENALTIES 

5.1 Discipline. If there is a disturbance, the Organisers may ban any player or teams involved from future League events for a period it deems appropriate. 

5.2 Any team that fails to attend a scheduled fixture without a valid rearrangement agreed in accordance with Section 6 shall forfeit the match.

5.3 Failure to attend a match will result in the offending team being deducted 3 points and the winning team will be awarded the match 11-0. 

5.4 Playing an ineligible player will result in the offending players frames being awarded to their opponents at the first offense, repeat offenses will result in theoffending team being deducted 3 points and the opponents will be awarded the match 11-0. 

5.5 If a team withdraws from the League or is eliminated during a season its registration fees will be forfeited. Withdrawal may also affect the future participation, or a deposit may be requested. 

5.6 The scorecards must be updated during the match via the Rackem app, and completed following the end of the match, no later than 24 hours after the match has finished.

5.7 Scorecards not completed within 24 hours of a match finishing will be penalised 

by loss of 1 point per late card. If this happens multiple times, future invitations to the league may be withheld. 

5.8 Singles competition – all matches must be played by the deadline date given. 

5.9 Each match is twenty frames of singles. Players may play a maximum of 5 single frames. However, four separate players should play before any second frames are played.

6 MATCH RULES 

6.1 All League matches will begin at 7.30pm and should be completed by 11:00pmor venue close – this will be decided on by the captains at the start of the match. A player must attend the fixture by 7.30pm or they will forfeit one frame every 15 minutes from 7:45pm. 

6.2 A team must fulfil its fixtures even if any of its players are barred from the venue. 

6.3 All frames must run continuously through the evening, therefore if a team has no more players to complete a match without a delay the remaining frames will be forfeited. 

6.4 There must be a strict time limit of no more than three minutes between frames. 

6.5 International rules will be played; all rules will be applied except for the time per shot rule. 

6.6 The home team will referee all matches including cup games up to the semi-finals. 

6.7 The referee is the only person permitted to pick up the cue ball unless theReferee has given prior permission to a player. Any player who touches the cue ball without the referee’s consent will be deemed to have committed a foul. Any player who commits this type of foul will lose control of the table to their opponent who will be awarded ball in hand. 

6.8 The first players named on the scoresheet will lag for the first break and then breaks will alternate between home and away teams. 

6.9 The home team/venue will pay all the table fees for the duration of the match. 

6.10 Games must be played on a Thursday night, or, in exceptional circumstances, within their game week. Game weeks run from the Thursday to the following Wednesday. Any games that cannot be played during a game week must be played by the applicable league deadline. Fixtures rearranged during the first half of the season must be completed by the halfway point of the published fixture schedule. Fixtures rearranged during the second half of the season must be completed by the end of the season. The Committee reserves the right to direct when and where a fixture shall be played. The Committee's decision shall be final.

6.11 Games may only be rearranged where there is a valid reason, such as venue unavailability, bereavement, severe weather, or other exceptional circumstances. Player availability alone will not normally be considered a valid reason. Captains must give at least 24 hours' notice of any request to rearrange a fixture. Any fixture cancelled with less than 24 hours' notice, without the agreement of the opposing captain, shall be deemed forfeited and the opposing team awarded an 11-0 victory.

6.12 A team with an outstanding rearranged fixture shall not be permitted to postpone any further league fixtures without the prior approval of the Committee. The Committee reserves the right to permit multiple outstanding rearranged fixtures, but only in exceptional circumstances.

6.13 Where a game is rearranged, the captain of the rearranging team must raise this in the Captains WhatsApp group. The opposing team must then provide three dates on which the fixture can be played. If the rearranging team fails to agree a rearranged date within 14 days of the original fixture date or fails to play the fixture on an agreed date, the match shall be deemed forfeited and the opposing team shall be awarded an 11-0 victory. The Committee's decision on whether a team has complied with this rule shall be final.

6.14 Any rearranged fixture not played by the applicable league deadline shall be deemed void unless the Committee determines that one team is responsible for the delay. In such circumstances, the responsible team shall forfeit the fixture, and the opposing team shall be awarded an 11-0 victory. The Committee's decision regarding responsibility for the delay shall be final.

6.15 Where a game is played at a neutral venue, player names must be entered onto the scorecard “blind” at the start of each section. 

6.16 The referee must ensure that spectators give players adequate playing space. 

6.17 The League considers unsporting behaviour, such as coaching, barracking or unacceptable conduct. It is the referee’s and Captain’s responsibility to ensure that this does not take place. One warning for unacceptable conduct must be issued to a team before the frame may be awarded to the opposing team. 

Captains may instruct the referee to apply these rules if it is felt that such a situation has arisen. If the League is informed of repeated occurrences of such behaviour, the Organisers may take appropriate action, including player or team suspension, removal from the League, and withholding future invitations to the League.

6.18 In the event of a tie in the League, the head-to-head results between the twosides concerned will determine final positions. If this is still a draw, then a captains' play-off match will be organised to determine the result. This will consist of 5 frames, first to 3.

6.19 The team knock out cup competition must be played by players who have been involved in at least 30% of their team’s matches up to the point of each round. 

6.20 All matches in a cup competition are played blind. Captains may request that a cup match be played at a neutral venue. Any request must be submitted no later than 48 hours before the scheduled fixture and approved by the Committee.

6.21 Cup matches must be played on their scheduled fixture date unless both captains and the Committee agree to a rearrangement. Any rearranged cup match must be played no later than one week before the next scheduled round to allow the draw for that round to be completed with at least one week's notice.Failure to do so may result in one or both teams being removed from the competition at the Committee's discretion.

6.22 Right of appeal – EPA policy – EPA team/person to appeal in writing to local EPA affiliated County Committee.

7 GENERAL 

7.1 The League will be responsible for the purchase, engraving and presentationof all trophies. 

7.2 The League Organisers will publish all results and league tables weekly, via the League Facebook page and the League Republic site. 

7.3 The Organisers are empowered, in special or exceptional circumstances, to make changes to the existing match rules and/or constitution. All Captains will be informed in the event of any such alteration in the League constitution or rules. 

This document supersedes all others as of 26th March 2026.