League Rules


1. Entry shall be restricted to clubs affiliated to the LBA and Badminton England.

2. A League entrance fee in respect of each team entered in the Leagues and an individual registration fee in respect of each registered played shall be proposed annually by the Association’s Honorary Treasurer, with the approval of the LBA Committee.

3. There shall be four separate league competitions; Mens, Ladies, Mixed and New Hall. These shall be regarded as four quite separate League competitions for the purpose of these rules.

4. Matches shall be played between October 1st and 30th April.

5. Any affiliated Club wishing to enter a team/teams for the League must give notice to the League Secretary before 1st September in any year.

6. Any affiliated Club wishing to withdraw a team/teams from the League must give notice to the League Secretarybefore 1st September in any year, otherwise it will be liable for the fees for that year.

7. The arrangement of teams in divisions shall be presented to the Committee of the LBA by the League Secretary and shall be in accordance with the wishes expressed at the Association’s AGM.

8. Arrangements will be determined by the previous year’s results, but a Club shall not have more than two teams in any one division.

9. Teams finishing top shall be promoted, teams finishing bottom shall be relegated, subject to rule 18i. However, at the League Secretary’s discretion, more than one team made be promoted.

10. A fixture meeting shall be held in September for the benefit of the Club Fixture Secretaries to arrange fixtures for the season. Certificates and, where appropriate, trophies will be presented to the winners of the previous season’s Leagues if not previously presented.

11. A fine of £25 will be imposed on any affiliated Club not represented at the fixtures meeting.The Club will be expected to accept fixture dates subsequently given by their opponents.

12. The League Secretary shall be provided with a fixture list of all matches before a match is played. Clubs failing to comply shall automatically forfeit all matches before a fixture list is received by the League Secretary.

13. Only those players registered with the LBA League Secretary and Badminton England may take part in any League competition. Players may be registered at any time during the season but their registration and fees must have reached the LBA League Secretary and Badminton England before they take part in any match, otherwise the games must be awarded to their opponents. If the registration is verbal, then written confirmation - along with the appropriate fees – must reach the LBA League Secretary and Badminton England within 7 days to make the registration valid.

13a. A club may report to the League Secretary that a named player has left owing money. The named player will not be eligible to register for another club at any time in the future, until the outstanding debt has been satisfied.

14. No player may represent more than one club in a League competition in a single season, except by permission of the Secretary, if it considered that a particular exception to this rule should be made.

15. The maximum number of matches a player can play in any league is fourteen. If a player plays more than the maximum allowed, then all rubbers he / she plays in subsequent matches shall be awarded to the opposition.

16. At least four players must play in order to constitute a team in a recognised match.

17. A club entering two or more teams in any one League shall comply with the following rules:

17a. Four players shall be nominated for each team except the one in the lower or lowest division.

17b.These nominated players must play for the team they are nominated for, or a higher team, during the season.

17c. If a nominated player, for any reason, fails to play, or is unlikely to play in three matches out of the first five then it is the Club's responsibility to contact the League Secretary and nominate another player.

17d. In the event of an unsatisfactory, or no, reason being given for the change in 17c, all rubbers won by the newly nominated players in a lower division will be awarded against him/her.

17e. If a nominated player fails to play three matches out of the first five and a substitute nomination not given then the League Secretary can retrospectively nominate a player and apply all nomination rules.

17f. The four nominated players shall be chosen by the club before any match is played and their names sent to the League Secretary.

17g. In the Mixed League there shall be two men and two ladies.

17h. If the Club fails to indicate its nominated players by the first match the League Secretary will select four players and will notify the nominated players.

17i. A player that has played more than twice for a higher team/ teams shall not play for a lower team.

17j. If two teams of the same Club are in the same division, the home and away matches must be played as the first matches of those teams in the season.

18. Matches shall comply with the following rules:

18a. All league matches shall be played with cork based shuttles, feather or synthetic.

18b. All first and second division matches to be played with feather shuttles only, with the exception of the New Hall League, in which, the second division is exempt.

18c. The order of play for League matches is as follows, unless agreed otherwise by both sides. The HOME SIDE is listed first throughout. 1 v 1, 2 v 2, 3 v 3, 2 v 1, 3 v 2, 1 v 3, 3 v 1, 1 v 2, 2 v 3.

18d. The AWAY team shall be required to disclose their pairings to the HOME team, in order which they intend to play, before the HOME team discloses theirs.

18e. It is the HOME team’s responsibility to inform and agree with the opposition, the starting time and the number of courts available for the HOME match. If a pair from either team is not ready to play at the agreed starting time, then the rubber can be claimed by the opposing club. A rubber can also be claimed if a pair is not ready to play when required (see Rule 18c.), providing half an hour, per rubber has been allowed.

18f. The result of all matches shall be sent to the league Secretary within 21 days of the match being played. It is the responsibility of the WINNING team to do this and failure to comply shall lead to the offending team being penalised by their rubbers being deleted from the final score. The 21 day time limit shall apply, EXCEPT FOR MATCHES PLAYED AFTER 17TH APRIL. THE RESULTS OF THESE MATCHES MUST BE RECEIVED BY THE 7TH MAY.

18g. The results of any team withdrawn after 30th September shall be void.

18h. A club may request a postponement of a match once arranged, giving reasons to their opponent for the request. It is at the absolute discretion of their opponent if they wish to agree to the postponement or claim the match accordingly. This does not apply to non-availability of hall or extreme weather, when requests for postponements must be accepted. In the event of postponement both clubs must inform the league secretary in writing within 21 days of the original fixture date giving reasons for the postponement.

18i. If a conceded match, or a match awarded against a club as in rule 18h, has a direct bearing on promotion or relegation, then the offending team(s) results will be void and promotion or relegation decided on the remaining results.

19. All clubs and members are subject to The Badminton England Code of Conduct. Any breaches of this code will be dealt with according to the Badminton England Disciplinary Procedure.

20. Points not covered by these rules shall be determined by the League Secretary, subject to confirmation.

Rules applying to the LBA Hall League Only


The rules applying to the Ladies, Men’s and Mixed Doubles shall apply except as follows:

1.  All fixtures shall be arranged by the League Secretary at the start of the season.

2Fees

  1. The annual League entrance fee shall consist of a fee for each team entered in the League.
  2. Any affiliated Club wishing to withdraw a team/teams from the Hall League must give notice to the League Secretary before 1st September, otherwise it will be liable for the annual League entrance fee.

3Rules of Play

  1. A team shall consist of three ladies and three men. The format will be as follows:
    Division 1: one ladies singles, one mens singles, two ladies doubles, two men's doubles and four mixed doubles rubbers, in the format and order shown on the score sheet.
    Division 2: two ladies doubles, two men's doubles and five mixed doubles rubbers, in the format and order shown on the score sheet.
  2. Unfinished rubbers shall be void and match points awarded on rubbers completed.
  3. Where a club enters more than one team the nominated players shall be two ladies and two men.
  4. Team programmes shall be exchanged before commencement of play.
  5. Rubbers shall consist of two games to 21 points, with no setting.
  6. All division 1 matches to be played with feathered, cork based shuttles.

4Promotion/Relegation

  1. A match result where each team scores nine games constitutes a draw.

The order of the season’s final results tables are decided on the basis of 2 match points for a win and one match point for a draw. In the event of a tie on match points, matches won, games won and game points are taken into account in that order.