Competition Information and FAQs
AoC Sport league and cups are open to member colleges as well as associates (e.g. schools, academies and training providers) that meet our entry criteria. We offer regional and national leagues, festivals, flexible format competitions and national knockout cups.
Please refer to the information below, which outlines responsibility for each sport.
Administers: Football (Tier 2 & 3), Pan Ability Football, Futsal
Administers: Women's Rugby, Volleyball
Frequency Asked Questions
Colleges should ensure that they have renewed their membership with AoC Sport. Invoices to existing members are sent out in June, some going to the College Principal and some directly to the sports department.
Associates (schools and training providers) should complete their competition entry form and invoices for both associate and competition fee will be issued in September.
If you would like to be considered to be a new Member (colleges) or Associate (schools and training providers) contact competitions@aoc.co.uk
All members and affiliates should enter teams on SportLomo by the first Friday in June. Late entries will be accepted providing there is space in the competition. It is important that you are realistic in the teams that you enter as leagues will be created on the basis of the entries received.
Entries for the pan ability and cricket cup competitions will be accepted until 1 December.
If you are entering a football competition, you must affiliate with your County FA by 1 September. If you are new in position you will need to contact your County FA to be given access to your college details on the FA portal.
Ensure that at least one member of staff has attended an FA Safeguarding Workshop.
You will be required to purchase personal accident insurance.
There will be no charge if you withdraw before the second Wednesday in September. You will be fined up to £100 if you withdraw after the third Friday in October
Invoices will be based on the entries showing on SportLomo on the second Wednesday in September and will be issued soon after. AoC Sport reserve the right to remove teams from competitions if an invoice is not paid within 30 days of issue.
Yes, if you are playing in a Prem League/Tier 1 competition players must be registered on SportLomo before the first game. For all other competitions, players must be registered by October half term. The penalty for infringement is a 1-point deduction.
The competition calendar, showing the dates on which each league and cup fixture will be played, is available on the AoC Sport website from May.
League Fixtures will be available on SportLomo by the start of July. You must contact Aoc Sport immediately if there are dates on which you cannot play.
Cup fixtures will be posted in late-September.
The home team must appoint a suitably qualified match official to every match in accordance with the competition rules. Failure to do so will result in either a 1-point deduction or the match being forfeited.
You must confirm the fixture with your opponent by telephone or email five working days before the match (Thursday for matches played the following Wednesday). Provide the date, time and venue for the match as well as details of the facility and colours of kit. The contact details for your opponents are available on SportLomo. Your opponent is required to acknowledge receipt of your confirmation.
You have 28 days to agree a new date for a league fixture with your opponent and upload the new date to SportLomo. Failure to do so within 28 days will result in the match being recorded as a 0-0 draw and no league points awarded.
Cup games must be played on the following Wednesday.
Team sheets must be made available for the opponent to view in all Prem League/Tier 1 competitions.
It is recommended that team sheets are exchanged in tier 2 and 3 competitions.
Electronic copies of team sheets may be shared on laptops, tablets or smart phones and it is recommended that these are produced on SportLomo.
The home team is responsible for uploading the score of the match on SportLomo within 48 hours of the match. If the score has not been added within 28 days, the match will be recorded as a 0-0 draw, and no league points will be awarded.
The results of cup matches must be uploaded by the winning team within 24 hours of the match. Failure to do so my result in the team forfeiting the match.
You may report the issue to AoC Sport, providing full details of the match, the competition in which it was played and the rule that you feel your opponent has broken.
Appeals and complaints will not be accepted from any team that has not registered players.
FA Club Portal
Once you have your institutions structure in place, you will need to affiliate with your local County FA or logging directly into Club Portal. As part of the process, you and your colleagues will need to demonstrate that your college/academy satisfies the FA's stringent rules on quality.
However, as a recognised education provider, the FA will be aware that that your staff are fully trained in safeguarding procedures, and that you have appropriate Public Liability and Personal Accident Insurance in place.
Once this affiliation has been completed you need to attach teams to either the ECFA Men's League or ECFA Women's League and make your payment.
If your affiliation is part of a club, you will have to use the system used by clubs whereby the Safeguarding and Liability documents will have to be attached. Please see link to online support here. This takes you to a site which has lots of how to guides and information around player registration and other portal functionality.