Tag: lockdown

by Mike Birchall

TUESDAY LONGIES LADDER LEAGUES!

Here’s something new…

As we don’t know how much longer it will be before we can get back to full contact football, there is no point in setting up any more standard Longies Leagues, so here’s one that can run until we get the ok to start up again.

LADDER LEAGUE – How it will work!

  • Games kick off at 8pm every Tuesday, from 7th July
  • Maximum of 6 teams per week (first 6 to register play on the first week and have first ‘dibs’ on the second week, but new teams can join if spaces come up)
  • Each team will play 5x 8 minute games (2 mins between games = 1 hour total)
  • Pitch 1 is the top of the ladder, pitch 3 is bottom
  • If you win your game, you move up the ladder, lose and you drop down. Win on pitch 1 and stay at the top of the ladder, lose on pitch 3, stay bottom!
  • Win the final game of the 6 on the top pitch, and you win that week’s tournament!
  • All 6 teams will get points from 6-1 depending on where they end the night (winners get 6 points, losers of the last game on the bottom pitch get 1)
  • In the event of drawn games, the team that scores first is declared the winner. We have plans for deciding winners of games that finish 0-0…
  • Teams who lost their previous game will kick off, giving them that very slight advantage
  • To increase the pace and intensity of the shorter game, the time for each team to get their shot off is reduced to 5 seconds from first touch. If you fail to do that, the ball is returned to your opposition.
  • All other rules remain as per the standard Longies rules
  • We will play until the lockdown allows full contact football again, then the team with the most points will be the LONGIES LADDER LEAGUE WINNERS!

The league will start next week as long as we have 6 teams ready to go. Get in touch to reserve your place.

by Mike Birchall

ALL YOUR LOCKDOWN LONGIES OPTIONS!

Right, we’ve successfully trialed a full Sunday evening of socially responsible lockdown Longies, and have come up with a full programme of nights and options for the foreseeable future. Some of this may still be subject to change, but for the time being here is what we have to offer.

LEAGUES

For the time being, the only 3-a-side Longies Leagues we will be running will be on a Sunday, starting this weekend (14th June). We are offering up leagues at three separate times of the evening:

League One: 40 minute games at 4.30pm and 5.15pm

League Two: 40 minute games at 6pm and 6.45pm

League Three: 40 minute games at 7.30pm and 8.15pm

CASUAL BOOKINGS / FRIENDLIES

Casual bookings are classed as groups of 6 making a booking and taking a slot on a pitch and having a game between themselves.

Friendlies are groups of three contacting us and asking us to match them up with a game against another group of three.

All bookings come with a referee who will help to ensure social distancing is maintained, as well as ensuring the rules of the game are enforced as normal! The times these bookings can be made are as follows:

Monday: 8pm and 8.45pm

Tuesday: 8pm and 8.45pm

Wednesday: 9pm

Sunday: Whatever time slots are available between league games (we will try and keep some slots free at most of the available times)

PLAYING RULES

LONGIES PLAYING RULES
Click the link to be directed to the Playing Rules page

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

LONGIES REGULATIONS
Click the link to be directed to the Regulations page

If you want to book in for any of the above, head to the homepage and complete a ‘Join A League’ form, call or text 07809252658, email [email protected], or get in touch via any of our social media pages.

by Mike Birchall

LONGIES PLAYING RULES

We’re ready for a return (of sorts…)!

Much as we’d love to burst straight back into regular Ballers action, it’s extremely unlikely that we will be able to return in full anytime soon as social distancing measures quite rightly remain in place. But with the government now confirming that up to 6 people can engage in sporting activity as long as social distancing is observed, we have an opportunity to get the lads back out on the pitch. Here’s our plan, now with updated and confirmed rules following our first trial game…

Essentially it’s 3-a-side, socially distant longies!

Basic rules:

3-a-side

Each team remains in their own half and is responsible for maintaining the required social distance between themselves.

One team kicks off from anywhere within the blue goal area, and the restart after a goal is also from the blue goal area.

You have three touches to get the ball into the opposition half, preferably via a shot at goal, and a 7 second limit to get your shot away from the time of the first touch.

No goalkeepers, and no players can go in the blue areas by the goal to block a shot (see pitch layout below). If a player blocks a shot in this area a goal is given, regardless of whether the shot is on target. The same rules apply if you block a shot with your hand. You can go in the blue area when the ball is in your half of the pitch.

To maintain social distancing rules, only one player can defend on the edge of your own area within the width of the goal (you can’t line up all three players in a line blocking the goal!). All other players must be at least 2m away

No player can go into the area 1m either side of the halfway line

If the ball goes out of play behind the goal the play restarts with a kick in from within the blue area – this counts as the first touch of this ‘play’

If the ball goes out of play at the side of the pitch, a kick in is taken from the place where the ball went out – this counts as the first touch of this ‘play’

If you block a shot and the ball goes out of play, the block counts as the first touch of the three you have to get the ball back into the opposition half, the kick in would be the second, making the third touch the one that would have to be your shot at goal. The 7 second count to get your shot away would stop when the ball is out of play, and restart when the kick in is taken.

The below ruling has been replaced by the following rule (we’re leaving it in there so you can see what we have changed!):

Each team has 15 ‘plays’ per half, so 30 attempts to score across the whole game (this number will be reviewed before we start in full, as we want to ensure that everyone gets a reasonable amount of playing time, but the games will have to be shorter to hopefully fit more in!)

Each half will be 19 minutes long (in a fast paced game each team could have as many as 50 shots on goal in this time), and each team will have the same number of plays per half, meaning if you kick off a half you will face the final shot of the half. You have 7 seconds from the time of your first touch to get your shot away. That time clock stops if the ball goes out of play (ie, if you block a shot and it goes out for a kick in). We will run a multi-ball system, so teams will be expected to get the ball back in play as quickly as possible to avoid any time wasting. If you take too long the referee reserves the right to give the ball back to your opposition.

If you fail to get the ball back into the opposition half within the three touches or the 7 seconds, the opposition restart the game from their blue area.

For a very brief example of how games are going to work, check out the below video!

by Mike Birchall

We have a plan…

We’ve had 7 weeks to come up with something that can get people kicking a ball around again, and we think we may be getting closer to being able to do something.

We’re not suggesting for one second that we’ll be able to get fully competitive football back on the go for a good while yet, and we certainly don’t want to play any part in putting anyone at risk, but if we can find a way to get lads back on the pitch and kicking a ball round sooner rather than later, why shouldn’t we do it?

We don’t want to give too much away about our plans as we don’t want anyone nicking them, but if you want to know what we’re up to, you only have to ask!

Get in touch on 07809252658, email [email protected], fill in a ‘Join A League’ form from the homepage, or message us on any of our social media pages.