Details for prospective new clubs.

The league is open to new clubs applying to join the MIPL for the 24/25 season.

The process that we use within the MIPL is that any new club that wishes to join the MIPL is invited complete an application form providing details of the club inc committee, finances, safeguarding, facilities, teams, respect campaigns, etc to ensure that your club is a viable club, run in line with the county FA guidelines and would not be detrimental to existing MIPL member clubs. We will be asking for your clubs medium and long-term plans - are you looking to move just one team, or if this a feeler team for one season with other to potentially follow in subsequent seasons. We are not against clubs entering a single team, but we would prefer a longer-term, multi-team, commitment.

We then invite the club to an informal interview with 2/3 members of the league committee in mid/late May. A factual report from this interview, together with the league committees' views and recommendations is then submitted at the MIPL AGM (Wednesday 12th June 2024). Prospective clubs are asked to give a short verbal presentation (2/3 minutes) and answer any questions from existing member clubs. The prospective clubs are then asked to leave the room whist voting takes place - a simple majority vote is required to become a MIPL member club.

One issue that prospective clubs may wish to consider before they apply is the travelling distances that other teams would have to undertake for away games. We used to have a 12-mile rule (from Maidstone town centre) but the Kent FA instructed us to remove that from the league rules a few years ago, but it is still, rightly, a factor that existing member clubs will consider. Currently the member club furthest west is from Hartley, east is from Pluckley, north is from the Isle of Sheppey and south from Tunbridge Wells – although the vast majority are from the Maidstone area.

Clubs can have any number of teams at each age group - we have one existing club with five teams in a single age group, but the normal is two. We ask that no more than two teams share a pitch as we do mandate a kick off all games at 10:30. U7, U8 and U9 play on a Saturday, U10 and U11 play on a Sunday. There is a little bit of ad-hoc flexibility on kick off times, but as a rule it is 10:30. The home team provides referees, they are not appointed by the league.

We currently have approximately 50 teams in each age group and depending on which age group and which part of the season it is will depend on how many teams are in each division (ranges from six to ten per division).

For the U7 and U8 we start with a five-week Development League as we have very little, if any, knowledge on the teams so it really is a bit of fact finding. We then re-grade all the teams (no automatic promotion/relegation) before moving into another five-week Autumn League. There is then a break for Christmas and we re-grade again and come back with a two-week Trophy competition. More re-grading and another five-week league. Finishing the season, after yet more re-grading, with a two-week knockout Cup competition.

U9 and U10s are slightly different as we are more confident in our knowledge of the teams with maybe only 4/5 new teams coming in. We start with a seven-week Development League, re-grade (again no automatic promotion/relegation), four-week Autumn Trophy competition, re-grade, seven-week Winter League, re-grade, and finished with three-week Cup knockout competition.

By U11s we normally have lots of data with only the odd team or two coming in, so we start to get teams ready for the standard home/away league that most of them will move into at U12. We therefore have a nine-week Autumn League, re-grade (no automatic promotion/relegation), nine-week Winter League, re-grade, and finish with three-week knockout Cup competition.

Our aim is to provide competitive football in each division, no one learns by winning, or losing, by double figures. As our understanding of teams’ abilities grow then this becomes easier to achieve – at the older age group we aim to have an average goal difference of around 2.00 goals per game.