Five Pound Football Club Rules

As a visitor to the Website and a member of the Five Pound Football Club, you agree with the Rules below either by visiting the site, or by using the site, or by registering as a member.

The Editor can change these Rules at any time. Modified versions will take effect thirty (30) days after being published on the Website.

Definitions

In these Rules the following expressions shall have the following meanings:

"Admin Fee" is always one tenth (10%) of every Investment Fee;

"Association" means the unincorporated association, known as the Five Pound Football Club;

"Board" means any Trustees democratically elected by members of the Association;

"Club" means the football club which the Association will invest in;

"Editor" means the owner and operator of www.fivepoundfootballclub.com;

"Investment Fee" is the sum of Five Pounds (£5);

"Investment Fund Contribution" is always nine tenths (90%) of the Investment Fee;

"Membership Year" is the duration that members are granted membership of the Association. It will run from July 1 to June 30, with the exception of the initial Membership Year that will run from the Takeover Date until June 30;

"Objects" means the objects of the Association set out below;

"Takeover Date" means the date that shares in the Club are acquired;

"Website" means www.fivepoundfootballclub.com.

Objects

The Objects for which the Association is established are:

  • to identify a football club within either Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Scotland or Wales which is suitable for purchase and to instruct the Editor to act as the agent of the Association in connection with the purchase of the whole or a controlling interest in the issued share capital of that football club on behalf of the Association;
  • to invest revenue derived from the members or other income in the Club in order to allow the club to invest in its facilities, players, the stadium or such other expenditure as may be decided on by members through the Website;
  • to benefit current and future members of the Association and also members of the community where the Club is located through encouraging and promoting the development of football at the Club;
  • to allow members to make democratic decisions about the administration of the Club through the Website in the interests of ensuring that the Club is successful;
  • to ensure the Club takes full and proper account of the views and opinions of members of the Association and any decisions that they make;
  • to promote, develop and respect the rights of members of the community served by the Club and people dealing with the Association, having regard in particular to the need to provide information to members and conduct the affairs of the Association in accessible and appropriate ways;
  • to invest revenue derived from the members or other income to provide match highlights, reports and other coverage of the Club for use on the Website.

Powers

The income and property of the Association shall be applied solely towards the promotion of its Objects. In order to achieve its Objects, the Association may:

  • market and advertise for new members to join the Association;
  • collect membership fees;
  • buy and hold shares in the Club;
  • lend money to the Club, or contribute money to the Club in the way of an equity investment;
  • gift money to the Club in order to achieve the Objects of the Association;
  • enter into contracts or agreements with third party service providers;
  • take as many decisions as reasonably practicable affecting the Association through online voting through the Website.

Membership

By registering you agree that you are providing correct, accurate and true information, and that you have the legal competence to conclude such an agreement.

Members must be able to make the payment from their own freely available funds, and that the payment is not being made on behalf of a third party.

Members must have read and understood the Five Pound Football Club Rules, including the disciplinary code.

The Editor may suspend or delete membership at any time and without warning if a member breaches the disciplinary code. All members are liable for the consequences of using this site.

In the case of a conflict with one or more other (non) members, the Editor will not be liable for any damages, of any kind, in the present or in the future, anticipated or unanticipated, known or unknown, that are the result of or concern the said conflict.

The members of the Association are the people whose names are entered into the register of members.

Membership is open to any person who or which:

  • is a supporter of the club; or
  • has an interest in the game of football and is in sympathy with the objects of the Association; and
  • signs up to be a member of the Association through the Website in order to take part in the democratic administration of the Club; and
  • is over 16 years of age.

Both the Board and the Editor shall have the power to refuse membership if, by their opinion, an individual does not meet these requirements.

A member shall cease to be a member if:

  • they die; or
  • they withdraw from the Association; or
  • they are expelled; or
  • they fail after demand by the Website (Editor) to pay their Investment Fee.

Obligations of members

When acting as members they shall, at all times, act in the interest of the Association, and for the benefit of the community, as guardians of the Objects of the Association.

All public data cannot be in violation of any law or statute. You explicitly accept this statement and you are responsible (according to civil and criminal law) for the data, text and pictures that you publish.

All data you upload or post cannot violate or infringe upon the rights of authors, patents, trademarks or trade secrets, or the property, intellectual, privacy, personality or publicity rights of a third party.

All data you upload or post cannot be misleading, threatening, defamatory or tormenting.

Payment

Members are to pay an Investment Fee during each Membership Year, with the first payment to be made at the time of application for membership. Members agree that:

  • the Editor shall be permitted to retain the Admin Fee from the Investment Fee remitted to the Association; and
  • the Association may allow the Editor to offer discounts to Members; and
  • additional Investment Fees can be contributed by Members to achieve the Objects of the Association.

The Membership Year runs from July 1 to June 30, with the exception of the initial Membership Year that will run from the Takeover Date until June 30. On payment of the annual membership fee via the Website:

  • each Member's name is entered into the register of members.
  • save as otherwise provided in these Rules, the payer gains access to the Website for the remainder of the Membership Year.
  • to the extent that a football Club has not been purchased by the Association 18 months after the date that the Website first receives a payment from any member, the Website shall refund the balance of the Investment Fund Contributions as soon as reasonably practicable. Each Member will cease to be a member of the Association on receipt of the balance of the Investment Fund Contribution.

Disciplinary code

You are required to report any detrimental or illegal information/public data found on our site to the site administrator in a timely manner. If the Editor considers your complaint about content posted by another member to be justified, any offending content will be removed (text, images, information or data).

There are a number of legal rules that members need to adhere to:

  • You are prohibited from transmitting through the Website any unlawful or harassing or abusive materials and you will refrain from distribution or use of any threatening, obscene, or vulgar material of any kind. This includes posting links to such material.
  • You are prohibited from transmitting through the Website any material that is discriminatory or hateful on the basis of race, colour, gender, religion, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, citizenship, and/or handicapped status.
  • You are prohibited from transmitting material that may infringe on any intellectual property rights, copyright, or trademark or any other rights of any third party.
  • You are prohibited from transmitting material that may be considered libellous. Stick to the facts at all times.

There are some rules that some rules that cover general 'netiquette':

  • Respect the opinions of others. Many arguments cannot be "won". Agree to disagree if possible.
  • Constructive criticism is welcome, but insults directed towards other members will not be tolerated. If you must, criticise ideas, not people. Don't make posts that are inflammatory just to annoy people.
  • Members must not impersonate another person or use a false name or e-mail address.
  • Members must not post threatening, menacing or abusive material, or cause annoyance or inconvenience or needless anxiety in their postings.
  • Members must not disrupt the website by posting vulgar language, inappropriately capitalised writing, repetition of the same message or "spamming" the Website with irrelevant or meaningless or nonsensical material.
  • Members are prohibited from using the Website to advertise commercial products or for the conduct of business and from making any potential revenue dependent on any part of the Website.
  • Members must not attempt to get a password, other account information, or other private information from a Member.
  • Members must not exploit the content or trademarks of the Website without the prior written consent of the Editor.
  • Members must not undermine the Objects of the Association. In particular, the Editor may suspend Members for such period as it sees fit if it is of the view that voting is being carried out with the intention of undermining the Website, the Club or the Association.

Disciplinary procedures

The Editor can issue a quiet word (in private) by removing/editing content that contravenes the Rules and can send the offending member an e-mail just to extend the courtesy of letting them know action has been taken.

The Editor can send a 'firm warning' (in private) via e-mail to serve as more a stern warning that they should be more considered with their actions in the future, and further posts of such nature will be looked upon dimly.

The Editor can issue a Yellow Card (public warning). In addition to sending an e-mail, the Editor makes it publicly known that the action is completely unacceptable. The possibility of docking up to ten authority points, at the Editor's discretion. Serving as a public rebuke to the member, and also as a marker to existing members that the action has been dealt with, and is a clear and obvious indicator of where the line that shouldn't be crossed is.

The Editor can issue a Red Card (suspension). First offences result in a 24 hour suspension. Second offence, 72 hours. Third offence, one week, and the matter is drawn to the attention of the Board. The possibility of docking up to twenty-five authority points, at the Editor's discretion. Anything beyond should be considered a candidate for permanent suspension and/or expulsion. Ending of the suspension may (or may not) be conditional upon a public apology being made.

Just because there is a "ladder" of response, it doesn't mean that every rung has to be stepped on. If an offence is sufficiently serious, the Editor will issue the appropriate response.

Voting

Every Member shall have the opportunity to cast in official polls on the Website.

The initial Investment Fee for each Membership Year is worth one hundred authority points. Members are able to increase their authority rating by contributing additional Investment Fees. Fifty authority points are awarded for a maximum of eight additional Investment Fees per Membership Year. Additional Investment Fee payments are allowed but do not contribute to a member's authority rating. Members with a higher authority will have a bigger influence in (some of) the public votes. The Editor reserves the right to dock authority points when the disciplinary code has been broken. The Editor also reserves the right to award additional authority points as a reward to members.

The Editor has the power to temporarily or indefinitely suspend the right of a member to use the Website or to contact other members via the Website in case of or as a result of antisocial, aggressive or racist comments or comments which frequently upset other members. This shall be without prejudice to the relevant members' right to participate in all votes which take place on the Website, which shall continue notwithstanding the suspension.

Trustees

Democratic Board elections will take place through the Website when a stake in the Club has been acquired. Theses democratic Board elections every two years to decide on the new Board.

The number of Trustees shall be not less than two nor more than ten. The Association may from time to time increase or reduce the number of Trustees.

No person who is not a Member of the Association shall be entitled to hold office as a Trustee.

The Trustees ensure that members are able to vote on any decision which they consider (in their reasonable opinion) to be material to the Association through the Website and shall take due account of any such vote in reaching its decisions. This shall include (but not limited to) the remittance of funds held by or on behalf of the Association to the Club, and the uses to which those funds are to be put.

The Trustees may meet together online through the Website. Questions arising at any meeting shall be decided by a membership vote through the Website. Transcripts of meetings may be edited and made available by the Editor.

The Trustees shall in any things act for and in the name of the Association. Their functions will include:

  • defining and ensuring compliance with the values and Objects of the Association;
  • establishing policies and plans to achieve those Objects with the active participation of members through the Website;
  • establishing and overseeing a framework of delegation of decision-making to members collectively through the Website;
  • monitoring the Association's performance in relation to these plans, budget, controls and decisions and publish their findings on the Website for the benefit of members.
  • preparing income and expenditure reports, along with an annual progress report.

The office of a Trustee shall be vacated if the Trustee:

  • becomes prohibited by law from being a Trustee; or
  • becomes of unsound mind; or
  • resigns from office by notice in writing to the Association; or
  • ceases to be a Member of the Association.

The Editor

The Editor will keep a register of members.

The Editor will receive all contributions and other payments due from the members and other persons to the Association and pay over the amount so received in accordance with the votes made by members of the Website (after deduction of the Admin Fee).

The Editor will keep records with respect to all sums of money received and expended by the Association and the matters in respect of which the receipt and expenditure takes place.

The Editor will summon and attend all meetings of the Association and of the Trustees and make a record of discussions and actions arising from these meetings available through on the Website.

Privacy

The Website can send e-mails to Members relating to the Association, their membership, or any matter which relates to or is incidental to the services which the Website agrees to provide. The Website will not provide or sell Members' details to third parties in order that advertisers and/or third parties.

The Website requires Members to provide it with a name, email address, date of birth and additional information. This information is stored by the Website.

The Website may continue to send e-mails to Members whose membership has expired or has not been renewed for a period of 12 months after the date their membership has come to an end but only in connection with encouraging them to renew their membership.

Liability

As a user, you assume complete responsibility and liability, without protest, for any information you publish and/or any activity in which you engage on or via your profile. You are not only liable and responsible for the items you publish on your page, comments, letters, images, etc., but also for the comments and responses that others publish on your page. You can remove undesired content easily.

Links to other websites, including banners, buttons and text links, are subject to the responsibility and liability of the owner of the links. The Website can prevent the linking to other websites and can prosecute if these are not according to personal, normal and non-commercial use.

All rights are reserved, except for those explicitly denied. The Website denies all responsibility and restricts its liability to the legal minimum concerning the content or nature of publications or the damage that may follow from it.

Copyright

Copyright www.fivepoundfootballclub.com ©2011. All rights reserved. All text, pictures, images, drawings and graphics on this website are copyright protected. You can print them for private use. Any other usage whatsoever requires permission from the Website.

When a user enters data that is meant to be viewable to the public, including but not limited to text, pictures, images, drawings or graphics for a profile, forum entry, comment entry, a image description, a letter, etcetera, the user grants the Website an unlimited licence to disseminate, use, process, translate or modify this data.

Anyone may add a link to the Website or to individual pages on the Website, without consent. Exceptions are the use of frames and/or any technique which makes it unclear to a visitor on which website is being browsed.