Update on changes to Youth County Cups for the 2024-25 Season

On Wednesday 19th June 2024 the Competitions Committee considered the application from several Youth Clubs to reconsider County Cup Rule 2(A). Rule 2 (A) states:

“The Clubs participating in the Competitions must be members of an affiliated Saturday or Sunday Youth League, which is affiliated to Hertfordshire FA. A Club which ceases to exist, or which ceases to be entitled to play in the Competition for any reason whatsoever shall thereupon automatically cease to be a member of the Competition.”

We have a responsibility to create a positive environment in which all can grow their love of the game, and one aspect of this is ensuring that matches offer a meaningful and relevant level of challenge. It is widely understood there is little benefit to either side in playing fixtures where there is significant mismatch in ability or experience.

The committee acknowledged the implementation of the rule had an unintended impact on those teams who also participate on the boundary of Hertfordshire who play in neighbouring county Leagues e.g. Cambridgeshire Girls League and Wycombe & South Bucks League.

We as a committee have a responsibility for all the youth teams that participate in Hertfordshire and have made it clear we would review the impact of this rule after 12 months, followings its approval at the July Council meeting in 2023. The Competitions committee remit is to provide the most enjoyable competitions across the age groups for all those who participate.

After careful consideration, the committee will be providing two County Cup Competitions at U14-U18 in the Boys categories. Each competition will be known as the Cup and the Trophy e.g. U18 Boys Cup and U18 Boys Trophy.

It is the intention that teams who participated in the County Cups for 2023/24 Season will enter the new competition called "The Hertfordshire FA Trophy", those teams who were unable to enter last season will now enter the existing competition which is already known as "The Hertfordshire FA Cup". Each competition should have a minimum of eight teams entering in order for it to run.

We believe this is a positive move towards providing Cup competition football for all and responds to the concerns that were raised.

All entries for the County Cup open on 3rd July and further information can be found by visiting this page.

Graham Phillips
Chair and on behalf of Competitions Committee