1. Title

The Competition shall be called the "Old Boys' Cup" and be known as an AFA affiliated Competition.

2. Management

a) The control and management of the Competition shall be vested in a committee consisting of the Officers - Life President, a President, Vice Presidents, a Chairman, Honorary Secretaries, Match, Results & Ref Secs, and an Honorary Treasurer, plus not more than four members, all of whom shall be elected at an Annual General Meeting. A further three members shall be appointed by the 'Arthur Dunn Cup' committee.
b) The committee may at any time fill any casual vacancy among its members.
c) At any meeting, four shall form a quorum.​ 

3. Invitations to compete

a) The number of Clubs taking part in any particular Old Boys Cup Competition shall not exceed twenty-four, which may be annually invited by the committee. Once 24 applicants have been accepted any further applicants will be considered by the committee.
b) In accordance with the A.F.A. Cup Rule 3(f), if as a result of misconduct, the AFA Council decides as a punitive measure to exclude for a period of time a Club or Team from any or all AFA Cup Competitions, then the Old Boys' Cup shall follow suit in respect of their Competitions as directed by the AFA Council, and for the same duration.
c) Club teams playing in this competition, must consist of bone fide members of the club. All teams entered in to the competition must compete in a bone fide league competition (excluding the Vets cup)
d) The invitation to compete in the competition will be sent  out by the Honorary Secretary in May every year, and acceptance thereof shall be notified to the Honorary Secretary within 14 days of the issue of such invitation. New clubs may be invited and must accept the invitation before the A.G.M.
e) New Clubs having been invited to compete for the following Season, and who have accepted that invitation, MUST send representation to the A.G.M. held in June. Such Club(s) shall not have a vote at this meeting, however failure to attend will result in a fine as decided by the committee.
f) Clubs invited to compete in the Senior Cup may also enter their lower teams into the Junior (2nd XI's), Minor (3rd XI's), 4th XI, 5th XI, 6th XI and 7th XI Cups. Clubs with more than seven teams may also enter such XI's into the 7th XI Cup. Other invited clubs will be allowed to enter their teams in a competition deemed correct by the committee. All invited clubs may also enter a team into the Veteran's Cup.
g) Each club shall keep a list of the players it registers and a record of the games in which they have played, and shall produce such records upon demand by the committee. A player who has played for a team of higher rank in any section of the competition shall not, in that season, be eligible to play for a team of lower rank in any section except by permission of the committee. Team sheets should be emtered onto Full Time.
h) Any team playing an unregistered or otherwise ineligible player or players may forfeit that game and may be fined and dealt with by the committee however it deems fit.
i) The entrance fee for each eleven entered shall be specified by the Old Boys' Cup committee, in the letter of invitation, and shall be payable before the A.G.M.​

4. Playing conditions

a) The draw will be made at a meeting prior to the A.G.M. and the accepting Clubs shall be drawn by lots in couples, the necessary byes being drawn in the first round. Winners and runners up in the previous season's Competition will not be entered into the draw for any preliminary rounds in the said Cup.
b) The committee shall fix the dates for each round and the ties shall be played on these dates, unless an earlier date mutually agreed upon by both Clubs and The Honorary Secretary may direct the Clubs to play on a Sunday.
c)  
i. The Club which is in each instance drawn first shall have the choice of ground, unless otherwise mutually agreed.
ii. In the event of a fixture being postponed on a second occasion due to the pitch / weather, the team drawn first will concede home advantage and the fixture played at their opponents ground. Should weather cause significant disruption to the fixtures and the committee deem it necessary to allow fixtures to be played on Weekdays or Sundays, any cancellation of such fixtures may result in the tie being awarded to the non-defaulting Club.
iii. Any team failing to fulfil a fixture due to insufficient playing members will be deemed to forfeited the tie and the other team will progress to the next round. In the event of the forfeiting side not being the lowest side in the club then the relevant part of Rule 12b may also come into force.
iv. If a match cannot be played due to the non-arrival of some, or all of a team's players, the tie will be forfeited and the other team will progress to the next round.
d) The Old Boys' Cup committee will appoint whenever possible Referees, and in certain instances Assistant Referees. Fees payable to these Officials shall be the same as advised by the AFA for their Cup Competitions. In the event of the Competition being unable to supply a Referee, then the Club, which is drawn first, shall be responsible for providing a Referee.
e) Where the colours of the two competing Clubs are similar, the home team must change their strip. It shall be a condition of entry that all players and substitutes, in all competitions, shall wear a uniquely numbered shirt.
f) Each tie shall be of two equal halves and of a maximum duration of one and a half hours, or such shorter period of not less than one hour as the competing Clubs may agree upon. The half-time interval shall be 10 minutes. The duration of the half-time interval may be altered only with the consent of the Referee. Extra-time of not less than twenty minutes shall be played in the case of ALL drawn ties. If the scores are still level after extra-time then a Penalty competition will take place to decide the tie. The Penalty competition will conform to the rules of the Football Association.
g) A Club may use up to three substitutes at any time in a match, except to replace a player who has been suspended from the game by the Referee. The substitution can be made only when the play has been stopped for any reason and the Referee has given permission. Every team participating in the competition must provide to the refereee, at least 20 minutes before kick off, a team sheet of all players and substitutes with a maximum number of 14. The substitues can be used on a roll-on, roll-off basis, meaning that a player being substituted becomes a substitute and can replace another playerat any time subject to the conditions laid out in Law 3 of the Game. If no team sheet is provided, then the referee will refuse to allow substitutions on a roll-on, roll-off basis.
h) Artificial football turf pitches are allowed in this competition providing they are new generation 3G rubber crumb synthetic pitches. (To meet the criteria a football turf pitch must pass a test every 3 years as defined in the FIFA Quality Concept for Football Turf). Artificial pitches are only to be used in periods of inclement weather otherwise grass pitches must be used. The home side must give a minimum of 3 days notice of the use of an artificial pitch. The home club is responsible for advising participants of footwear requirements when confirming match arrangements.
i) All Clubs that enter the Old Boys' Cup may apply to stage one of the Competitions finals. The committee will decide on the venue for all finals.
i. The two finalists shall take a match ball to the final, and the choice of which ball is to be used, will be made by the Referee. The footballs will be returned to the Clubs immediately after the match
ii. Kick off times for all cup ties (below) may not be altered without mutual agreement by both clubs and match official/s and the consent of the committee.
Up to and including 4th Saturday in October 2.00pm / 5th Saturday in October 1.45 pm
1st & 2nd Saturdays in November 1.45pm /Remaining Saturdays in November 1.30 pm
December and 1st & 2nd Saturdays in January 1.30 pm
Remaining Saturdays in January 1.45pm
Rest of season 2.00.00 pm

5. Results

Results must be reported via the Full Time system, or any more current system used by the AFA, by the end of the day that the games have taken place. Clubs must also, within 3 days, complete the relevant match report form. This is currently available via the front page of the competition website.​ 

6. Trophies

a) The Honorary Secretary shall be the legal owner of all cups, in trust for the 'Old Boys' Cup Competition'.
b)The winning Club shall hold and be responsible for the safe keeping of the Cup(s) from the time of presentation, until returned to the Honorary Secretary of the Competition.
c) The Competition shall insure the Cup(s) annually. If any Cup(s) is (are) lost or damaged whilst in the custody of the Holding Club, immediate notice must be given to the Honorary Secretary with full particulars. The costs incurred for any such loss or damage to be the responsibility of the Holding Club.
d) The winning Club shall return the Cup(s) in their possession to the Honorary Secretary of the Competition by 28th February of the following year, unless otherwise requested. The Honorary Secretary will then arrange for the engraving of all trophies, the cost of which will be invoiced to the winning Clubs. Failure to return the Cup(s) by 28th February or as otherwise requested, shall result in a fine of £50 for each Cup.
e) The committee shall award pennants for the winners and runners-up of each Cup, for their retention.
f) The committee shall provide commemorative plaques to the Referee's and the Assistant Referee's of all finals.
g) The committee shall provide Winners and Runners-up medals to up to 14 participating players of each team. A player sent-off the field of play for misconduct in a Cup final shall not be presented with a medal for playing in that final, and in the event of the Captain being sent-off, the Cup shall be presented to his deputy. Neither shall any player who wilfully refuses to attend the presentation ceremony be presented with such medal for playing in that final. In all such cases the Cup committee shall decide subsequently whether to make any award.

7. Annual General Meeting

a) The A.G.M. shall be held in the month of June each year upon a date and at a time to be fixed by the committee.
i. To receive and, if thought fit, to pass an audited statement of accounts for the financial year ended on the preceding May 31st.
ii. To elect a committee and officers in accordance with rule 2(a).
iii. To decide on any resolution which may be duly submitted in accordance with these rules.
b)  
i. Every Club which has taken part in the Competition during the preceding season, and who has been invited and accepted an invitation to compete MUST send one representative to attend at the A.G.M.
ii. Any Club which fails to send a representative to the A.G.M. shall be fined an amount as decided by the committee.
iii. Any Club which has taken part in the Competition during the preceding season, but whose invitation has been withheld as a result of the A.F.A. applying their cup rule 3(f) - see Old Boys' Cup rule 3(b) - shall be entitled to send an observer to the A.G.M. and any subsequent Special General Meeting, but will not have a vote at any such meeting,
iv. The Officers and Members of the committee shall also be entitled to attend and vote at the A.G.M.
c) Notice of any resolution to be proposed at the A.G.M. must be sent to the Honorary Secretary during the month of April, immediately preceding such a meeting.​ 

8. Special General Meeting

A Special General Meeting shall be convened at any time by order of the Management Committee, or upon a requisition in writing of six Clubs. The Honorary Secretary shall call a Special General Meeting to be held within three weeks from the receipt of such requisition. At such a meeting any decision of the committee may be reversed or amended by a three-quarters majority of those present.​

9. Appeals

An appeal by a Club or individual against a decision made by the committee of the Old Boys' Cup, must be made to the Amateur Football Alliance in accordance with their rule 20.
Such an appeal must be made in writing and lodged personally or by recorded postal delivery to the offices of the Alliance, and must be received by them within fourteen days of the date stated on the written notification of the original decision.
The appeal must be accompanied by an appeal fee of £25, the disposal of which shall be at the discretion of the Appeal Board, appointed by the Alliance from three members of its Emergency Committee.​ 

10. Charities

In keeping with the original concept of the committee of 1913, the committee shall make donations to any charity they deem fit.​

11. Emergency powers

Any matters not provided for by, and any alteration to, the foregoing rules, shall be decided by the committee, whose decisions shall be accepted as final by all Clubs and players taking part in the Competition.​

12. ​Junior, minor, 4th XI , 5th XI, 6th XI, and 7th XI cup competitions

a) The foregoing rules shall apply in every respect to the above-mentioned competitions, except that no player shall be qualified to take part in those competitions unless he is a bona-fide member of his team concerned.
b) All clubs will field their 1st XI in the senior cup, their reserves in the junior cup and so on throughout the competition. Clubs can only cancel from their lowest XI, irrespective of other competitions being played on the same day. If a club fails to fulfil a fixture then all subsequent lower sides will no longer be eligible for that season's competition and will therefore have to withdraw. This will be decided by the cup committee.
c) If on receipt of a complaint a Club should be found in default of this rule, then the committee may order the tie to be replayed, or award the tie to the other side.​ 

13. The Old Boys' Veterans Cup

Clubs, who have been invited to compete in the Senior Cup for the current season, may enter their Veterans into this Competition. In view of the fact that not all Clubs run a Veterans side, the committee shall have the right to invite Clubs not taking part in the Senior Cup, to enter their Veterans team, only in order to bring up the numbers to make a worthwhile competition.
The rules of the Old Boys' Cup Competition shall apply so far as they are altered or modified by the following rules:
i. No player shall be qualified to take part in the Competition unless he is in at least his 36th year (i.e. 35 years of age) on the 1st October of the current season and qualified under rule 3(b) of the Old Boys' Cup Competition.
ii. Players who take part in any one of the other 7 Old Boys' Cup Competitions are NOT DEBARRED from selection for a Veterans team.
iii. All ties shall be played on Sundays, unless otherwise mutually agreed by the Clubs concerned.
iv. Any team that cannot fulfil a tie by the prescribed date will be forced to forfeit the tie, unless they have had a change of date approved by the committee. Matches can also be played at an earlier date provided that both teams agree the new date.​ 

14. General

No alteration by way of additions, deletions, amendments or otherwise shall be made to the Rules, except at the A.G.M or at a Special General Meeting. No alterations to the Rules shall be effected unless two thirds of those present and voting, as defined by rule 7, support the alteration. No less than 14 days notice prior to the Annual General Meeting or Special General Meeting must be given to the Secretary of any proposed alteration and the same sent to each Club at least 7 days prior to the meeting.​ 

15. Website

The competition website is www.oldboyscup.co.uk.