Sports Pitch Terms & Conditions

Outdoor Sport Pitch Bookings: Terms and Conditions

1. Registration

 All groups/teams/clubs/organisations wishing to make use of East Renfrewshire Culture and Leisure (ERCL) outdoor sports pitch facilities MUST be registered under the Registration Scheme, which is free of charge.

Under no circumstances will outdoor sports pitch bookings be granted to those who have not completed the registration process (non-members). Membership of our online booking portal (pitchbooking.com/ercultureandleisure) will be confirmed on completion of the registration process.

ERCL reserves the right to refuse any application for the hiring of a facility without being required to give any reason for such refusal.

Only the named person(s) on the registration documentation can make enquiries and/or additional bookings/cancellations on behalf of their team / club / organisation. Named person(s) are limited to five per member (i.e. club contact, team contact and another).

Information Required for Registration;

Under 19’s

• Club Constitution
• Child Protection Policy
• Must be registered with a local / national association to apply for pitch bookings
• Must have achieved the SFA Quality Mark (evidence required)
• Must be registered with SYFA & provide SYFA ID

Over 19’s

• Club Constitution
• Must be registered with a local / national association to apply for pitch bookings

 2a. Sports Pitches (Grass & Synthetic) General

 The group / team / club / organisation must only use the pitch allocated to them by ERCL and which has been declared ‘ON’. Under no circumstances should any team / club / organisation make use of a pitch which has been declared ‘OFF’.

Access to the allocated sports pitch will not be given before the stated start time of the booking and teams /clubs / organisations must be clear of the pitch by the stated finish time.

No team / club / organisation may transfer their booking to any other individual, group or organisation.

Information as to whether a sports pitch is ‘ON’ or ‘OFF’ is available as detailed in Section 5 below.

ERCL’s decision as to whether a pitch is ‘ON’ or ‘OFF’ is final. The decision will be based on ground conditions at the time of inspection and members must be aware that weather conditions can change.

East Renfrewshire Culture and Leisure cannot be held responsible for matches declared ‘ON’’ at the time of inspection on a Friday, only for the pitch to be declared ‘OFF’ at the time of inspection on a Saturday and vice versa.

Any team found to be using any pitch or venue without a booking, either for a match or training, will be charged full price for usage. ERCL will have the right to suspend or remove the use of a venue if any team are found to be using them without a booking during the close season or if a pitch has been called off.

2b. Mid-Week Bookings on Sports Pitches

Any registered team can book a mid-week sports pitch up to four weeks in advance.

It is the team / club / organisations responsibility to check if week-day pitches are on during times of inclement weather. It should be noted that information regarding the status of the pitches will only be posted when pitches are called “OFF”.

The team / club / organisation can make this check via ERCL’s Twitter account after 3pm on the relevant day. Alternatively, the team / club / organisation can contact via the following email outdoorsportspitches@ercultureandleisure.org.

2c. Weekend Bookings on Sports Pitches

All sports pitches can be booked up to four weeks in advance by teams who have been granted a Membership of our online portal (pitchbooking.com/ercultureandleisure).

The cut off time for weekend booking is 12pm on Friday. Where there is a public holiday Friday, the cut off for weekend bookings is 12pm on Thursday.

The relevant booking confirmation e-mail / permit should be made available for inspection at the request of the pavilion attendant on duty.  Failure to produce this evidence will result in the relevant team being unable to access trust facilities.

2d. Requirements Relating to Grass Pitches only

Small-sided Grass Pitches (including 5’s, 7’s & 9 a-sides)  

 These will only be allocated to teams where players are 12 years of age or younger.

In accordance with guidelines laid down by the clear pathways scheme in conjunction with the SYFA and the SFA, the season now runs from March to November.

Midweek football is permitted during the relevant seasons at Cowan Park and Muirend.

There will be a winter shutdown of all venues from the end of November to the end of February for essential maintenance works to be undertaken.

ERCL do not provide changing rooms to teams at any of their small-sided venues.

11-a-side Grass Pitches

These will only be allocated to teams where players are over 12 years of age.

Midweek football is permitted on Mondays and Wednesdays only during the relevant seasons.

Midweek football will be allocated on a first come first served basis to all teams, therefore, teams with weekend block bookings (more than 10 consecutive bookings) on pitches are not guaranteed their home pitch.

The cut off time for making Monday or Wednesday midweek bookings (grass pitches) is 12pm on the day of the booking.

The cut off time for making weekend bookings is 12pm on Friday. Where there is a public holiday Friday, the cut off time is 12pm on a Thursday.

To protect the playing surfaces, the maximum number of games to be played on a pitch in any week will be decided by ERCL, whose decision is final, but this will also be dependent on weather and other conditions.

Occasional extensions during the above period may be allowed at the discretion of East Renfrewshire Culture and Leisure, subject to the team / club / organisation providing at least three working days’ notice prior to the date of the fixture.

Please note, extensions will only be permitted in exceptional cases. For example, where the team / club / organisation is involved in a cup tie where rules require extra time in the event of a drawn game.

All grass pitches will be closed over the Christmas and New Year period.

Summer grass 11-a-side pitches are available at selected locations from the start of July to the start of the football season. These pitches will be made available to all membership clubs on our online portal.

Standard charge for use of 11 a-side grass pitch applies and teams can book these pitches 4 weeks in advance.

2e. Requirements Relating to Synthetic Pitches only

These pitches are available throughout the year to all registered members.

The availability of these pitches varies depending on location and can be found on our online portal.

The cut off time for booking a synthetic pitch at MacTaggart and Meikle, Muirend, Woodfarm and Barrhead is 12pm on the day of the booking.

The cut off time for booking all other synthetic pitches; Carlibar, Mearns, St Luke’s and Williamwood, is 12pm on the day prior to the booking date.

Please note, the planning conditions at Woodfarm Synthetic pitch state that all teams must vacate the pitch at 8.55pm, with no exceptions. The attendant will turn off the flood lights at this time. This venue is not suitable for cup ties where extra time may be required.

All games will be cancelled if there is snow or ice on the playing surface.

3. Payments – Block Bookings

Payments for block bookings are made via Monthly invoice. Payments are made a minimum of twenty-one days in arrears.

Monthly invoices / statements are sent to each team via email by the 11^th of each month.

If a payment is unpaid, an e-mail notification will be sent to the team contact and club contact (if applicable). The team / club / organisation will then be given five working days to make payment otherwise future bookings will be suspended until the outstanding debt has been cleared.

Please note, if a payment is late more than once within the season, an administration fee of £50.00 will apply to any late payments.

East Renfrewshire Culture and leisure reserves the right to cancel any block booking if any team / club / organisation fail to pay on time on three or more occasions.

Requests for block bookings can be made during the registration process or by emailing outdoorsportspitches@ercultureandleisure.org).

Registration can be completed online:

https://www.ercultureandleisure.org/sports-pitches/sports-pitch-booking-registration/

On receipt of your block booking request, ERCL will allocate pitches to your team / club / organisation. The online portal will be updated (Pitchbbooking.com), which will in turn, e-mail you a confirmation permit and any date exclusions that apply.

The confirmation permit should be made available for inspection at the request of the pavilion attendant on duty. Failure to produce this evidence may result in the relevant team being denied use of the council facilities.

Where a team / club / organisation is allocated a series of bookings they must contact their appropriate league, advising them of the dates they have been allocated and requesting home fixtures on these allocated dates.

4. One off or additional bookings

All one off or additional bookings are made via our online portal (pitchbooking.com/ercultureandleisure)

You will have to pay for your booking in advance, by debit card, unless your club has been otherwise authorised to pay via our invoice / statement process.

Confirmation of your online booking will be emailed to you by Pitchbooking.com.

5a. Cancellation of Booking(s) – BY THE MEMBER (TEAM / CLUB / ORGANISATION)

Any team / club / organisation not requiring an allocated booking must advise East Renfrewshire Culture and Leisure at least two clear working days prior to the date of the booking otherwise the full cost of the booking is due.

All cancellations must be made via this form – click here

You must quote your team’s name, name of facility, date and time of the booking(s). Please note, for multiple bookings, a cancellation form must be completed per pitch booked.

For example: any weekend fixture should be cancelled by 4.45pm on the Wednesday prior to the booking. Where there is a public holiday Friday, cancellations must be made by 4.45pm on the Tuesday prior to the booking.

A review of bookings allocated to a team / club / organisation may be undertaken by ERCL if a team regularly cancels bookings without giving two days’ notice, thus denying other teams / clubs / organisations use of facilities.

5b. Cancellation of Booking(s) – BY EAST RENFREWSHIRE CULTURE AND LEISURE

Weekend fixtures – grass pitches

The decision as to whether a pitch is ‘ON’ or ‘OFF’ rests solely with East Renfrewshire Council (ERC).

All pitches are inspected on a Friday morning. Information will be posted on ERCL’s twitter account after 3pm.

If a pitch is declared ‘OFF’ by ERC on a Friday, then this pitch will remain ‘OFF’ for the entire weekend.

If a pitch is declared ‘ON’ by ERC on a Friday and weather conditions change overnight, then it is the responsibility of the home team to organise a ‘Match Day Inspection’ to confirm whether their booking should go ahead. This inspection should be undertaken by an authorised match official.

It is the responsibility of each team / club / organisation to check East Renfrewshire Culture and Leisures Twitter feed after 3pm on a Friday to ascertain whether pitches are ‘ON’ or ‘OFF’. This decision will refer to both Saturday and Sunday fixtures.

Where the booking is cancelled by ERCL, the team / club / organisation will not be charged for the booking.

We ask that teams adopt a common-sense approach when deciding if a match should be played. The condition of the pitch should be considered not only before the match but what condition the pitch could be in after a match has been played. This decision can determine if a pitch is fit to use for the whole season or if it must be closed for part of the season to allow for repairs and the pitch recover from damage to the playing surface.

Weekend fixtures – synthetic pitches

The decision as to whether a pitch is ‘ON’ or ‘OFF’ rests solely with East Renfrewshire Council.

Inspections for weekend fixtures are undertaken on a Friday morning, as detailed in above section. Synthetic pitches are normally only called off if snow and ice is covering the surface.

Midweek fixtures

It is the responsibility of each team / club / organisation to contact East Renfrewshire Culture and Leisure on outdoorsportspitches@ercultureandleisure.org or check the Trust’s twitter account after 3pm on the day of the fixture to ascertain if games are ‘OFF’.

6. Equipment – goal posts and nets

Teams are responsible for providing, erecting and taking down goal nets and corner flags and (where fixed goals are not in place) erecting and dismantling the portable goals provided by East Renfrewshire Culture and Leisure. Portable goals and all fittings provided must be returned in their entirety at the end of the game to the original collection point. Any goals that are chained within our facilities, cannot be unlocked and moved elsewhere. We ask teams not to approach our attendants to request this.  East Renfrewshire Culture and Leisure reserves the right to charge teams for any items not returned:

7. Fees and Charges for use of East Renfrewshire Culture and Leisure outdoor sports pitch facilities

The cost of an outdoor sports pitch facility and/or running track includes toilet and changing accommodation. Sports Pitch bookings may be subject to VAT.

8. Changing Facilities

Changing facilities will be allocated by the ground’s person on duty and the Council accepts no responsibility for any clothing, equipment or other articles left by the team / club / organisation in the facility.  All football boots must be removed before entering the changing facility and under no circumstances should boots be cleaned in sinks or toilet / shower areas.

Damage caused to above facilities will be considered a breach of conditions of booking (refer to Section 10).

9. Behaviour of teams / clubs /organisations / officials

The team / club / organisation which holds the booking is responsible for the behaviour of its members and that of the opposition.  The cost of repairing any damage to ERCL’s facilities or equipment which occurs during the period of the booking is payable by and will be charged to the booking holder.

10. Breach of conditions of booking

The breach of any of these conditions may result in the cancellation of all further bookings allocated to the team / club / organisation and, where appropriate, to financial penalties being imposed.

Review date: 11 August 2023