Below are the transfer rules for the 2011 season. All rules are made with the best interests of fair and even competition in mind. In the event that any team attempt to illicit an advantage which is seen as against the spirit of fair play, any such request may be rejected.

TRANSFER BUDGETS

All teams shall be allocated a transfer budget for the course of the 2011 season in order to stimulate the transfer market and encourage greater participation between teams.

All teams shall receive a transfer budget of £500,000.

This will be the final season that transfer budgets are used with the intention of the creation of a new financial system for the 2012 season.

The transfer budget may only be used for buying players from other teams and player pool bids. An updated balance of teams transfer budgets shall be kept and made available on a regular basis by the Trades Commissioner.

As in 2010, NO Trade administration fees shall be charged.

SUBMISSION OF TRADES

Trades are to be sent to the Trades Commissioner and must be received by them no later than 6pm (UK Time) THREE days prior to the team orders deadline for the next round of games. In most instances this will therefore be 6pm on a Wednesday.

At the discretion of the League President or Training Commissioner, this deadline may be extended or altered as necessary and if this is the case, an announcement to this effect will be made to the e-mail group and Telegraph blog

Trade requests must carry the subject line : Trade : <Team Name> and be sent to the Trades Commissioner by the deadline stated above. You do not need to include the name of the team who the trade is with, only your own team.

The players name, salary and team salary before and after any trade must be included in the body of the e-mail requesting the trade (see also Example Trades below).

BASIC RULES

   * You may not exceed the Salary Cap at any time. This is £6,000,000 for all teams.
   * You must have 30 players in your squad at all times.
   * Transfer fees are permitted and this amount is unlimited, provided you have sufficient funds in your transfer budget remaining.
   * You may not trade extra salary cap space you may have.
   * You may not trade a player with a health rating of 2 or above (even if the other team agrees to it).
   * New coaches may not trade a player out of their team with an attack or defence rating of 8 or above for a period of 28 days from taking over the team. New teams at the start of any season are exempt from this rule.
   * Where a trade is considered, in the opinion of the Trades Commissioner, to be detrimental to the competition, or any team in question, the Trades Commissioner has the right to suspend the trade pending further investigation. This infers no guilt on any party as to any wrongdoing, merely that the matter requires closer inspection.
   * You may not make 2 for 1 trades, or any derivative thereof.  All trades must involve an equal number of players.

EXAMPLE TRADES (SELLING TEAM)

TRADE : EIRL LIGHTWEIGHTS
From : EIRL Lightweights
To : EIRL Heavyweights
Player Name : Fred Bloggs
Salary : £100,000
Team Salary (before trade) : £6,000,000
Team Salary (after trade) : £5,900,000
Other Conditions : EIRL Heavyweights will pay a total of £350,000 to EIRL Lightweights.

EXAMPLE TRADE (BUYING TEAM)

TRADE : EIRL HEAVYWEIGHTS
To : EIRL Heavyweights
From : EIRL Lightweights
Player Name : Fred Bloggs
Salary : £100,000
Team Salary (before trade) : £5,900,000
Team Salary (after trade) : £6,000,000
Other Conditions : EIRL Heavyweights will pay a total of £350,000 to EIRL Lightweights.

CANCELLING TRADES

A trade may be stopped if either coach decides to cancel it as long as this has not already been actioned by the Trades Commissioner. Once it has been confirmed, it cannot be cancelled.

TRANSFER WINDOW

Trading will commence prior to League Round 1 and will end at the conclusion of the regular league season. Teams that are not mathematically able to make the play-offs will not be permitted to make trades out from that point to teams that are still mathematically able to achieve a play off place.

BREACH OF TRADE RULES

Anyone caught deliberately breaking the trade rules will have 2 points deducted from their league total by the League President.

PROTESTS AND APPEALS

You have the right to appeal any decision by the Trades Commissioner.  Any such appeal must be registered within 24 hours of the original decision.

PLAYER POOL TRADES

Teams may purchase players from the Player Pool at any time within the transfer window.

   * Player Pool trades will be decided by means of a Dutch (or blind) auction, with the minimum bid being £50,000 for any player.  There is no maximum bid provided you have the money in your transfer budget to cover your bid. Any money for player pool trades will come from a teams transfer budget.
   * All bids must be in multiples of £1,000 above £50,000.
   * Bids by teams are not made public, therefore you will not be notified if another team has bid a higher price for a player you have submitted a bid for.
   * The team with the highest bid will purchase the player for the price of the winning bid.
   * In the event that two teams bid the same and highest amount for the same player, the player shall remain in the pool.
   * You may not drop a player to the pool who has a health rating of more than 1 week.
   * The deadline for Player Pool bids shall be the same as for all other trades.
   * There is no format for Player Pool trades so long as they are legible, include the player you are bidding on, the amount of your bid and the player you wish to return to the pool if you are successful, so the following example would be fine: “EIRL Heavyweights bid £67,000 for Mickey Mouse. If successful please place Donald Duck back in the pool.”
INCORRECT TRADE AND PLAYER POOL REQUESTS

Orders not sent in the correct format will be declined in full, however, discretion may be shown, at the discretion of the Trades Commissioner, for minor errors where such an error is easily identifiable and can be resolved quickly. In the event that clarification on such an issue is requested by the Trades Commissioner and no response is received within 24 hours, the request will be declined. It is in your best interests to get things right from the start!

If you are unsure of any aspect of the trade rules, or require further clarification, please ask the Trades Commissioner.