Umpire Qualifications

I am getting a lot of questions about umpire qualifications, and who needs to do the umpires forum. The WCCL has two levels of Umpire Training:
- ACO-Trained (the higher level)
- Forum-Trained

To become ACO-Trained, you have to do the Umpires Course which runs in March each year and costs 70.00, and then do at least 2 CPDs (this number is subject to change). We will also consider people to be ACO-Trained if they have done the Umpires Course this year, but haven't done the CPDs yet.

To become Forum-Trained, you have to do the Umpires Forum.

I will be receiving a list of attendees of the umpires course, CPDs and umpires forums, and updating the website before the start of the season.

These requirements have changed over the years. For people with previous qualifications, clubs can check the status of their players' umpire qualifications by logging into the website and going to "Club Members". And if players with umpire training have moved from another club, please ask for their player record to be moved to their new club - their umpire training qualification will come across with it.

Umpires Forums

With the withdrawal of the online Stage 1 Umpires course, and no suitable replacement available, we will be running in-person Umpires Forums this April. They are being held at Trowbridge CC on 14th and 24th April, and Swindon CC on 16th and 28th April. All forums start at 18:45, and should finish around 20:30. All those who attend will be considered to be Forum-Trained when awarding umpire points for matches.
To book onto a forum, log into the website and go to Book Forum. You can then book onto the forum, any player in your club members list. If you need to book anybody on who is not on that list (which will be anybody who has not played for your club in the WCCL previously), please contact the League Administrator.
Please note, there is no minimum age for attendees (except that, they must be old enough to play in the WCCL), but as per league rule 28(a)(iv), umpires must be over the age of 16 (including if they are only standing at Square Leg).

Umpire Qualifications 2025

ACO-Trained umpires. We previously said that to qualify as an ACO-Trained umpire, people who did the Introduction to Umpiring face-to-face course in 2024 would have to do all the CPDs in 2025. However, due to each CPD only being available once prior to the season starting, we have decided to reduce this. The requirement is therefore that to be an ACO-Trained umpire for 2025, you must have done the Introduction to Umpiring Course, and have attended at least two CPDs. Anybody who achieved the status of ACO-Trained umpire in 2023 or earlier, retains that status.

Forum-Trained umpires. Following the withdrawal of the online Stage One course, the league have decided to return to holding in-person Forum Training. This will take place in April. Venues and Dates will be announced in due course. Anybody who is already forum-trained will remain so.

League Rules

The League rules have been updated for 2025, and additional league policies added. They can be found on the Rules and Policies page.

Minor reorganisation, Divisions 7-10 after 2025 season

The league is growing quickly. We have had 29 new teams join the league in the last 5 years. 18 of those teams have been too strong to initially play in Division 10. The number of new teams coming into the league is well in excess of the number of gaps we can create to accommodate them at the correct level. Thus we now have a number of teams playing in too low a division. The number of teams in this position is such that normal promotion will not resolve the problem, plus we are likely to have more such teams apply to join the league in 2026.

Therefore, as stated at the AGM, there will be a minor reorganisation of Divisions 7-10 at the end of the 2025 season. Quite simply, we will take the teams who will play in Divisions 7-10 in 2026, and based on their 2025 results and the division they were playing in, we will put the strongest 10 teams into Division 7, the next 10 into Division 8, etc. This means it is likely that more than 2 teams will be relegated from each of these divisions. Obviously the decision as to which teams go into which division will be subjective, and won't be an easy decision for the committee to make. But our aim will be to get everybody playing teams who are at about their level.

Change of Teams and Fixtures, Division 4 and 5

Following a discussion at the AGM, Beehive Southwick have dropped from Division 4 to 5, and Avebury 2 have moved up from Division 5 to 4. This has caused the fixtures for these teams to change, and also for Coastal Cobras (Div 4) and Heytesbury & Sutton Veny (Div 5). All club secretaries and fixture secretaries have been informed, and the fixtures on this website have been updated.

Club Officer and Captain Contact Details

As clubs have their AGMs, please then log into the league website and update/confirm your officers and captains contact details for the 2025 season.. If the details are unchanged, you need to click the "update/confirm" link, and then click to confirm the details are correct.

Roll of Honour

League Meetings

The 2025 Spring Meeting and AGM will both be held at Devizes Town Football Club. The Spring Meeting will be on Easter Monday, 21st April, and the AGM will be on Monday 24th November. Both will start at 19:45.