Red Card

For the 2025-26 season, England Hockey is launching a new Red Card/Misconduct Complaint Form in time for the start of the new league season.

This form will replace all previous Red Card/ Misconduct Report Forms and must be used from the effective date (which is anticipated to be in the first week of September).

The new form is an MS Form, which umpires/ complainants will complete online. The link to the form will be available on the England Hockey website, Discipline and Misconduct | England Hockey, and via the South Central website's discipline pages. 

Once the new form is operational, the old-style Word and PDF forms will be obsolete and should not be used.

The new form has various mandatory fields of information, including core information regarding an offender, the offender’s team and the match in which the red card is issued. Umpires may, therefore, wish to carry an old-style Red Card Report Form as an aide memoire to the key information required. Alternatively, a checklist of key information which you need to gather on the day will be available as a download from the Red Card section of the EH website, and you may wish to carry this with you.

Updated information and guidance on the completion of a Red Card / Misconduct Complaint Form will be available via the England Hockey and South Central website shortly.

It is hoped that the new form will be straightforward to complete, whether on a smartphone, tablet or computer (Android or Apple), with prepopulated options to help with this. This is a new way of submitting a report, and any feedback on the form and its functionality is welcome and can be sent to: discipline@englandhockey.co.uk

Jo Pennycook
England Hockey Disciplinary Lead
28 August 2025

Any Red Card should be reported to the relevant Area Disciplinary Administrator (or England Hockey Disciplinary Lead for a national level offence) as soon as possible and in any event the fully completed form must be sent within 72 hours of the match. (It is always useful to forewarn your ADA by message, phone or email that a red card has been issued and the report form is on its way.)

There are new forms to use and all umpires should familiarise themselves with these documents.  You can find guidance on how to complete the Red Card/ MMO Report Form on the EH website which you can access with the link to the regulations and forms.  We recommend that all umpires familiarise themselves with these documents.  Your report should be factual and should avoid any recommendations on sanction or category of offence as the Area Disciplinary Panel will decide this. 

Please contact the Area Disciplinary Administrator if you have questions regarding your responsibilities.

You should also check that any Red Cards (and Yellow Cards) have been correctly reported by clubs  through the Game Management System (GMS).

If you are issued with a Red Card you should

• Immediately leave the pitch and the surrounding area and stay away from that area for the rest of the match and any warm-down period. If you do not do this, it may result in you receiving an increased sanction for the offence. 
• You should not engage in any coaching or other interaction with your team or the opposition or officials whilst the match remains in progress or immediately afterwards.

You must however also cooperate with the umpire by providing any information that they need to report the Red Card or MMO.  To avoid any potential confrontation with the umpire it is a good idea to use your captain or other club official to provide this information.

The Regulations prescribe minimum periods of suspension for offences in different categories.

The mandatory minimum period of suspension for any red card other than what is now defined as a “Minor Offences” red card under the new Disciplinary Regulations is 16 days. This sanction is imposed automatically and applies from the day of the match. There is no right of appeal against the award of a red card or the first 16 days of any suspension, although in exceptional circumstances a red card may be set aside by an appeal panel.

The suspension prevents you from playing, umpiring or acting, either from the sides of the pitch or on the pitch, as a team coach, a team official or any match official during any hockey match or event, which falls within the jurisdiction of England Hockey.

You are not automatically excluded from other hockey activity (for example internal club training). If you are in any doubt as to whether you are permitted to take part in an activity, you should speak with your Club Disciplinary Officer who can contact the Area Disciplinary Administrator for further advice if this is required.

The Area Disciplinary Panel has the power to impose more serious sanctions.   The scale of sanction increases depending on the nature of the offence and more detail regarding this can be found in the new Disciplinary Regulations.  The Regulations provide that, in cases of premeditated or serious offences, including in particular but not exclusively, personal insults to an umpire or match official, damage to equipment, the use of a stick, punching or kicking, or group violence, you can expect to receive a substantially more serious sanction than the minimum suspension periods that are prescribed by the Regulations. 

If the Area Disciplinary Panel is considering a greater sanction than 16 days your Club Disciplinary Officer will be contacted and asked to provide representations regarding the misconduct before the final sanction is agreed.  Any representations are usually coordinated by your club and submitted on your behalf.

The Area Disciplinary Administrator will issue a Penalty Notice to your club or other member body which will set out the exact terms of your suspension. 

Every club must appoint a Club Disciplinary Officer. These contact details need to be kept up to date via the Club Portal so that the Area Disciplinary Panel knows who to contact if a disciplinary issue arises in relation to a player at your club. 

The Club Disciplinary Officer is the first point of contact for the Area Disciplinary Panel. They are responsible for ensuring that the officers of their club and any individual who is the subject of any disciplinary procedure are kept fully informed of any steps taken in the disciplinary process and any sanction imposed on the individual.

In some cases, the Club Disciplinary Officer will receive requests for representations from the offender and/or the club involved. These will require coordination of responses within prescribed deadlines.  It is important that you meet these deadlines as failure to do so may result in a decision being made without these representations being considered.

Clubs and team captains / managers/ coaches are required to cooperate with umpires if a Red Card is issued. This includes providing any information that the umpire may require to report the offence.

Teams must enter on GMS the player/ offender details for any Red or Yellow Cards awarded.  This must be done within the timeframes set out for the relevant competition and as soon as possible after the match, in any event.

Clubs are also responsible for ensuring that any suspension periods for Red Cards or Yellow Cards are observed by their members. Please note that the automatic suspensions provided for under the League Regulations or the England Hockey Disciplinary Regulations take effect automatically whether or not a Penalty Notice has been issued by a Disciplinary Panel. 

Any breach of a suspension is likely to result in a further period of suspension of at least double the period of the original suspension.

Finally, clubs should have their own internal disciplinary processes to deal with misconduct on and off the pitch.  If a club takes disciplinary action in connection with any red card the Club Disciplinary Officer should confirm the details of any club sanction to the Area Disciplinary Administrator.