THE NLP's Fair Play Table is back for a third season – and defending champions Harlow Town are already targeting a second saintly success.
The unique sportsmanship standings have been printed in conjunction with the FA since 2011, supporting the governing body's ‘Respect' campaign with teams penalised with 12 points for an abusive language or violent conduct dismissal, and four for a yellow card for dissent.
Ryman One North side Harlow took the title at our National Game Awards at Fulham's Craven Cottage in May after going through the whole of last season on zero fair play points.
Hawks manager Danny Chapman has seen his side start the current campaign well, with striker Alex Read in red-hot form with 14 goals up to yesterday's FA Cup clash with Lowestoft.
But equally important to the former Town defender is the manner in which they go about their business – just as when they finished last year in a relegation battle.
Chapman said: “I'm a great stickler for discipline. We don't all agree with refereeing decisions, we know that. But without officials we wouldn't have football matches and they deserve our respect.
“All of my players understand that I won't stand for a lack of respect. If they were to get sent off for dissent, they know they'd get fined a week's wages on top of whatever the FA hit them with.
“Discipline is the biggest thing in football for me. It's all about being in control of your emotion, and if you're not in control, you're not going to win anything. We're hoping to have another crack at it again this year.”
Chapman would also love to win promotion to the Ryman Premier for Harlow, as he did in 2006-07 as a player for the club.
“We've started off OK,” he added. “It's a lot different this year with our new 3G pitch having gone down. We still probably need two or three players, but I think we've got a genuine chance.
“It's a nice place to be at the moment and in Alex we've got a natural goalscorer. He's someone I've watched for a couple of years at Bishop's Stortford, Brentwood and Aveley, but not been able to sign.
“Our success could prove our downfall if people come sniffing. We'll never stand in the way of lads progressing. We just hope we can keep hold of people like him to the end of the season.”
YELLOW AND RED RULES
IN?A?break from traditional fair play tables which do not differentiate between the various yellow and red card offences, teams at Steps 1 to 4 are penalised for dissent cautions (four points) and violent conduct and abusive language dismissals (12 points) that are most pertinent to Respect.
If teams are tied, the FA's usual disciplinary points system will be applied. Only league games count, so an average score will be applied at the end of the season with the Skrill Premier clubs playing four more matches. Off-field misconduct charges are also considered before a winner is confirmed.
Click here for the first Fair Play table of the season: Fair Play Table September 15
