Guidelines

TalkChelsea is a football forum for fans, made by fans. The Administrators have previously taken a lenient stance towards behaviour on the forum, but a lack of consistency in dealing with persistent offenders has caused for a tighter set of rules to be created. You will find these rules set out below.
 
Illicit Material 
It is against forum rules to post illicit material; be it warez, pornographic content, or any form of xenophobic or otherwise offensive material. Any material believed to be in contravention of this order will be dealt with accordingly by the forum administrators.
  
"Txt-tlk"
Text-talk; posting in a way which you would send a text message, is not tolerated. There is no limit of the number of characters used in a post, so don't try to limit the typing as you would in a text message. Persistent offenders will be punished. Standard English is expected from all users of TalkChelsea.net, and any posts in contravention of this order will be removed. Repeat offenders may also be warned by the forum staff team.
 
Posting of SPAM messages
Simply don't do it! They will be deleted, and staff may take further action if deemed necessary.

Advertising
Advertising without the permission of a senior member of staff simply will not, under any circumstances, be tolerated. If you want to become an affiliate of TC, please contact an administrator by PM. We will not tolerate members posting links to any forums; football or otherwise, without prior consent. 
  
Multiple Accounts 
It is against forum protocols to be in command of more than one account, except in circumstances allowed by a senior member of the staff team.
 
International Posters 
Whilst Standard English is considered to be a pre-requisite for any member on TalkChelsea’s forums and main site, Chelsea Football Club is an internationally-supported football club – and, as such, there are many members on TalkChelsea who hail from different areas of the globe. For this reason, the English of some posters may not be to the same standard across the forums. We request that members respect the posts of foreign members, and should only help them improve their English. Anybody caught abusing members and discriminating against them because of their ability to speak English will be dealt with by the forum Administrators. Chelsea are a global brand and no individual should have their English-speaking ability criticised by members of this forum. Remember that these people are not speaking their native language - please respect that fact.

Furthermore, some members have in the past written messages in their native tongue, such as Dutch or Russian. If you do this, please post a basic English translation for the benefit of all users, as Standard English is expected in all posts. Failure to do this will result in a request from the staff to translate these messages, and they may be repeated
 
Use of foul/abusive language
We accept that swearing is becoming more widely used in the outside world, and we have a fair tolerance of foul language. However, issues may arise of the abuse of other members. Use of what the forum administrators may deem to be “excessive” abusive language may result in disciplinary action in line with standard forum protocol.
 
Sale and resale of tickets and Chelsea Football Club merchandise
The sale and resale of tickets and of official Chelsea Football Club merchandise is strictly prohibited and banned under all circumstances on this website. Anyone found to be contravening these rules will have be immediately suspended and have their details passed on to the relevant authorities, including but not limited to the Metropolitan Police and the Club. 
 
Posting Etiquette
 
Forum Graphics
Profile photos, as a rule of thumb, be restricted to Chelsea and football images only. However, the staff have applied a more relaxed rule to allow other images – provided their appropriateness - may be used instead. Please refrain from using any potentially offensive images – failure to do so may result in your image being replaced, and/or disciplinary action being taken by the administrators. If you are unsure if your image is appropriate, or, moreover, if you feel that another member’s avatar is somewhat inappropriate, please contact the relevant member of the staff team from the above list.

"Gossip Talk" 
A popular aspect of TalkChelsea forums is discussion derived from outside sources: these can be other fan-forums, newspapers, or professional website. Whilst it is not always possible, please ensure that any articles or other sources of news information are suitably cited when presenting them on TalkChelsea forums. As a minimum, the source should be disclosed and a URL made available if possible. Please refrain from posting any copyrighted material, or any material you believe to be the intellectual property of another.
 
DISCIPLINE – failure to adhere to the above rules may result in disciplinary action being taken. Please refer to the below table for details of TalkChelsea’s disciplinary procedures:
 
1.     First offence – informal warning. Upon a member’s first offence, an informal private message will be sent by a senior administrator, reminding the member of his or hers responsibility to respect the rights of other forum members. This may be elevated to a level one formal warning in the instance of serious contravention of forum rules.

2.     Level one – formal warning. This will be issued by a moderator upon the serious contravention of a forum rule, or rules. This will result in the member’s warning level being set to 3 out of 10. Posting rights will be revoked for a period of 48 hours, though the member will be able to view the boards.

3.     Level two – suspension. Should a further offence ensue, an automatic suspension will be issued by a forum administrator. Depending on the severity of the incident, this suspension will range between 24-48 hours, 3-5 days, or a week. The member’s warning level will be set to 6 out of 10.

4.     Level three – permanent ban. Upon a further repeat offence, the member will be permanently banned from the forums. The member's warning will be set to 10 out of 10, and will be denied the right to view or post on the forums, and should they return under the guise of another user, that user will also be banned. Accounts may also be deleted in serious instances.
 

It should be noted that moderators only have the right to impose informal and formal warnings. Administrators have the right to impose any suspensions or bans where necessary. Nevertheless, the moderator may request for additional action to be taken, and the administrator may at that point accelerate the punishment, depending on the severity. Ergo, whilst a moderator may impose a level one – formal warning, an administrator may review the matter and impose a harsher punishment. The administrator’s view is final, and any suspension or permanent ban will not be reversed except in exceptional circumstances, and at the agreement of all administrators.

 
Disclaimer 
TalkChelsea accepts no responsibility for the content posted on this site. Messages are regularly checked by the staff team, and inappropriate content is deleted as speedily as possible. TalkChelsea and its staff cannot guarantee inappropriate material is deleted within 24 hours, especially in busy periods. The moderator's/administrator's decision is final. If you would like explanation of a decision, please contact the moderator, area manager or administrator for details.

We are not affiliated to any other Chelsea FC related fan's websites or organisations.

TalkChelsea does not claim to own the copyright of articles posted on this site unless explicitly stated.

• James – Site founder and technical support – Responsible for forum and site technical support, as well as the overall governance of the staff team. One of the forum’s two senior administrators, James should be contacted regarding any technical issues or faults you experience on either the forums or the main site.
   
• Doni – Admin/Social Media Manager  – One of the forums administrators and looks after talk Chelsea's social media accounts.
   
• Fulham Broadway – Admin – the head of the moderating team, FulhamBroadway is responsible for the general upkeep of the forums. FulhamBroadway should be contacted in relation to any general queries you may have.
   

• Special Juan – Moderator – a member of the administration team, Special Juan is charged with the everyday moderation of the forums. Special Juan should be contacted regarding any non-technical issues you may experience on the board. 
   
• The Skipper – Moderator – a member of the moderating team, Skipper is responsible for the general upkeep of the forums. Skipper should be contacted in relation to any general queries you may have.
   
• Please perform a forum search before starting a new topic – it can become aggravating when there are multiple topics referring to the same issue, or of similar content. Duplicated threads will be merged where necessary, or deleted, by the moderating team.
   
• Keep “chat”-style threads restricted to General Chat. Continuous offenders will be dealt with accordingly. Similarly, derailment of threads will be treated in kind – inappropriate content will be removed and repeat offenders may have their posting rights taken away.
   
•  Do not post for the sake of bumping your post count – people may do this to gain access to parts of the forum where a particular number of posts is required to view, such as the Multimedia section. Posts will be deleted and posting rights may be revoked should members be found guilty of this.