Youth Football

Women’s football in the UK soared in popularity following the monumental efforts of the Lionesses during the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Despite losing gallantly to Spain in the final, England’s best and brightest women inspired a new generation to take up the sport for the first time.  If you or your child is one of those who was inspired...

There’s a feeling among many players, coaches and administrators that health and safety within grassroots football is an administrative, box-ticking exercise. While there’s an element of truth in this point of view, the principles of health and safety are, first and foremost, about protecting people from accidents, mishaps, and bad behaviour.  Of course, you can never eliminate risk from any...

The COVID-19 epidemic has wreaked unprecedented damage to societies around the world. At all levels of the game, football has suffered. EFL clubs require an emergency bailout, and even the Premier League has suffered severe revenue losses. While these stories make news headlines, the crisis within grassroots football has gone largely unnoticed by the UK’s media outlets. In particular, the...

Half the world closed down at the end of March due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Professional sport is already back in many countries — albeit without fans in attendance. The Premier League and the Championship were concluded behind closed doors. And although both competitions took a huge financial hit, they’ll both survive.  But the same can’t be said about hundreds...

In an effort to improve the experience of football for children in local communities, the Football Association of Wales and the FAW Trust launched a review of small-sided football. And after two years, the results are finally in. Over the last two seasons, a comprehensive review of small-sided football in Wales has involved an in-depth analysis of every conceivable aspect...

Player heading a Mitre Football A ban on children heading footballs will come into effect in just a few weeks in Scotland because of fears between the link between head injuries and dementia. The Scottish FA could announce the ban on U12s heading the ball soon after a report that states that former players are at more risk of...

At grassroots level, players sometimes get placed in positions based on their physical makeup – the fast kid is a winger or striker, the slow kid is a defender or goalkeeper, and so on. At a young age, if you label a player as a defender then what's the problem? Well, placing young players into positions too early might only expose...

Game Realistic Warmups I was at a 7-aside grassroots game recently where one team did a rondo and a short passing exercise as part of a warmup. The game kicked off, and for the rest of the game, they kicked the ball long to their striker. It left me wondering why they focused on shorter passing for the warmup when...

Participations levels in grassroots football are still falling — despite the best efforts of the government, the FA and local associations. If you want to recruit the next generation of players, you’re going to need to reach out. One way to get young players excited about your club is to hold regular open days. These are casual, fun and interactive...

Unless you’re involved in the business side of grassroots football, you probably don’t realise how expensive things can be at this level. After all, you wouldn’t necessarily think that some young people kicking a ball around on some grass would be all that costly. But when you delve into the figures, you might begin to wonder how so many grassroots...