This guide is designed to help parents prepare for the grassroots season 2026. It covers what to expect, how to support your child, and the role you play in making football a positive and rewarding journey.
Learn the FA guidelines on filming children in football. Follow youth football photography rules and safeguarding children in sport to keep players safe.
Grassroots football is the beating heart of the UK’s sporting culture, nurturing young talent and bringing communities together from the ground up. In this post, we’ll break down what grassroots football is, how youth football is structured across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and explain the rules, regulations, and
Discover essential grassroots football coaching tips with our practical guide for junior football coach advice. From communication to player development, get expert coaching tips for grassroots coaches and build a positive, successful football environment.
When my child got into a professional football academy, I had to ask myself—why did this mean so much to me? Sure, they dreamed of being a pro footballer, but was I just supporting their goal, or was I chasing something myself? In this article, we question Why Are Parents
The Junior Premier League (JPL) is England’s largest national youth football league, offering an elite, player-focused environment for boys and girls aged U7 to U18. With a development-first ethos, structured match formats, robust coaching standards, and clear pathways into professional academies, the JPL offers quality grassroots football—and this post explains
Every weekend, thousands of talented young footballers lace up their boots, step onto pitches across the country, and dream of making it to the top. Yet, despite the passion, hard work, and promise, only a tiny fraction ever get scouted by professional clubs.
The Football Association (FA) has announced a controversial new law banning tackling in all youth football matches up to the Under-13 age group.
Free, unrestricted funding for your team, with Easyfundraising
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The path to becoming a professional footballer is laden with harsh truths that may seem discouraging, yet they are essential in shaping a true athlete.
The Silent Support Weekend in grassroots football gives an opportunity for the players to do the talking in junior grassroots football, with parents and supporters showing their support from the sidelines through applause only.
Concussion is one of the most serious injuries in junior grassroots football. While relatively rare, its effects can be long-lasting, especially in children and adolescents. This article breaks down what a concussion is, how it happens, signs to watch for, recovery guidelines, and how coaches and parents can protect young
3 New Years Resolutions which grassroots football coaches, players and parents should make in order to improve their experience of junior grassroots football.
In most cases, everything that you need as a grassroots coach to run your team will be provided by your club – including football Kit, Training Equipment, Goals and Balls.
DBS Checks, First Aid and Safeguarding are essential and paramount to all grassroots clubs and coaches to ensure compliance with FA guidelines and policies.
Heading ban for to be trialled by the Football Association in England for under-12s
In order to play matches against other clubs, you’ll need to register your grassroots team and players with an affiliated grassroots football league.
A Shin splints injury occurs when the calf muscles repeatedly pull on the inside of the shin bone. This causes the muscles to become inflamed and swollen.
Jumper’s knee, also known as patellar tendonitis, is an overuse injury and is a condition characterized by inflammation of your patellar tendon.
Achilles tendonitis is the inflammation and irritation of your Achilles tendon, a strong, fibrous cord that connects the muscles in the back of your calf to your heel bone.
If you’re reading this it’s probably because you have taken on the responsibility of running a grassroots football team. Firstly, well done – whilst it might feel like quite a daunting task, it can also be a very rewarding one, as those of us who have been down this road
What is a Football Academy? If you regularly attend junior grassroots football matches, you’ll often hear phrases like “he’s an academy player” or ‘“he used to be at an academy’” or “he should be playing at an academy”’ or “he was released from an academy”. But in case you are
One of the first things to consider as a junior grassroots football coach is your team philosophy. It’s worth having a clear idea what it is you want the children you’re coaching, their parents and the coaches.
Knee Ligament Injuries Key points about knee ligament injuries Knee ligaments are the short bands of elastic tissue that holds the knee together. There are 4 main ligaments in each knee. Knee ligament injuries can be caused by trauma, such as a car accident. Or they can be caused by
A muscle strain is an injury to a muscle or a tendon — the fibrous tissue that connects muscles to bones. Minor injuries may only overstretch a muscle or tendon, while more severe injuries may involve partial or complete tears in these tissues.
A hamstring strain injury, sometimes called a pulled hamstring, happens when one or more of these muscles gets stretched too far and starts to tear.
Article from an anonymous parent – “It’s the other grassroots football parents that are the problem!”
In celebration of Mother’s Day, we thought it only fitting to highlight what makes football Mums so special and why we should thank them, for all that they do!
A rotator cuff strain is usually an overuse injury from repetitive motion such as throwing a football but can also occur from contact with another player or a fall.
The Power Play rule, introduced by the FA in 2018, means that junior grassroots football teams are allowed to bring on extra players when they fall four goals behind. The rule is aimed at teams from under-sixes to under-11s in five and seven-a-side games. It is up to the county
FA regional coach development manager, Martin Dighton, provides ten top tips for grassroots football coaches to help fully engage with players during winter football training.
A metatarsal stress fracture is a break in the bone that happens with repeated injury or stress. Stress fractures are caused by overly stressing the foot when using it in the same way repeatedly.
In this blog, we will explore some of the common challenges for grassroots football coaches and provide some coaching advice and tips that may help you when working with your grassroots team.
Parents have a massive influence on their child’s football development and their journey in grassroots football. Choosing the right grassroots football team is one of those key decisions, which can impact on the development and enjoyment of the game for your child.
Football Scouting is big business. There is a huge network of football scouts across the UK who attend grassroots football games seeking to identify the next generation of talent, but how is this regulated, and what is the Code of Conduct?
In a nutshell, football scouts attend grassroots football matches in order to look for the most talented players, who can fit into pro academy teams.
How To Become A Football Coach – Our guide shows you how to gain your football coaching qualification such as FA Level 1, Level 2 and more
Parents behaviour at grassroots football has become a key talking point. The vast majority of parents who attend their child’s grassroots matches are great. They are committed, supportive, encouraging and there for their child, whether it is a win, draw or loss.
Grassroots football matches are a fantastic way to encourage children to be active and enjoy team sports. As parents, it is important to create a positive and supportive environment for our children to participate in.
The professional football youth academies across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have produced some of the world’s most celebrated players.
The result should never be the most important thing in grassroots football at the development stage, but unfortunately this is still the case for the majority. Equal playing time can be an issue for many players and parents.
This weekend will see tens of thousands of kids across the country playing grassroots football. Before parents start barking from the touchline, one grassroots football coach, who has asked to remain anonymous, offers some advice to parents bearing in mind the FA Respect code of conduct…
A grassroots football coach wrote this extraordinary letter after getting abuse from parents A grassroots football coach overheard comments made about him behind his back and opened his heart in a letter to those parents who criticise him. Giving up your time to help others can be a thankless job.
In this blog post, we will explore 7 challenges faced by junior grassroots football referees
Refereeing can be an incredibly rewarding hobby and even a career. To become a referee, all referees start with their FA Referees Course and have the opportunity to progress all the way through the game. There are many good reasons to become a referee for junior grassroots football. Here’s ten
This article outlines the steps which needed to be taken in order to qualify and officiate as a junior grassroots referee for junior grassroots football games.
Futsal is growing in rapidly in popularity across Europe and most of the world’s footballing nations. It is an exciting, fast-paced form of the game that originates in South America.
A sprain is a tear or stretch in a ligament, a tissue that connects two or more joints and helps the joints move. An ankle sprain injury involves one or more ligaments.
Discover how cutting-edge technology like Veo cameras, club management tools, and advanced football coaching software are transforming youth football. Embrace the future of grassroots football!
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We recently attended a junior football match in which the home team won 18-0. As a parent and as a coach we must question why we are seeing these scores, who benefits, and how can these scorelines could be avoided. Here’s our thoughts…
Running a grassroots football club requires a huge amount of time and effort from volunteers. Let’s take a look at the grassroots football club roles – Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Welfare Officer (CWO), Coach / Team Manager etc.