How to become a football coach in Hampshire

National qualifications, local support

Coaching qualifications are run centrally by England Football and booked through England Football Learning (opens in a new tab). Hampshire FA does not decide whether you get on a national course.

Hampshire FA provides local coach development around that national pathway. Its current Coach Development Officer remit (opens in a new tab) runs through June 2028 and includes coordinating a county coach-development programme, delivering CPD, mentoring and support for coaches, and developing club coaching leads.

That is the useful distinction: the qualification itself is national; ongoing development and club support can be local. What is available changes through the season, so check Hampshire FA's current coaching and opportunity pages rather than relying on an old event article.

Two questions are worth asking your club early: does it have a coaching lead who can point you towards club-specific development, and does it contribute towards any course or check costs for volunteers?

The qualifications, and what you actually need first

One thing to clear up before anything else: there is no single ladder you have to climb in order. What there is, is a first coaching qualification with two prerequisites attached. EE Playmaker is useful, but it is not a prerequisite for Introduction to Coaching Football.

• EE Playmaker (opens in a new tab) is a free online introduction, open from age 14, that prepares you to support football sessions. It is a course in its own right. It does not by itself qualify you to lead sessions, and you do not have to complete it before moving to the coaching qualification.
• What you do need before Introduction to Coaching Football are the two course prerequisites: an in-date Safeguarding Children qualification and an accepted FA medical qualification such as Introduction to First Aid in Football.
• Introduction to Coaching Football (opens in a new tab) is the first coaching qualification on the current pathway. The minimum age is 16 and the course is delivered online. If you are 16 or over and hold both prerequisites, you can enrol without completing EE Playmaker first.

The UEFA C Diploma (opens in a new tab) is the next formal coaching qualification after Introduction to Coaching Football for coaches who are ready for it and meet its additional prerequisites.

Our becoming-a-coach guide covers the full sequence and what a club needs in place before you take a role with a youth team.

Checks and safeguarding

They are separate questions, and they are easy to blur.

If you are going to be a named manager or coach of a youth team at an affiliated club, the FA's 2026/27 affiliation requirements (opens in a new tab) apply: named youth-team managers and coaches need an in-date accepted DBS and the Safeguarding Children Course. The FA-accepted check is handled through the club process.

The FA also puts responsibility on clubs and leagues to ensure that people who require a check hold an FA-accepted, in-date disclosure issued within the last three years (opens in a new tab). Use that FA page for the football process, not as the statutory eligibility test.

What level of check a role can be eligible for is a separate statutory question. Current government guidance for sport (opens in a new tab) bases that on what the role involves and how often the activity happens. From 1 September 2026, the supervision exemption was removed from the definition of regulated activity with children, so supervision no longer keeps a role outside regulated activity where the activity and frequency conditions are met. That change does not itself create a new requirement for everybody to obtain a check.

If you intend to coach independently and charge for it, the route can be different again. Our guide to setting up as a self-employed coach covers that position.

Hampshire FA can explain its own football process and what an affiliated club needs to do. It does not decide statutory DBS eligibility.

Where to coach

There are several routes in, depending on how much responsibility you want to take on.

A club near you, perhaps your own child's team. Find a club in Hampshire and ask whether it needs support with an existing team or a new one.

Starting something. If there is no suitable club where you live, our guide to starting a grassroots football club explains what setting one up involves.

Coaching independently. If you want to charge for sessions, our guide to setting up as a self-employed coach covers the checks, insurance and business side. Coaching listings on FindMeFootball are currently free.

Volunteering off the pitch. Clubs also need welfare and administrative roles; our guide to the club welfare officer covers what that role involves.

If you are on the Isle of Wight, the island sits within Hampshire FA's football structure. Our Hampshire clubs page explains that relationship. On FindMeFootball, island clubs are selected under Isle of Wight rather than Hampshire in the club directory.

What you will be coaching

Youth formats changed from the start of the 2026/27 season, with smaller formats played later through the pathway than before. England Football's FutureFit guidance (opens in a new tab) explains the change. Our England age-group rules guide sets out the current maximum formats by age group.

Find a club in Hampshire

Browse the clubs we list across Hampshire and contact them directly. If you are already coaching independently, FindMeFootball coaching listings are currently free.