Goalkeeper gloves and kit for young keepers in England

Choosing a pair of gloves

We did not find a goalkeeper-glove buying guide in the FA, England Football or NHS material checked for this page. The steps below are practical shopping checks, not FA rules or medical standards. A glove maker is the right source for its own size chart, the features it says a glove has and its care instructions. It is not an independent source on whether its gloves prevent injury.

1. Ask the club first. Find out whether it lends gloves or a keeper’s top, or has rules of its own for keepers.
2. Measure your child’s hand the way the maker of the gloves says to, and use that maker’s own size chart rather than another brand’s.
3. If you can, have your child try them on. They should be able to bend their fingers and close their hand comfortably, and the wrist fastening should hold securely.
4. Read the maker’s care and returns instructions before the gloves are worn, in case they do not fit.

These questions are our suggestions, to help you decide what you are looking for:

• Does your child go in goal now and again, or every week?
• Are the gloves for training, matches or both?
• What surface does your child play on? If a glove’s description names a surface, check it matches.

Finger save and finger protection

Some gloves are sold as “finger save”, or with protection in the fingers. Read the maker’s description of what that means for the pair you are looking at. We found no FA, England Football or NHS guidance on whether finger protection prevents injury, or on an age for using it, so we cannot say whether your child should have it. A coach can tell you what they prefer for training. That is a coaching view, not medical advice.

What every keeper must wear

• The compulsory kit under Law 4: a shirt with sleeves, shorts, socks, shin pads covered by the socks, and footwear. Shin pads apply to the keeper as much as anyone.
• Colours that stand out. Law 4 says each goalkeeper “must wear colours that are distinguishable from the other players and the match officials”. In mini soccer, the handbook says the keeper wears a different coloured shirt from the rest of the team.
• No black or very dark shirt. In affiliated youth competitions, the Standard Code’s Rule 19 says no player, including the goalkeeper, may wear one.

If both keepers turn up in the same colour and neither has another shirt, Law 4 says the referee allows the match to be played. In England Football’s 3v3 format (opens in a new tab) for Under 7s there are no goalkeepers.

If another player goes in goal during a game, they need a top in a colour that stands out too, so ask the coach how the team handles that. In mini soccer and 9v9, ask the club or the league how keeper changes work. Our guide to goalkeeper rules in youth football covers the rest.

Other things a keeper can wear

Law 4 also allows a keeper to wear:

• Tracksuit bottoms. Law 4 says goalkeepers may wear them.
• A goalkeeper’s cap. Goalkeepers’ caps are excluded from the Law 4 rules on head covers.
• Sports spectacles.
• Non-dangerous protective equipment, such as headgear, facemasks, and knee and arm protectors made of soft, lightweight padded material.

Law 4 says whether an item is allowed. It does not say whether it protects your child. If your child has had a head injury, our guide to concussion in grassroots football explains what to do.

A base layer under a keeper’s shirt must match the main colour of the keeper’s sleeve, not the team’s. The referee can order a player to remove anything that is not allowed. Our guide to youth football kit and equipment covers base layers, the 2026/27 rules on jewellery and accessories, and the rest of the kit rules.

If your child hurts a finger

This is the NHS’s first aid advice, not advice on gloves. The NHS broken finger page (opens in a new tab) says to go to A&E if a finger is pointing at an odd angle, looks blue or feels numb, or a bone is showing, and to get help from NHS 111 if it is painful, swollen and bruised, or stiff or difficult to move.