The goalkeeping talent pathway in England

Boys: keepers in the academy system

Boys who keep goal are spotted and recruited by club academies in the same way as outfield players. A scout’s approach is not a place, and neither is a place at a club’s development centre: our guide to pre-academy and development centres explains the difference. Our guides to how football scouts find young players and how football academies work cover the rest.

If an academy offers a trial, the Premier League and EFL rules allow a boy to attend for up to eight consecutive weeks in a season without being registered, and his grassroots club and school must be told in writing at least seven days before it starts. Our guide to football academy trials explains what a trial involves.

Once he is there, the question that matters is who coaches the keepers and how often. The 2026/27 rules require academies to employ goalkeeping coaches, with at least two full-time at a Category 1 academy and one at a Category 2, each holding a UEFA B Licence and a UEFA Goalkeeping Coaching B Licence. Clubs can organise their staff differently if they show the league or the relevant body the same expertise and results, but the goalkeeping coaching itself must still be delivered. Every academy must also have a designated area for coaching goalkeepers. So ask the academy how its keepers are coached, rather than assuming a particular set-up.

Girls: The FA’s goalkeeping programmes

England Football’s Goalkeeping Talent (opens in a new tab) pages describe goalkeeping work inside the women’s and girls’ talent pathway, aimed at preparing keepers who could one day play for England. For the dedicated goalkeeping talent route described here, players are referred through The FA’s Discover My Talent scheme. England Football gives no separate application route for families to the goalkeeper hubs.

England Football’s Regional Top Talent (opens in a new tab) page says The FA has dedicated goalkeeping hubs in the North, the Midlands and the South, which host events including goalkeeper talent identification activities, and that players are referred through Discover My Talent. England Football reported in April 2026 (opens in a new tab) that its Regional Goalkeeping Top Talent Programme, across hubs in the South, Midlands and North, was set up at the start of the 2025/26 season. England Football’s pages give no way for families to apply to the hubs directly.

England Football also has a page on FA Future Lionesses Goalkeeping Centres (opens in a new tab), dated January 2024, describing weekly sessions alongside a girl’s club football. It does not say how those centres relate to the regional hubs, so check with The FA whether they are still running.

For Emerging Talent Centres and Pro Game Academies, which take players in every position, see our guide to the girls’ football talent pathway.

Who can refer a girl, and when

England Football’s goalkeeping page asks people involved in the game to nominate girls they believe could become a Future Lioness. Its “Refer a Goalkeeper” link goes to The FA’s Discover My Talent referral form (opens in a new tab). For 2026/27, that form covers girls living in England who were born between 2011 and 2013 and are eligible to represent England. Anyone involved in her football, such as a coach, can refer her, but family and friends cannot. The FA says the next referral window will be confirmed later, so a referral can only be made when a window is open.

What happens after a referral

The FA’s answers for families (opens in a new tab) set out the process:

• The parent or carer is emailed a link to a player referral form. If it is not completed, The FA cannot consider the referral.
• The FA may watch the player at a training session, fixture or event, or look at video from the club. Families are only told about an observation if the player is then invited to an event.
• At events, The FA says goalkeeper-specific practices and support are provided.
• The FA aims to consider every referral within 12 months, and says it cannot give individual feedback.

A referral, an observation or an invitation is not selection. The FA says an invitation “is not a selection or trial for England”.

If your child is noticed as a keeper

An approach from a scout, an invitation to a trial or a referral is a first step, not a place. Our trials guide explains how to check an approach is genuine.

These are our suggestions, not rules. Questions worth asking a club or programme about its keepers:

1. Who coaches the goalkeepers, and how often?
2. Will my child keep playing for their grassroots club, and can they still play outfield there?
3. How will you tell us how they are getting on?

The England Football pages we read do not give an age for specialising in goal. Our guide for parents of young goalkeepers covers staying in goal or playing outfield. If you are looking at paid goalkeeper coaching outside the pathway, our guide to finding goalkeeper coaching covers the checks.

Raising a concern

When your child starts at an academy, centre or programme, ask who its safeguarding contact is. At a Premier League or EFL academy, the rules require a Head of Safeguarding. In England, you can report a concern to any of these:

• The academy’s Head of Safeguarding, or the centre’s, club’s or programme’s safeguarding contact.
• The County FA’s Designated Safeguarding Officer.
• The FA’s safeguarding team.

You do not have to report through the academy, centre or programme first. If your concern is about someone there, you can go straight to another route. If you cannot contact the safeguarding contact or the County FA’s Designated Safeguarding Officer, The FA’s guidance (opens in a new tab) points to the NSPCC helpline. If you think a child is suffering, or likely to suffer, significant harm, contact your local authority’s children’s social care. If a child is in immediate danger, call 999.

Our guide to safeguarding in grassroots football explains how safeguarding works in clubs.