How to fill a grassroots football tournament

Getting teams to enter is mostly about answering their questions before they have to ask. A manager choosing between events wants to know the date, the age groups, what it costs, how much football their team gets and what happens if the event is called off. Make that basic information easy to find.

This page is written for England, because the sanction and publication rules it refers to are FA and County FA ones. There is a signpost to the other three nations at the end.

County FA sanction processes and deadlines for tournaments and festivals differ, and they change. Confirm what yours requires this season before you publish a firm date.

Information checked on 7 September 2026

The short version

Settle the sanction route first, so you are not presenting an event as confirmed before you know what your County FA requires.
Write down everything an entering manager will need to decide whether the event works for their team.
Set clear, fair entry terms, including cancellation, withdrawals and refunds, before you take money.
Point every advert at one page that carries the full detail.
Keep availability current by age group, confirm entries clearly and use a waiting list where useful.

Sanction comes first

Before promoting the event as confirmed, make sure you understand the sanction route and your County FA's lead time. Our guide to getting your tournament sanctioned covers the Competition Portal, what your County FA may add locally and what needs to exist before you apply.

You do not have to wait for the final decision to prepare the material below. If sanction is still pending when you start taking enquiries or entries, say so clearly and explain what happens to any entry money if the event does not go ahead.

What a team needs to know before entering

Put the core information in one place before you promote the event. If you cannot answer one of these yet, settle it before promoting that age group.

What a team needs to know before entering

The date, registration or arrival time, expected start time and the likely finish or session window.
Which age groups are running, and whether each is boys, girls or mixed. Say which playing season the age group refers to, because a summer event can sit across a seasonal change.
The format for each age group, including match length and the intended playing level or standard if you are separating sections by ability.
The venue with a postcode, pitch surface, parking arrangements and any access information teams need in advance.
The entry fee and exactly what it covers, plus any other unavoidable cost such as spectator admission or parking. A manager should be able to work out the real cost from one page.
The minimum number of games planned if the event runs as advertised. If you describe a number as guaranteed, explain what happens if weather, withdrawals or another disruption prevents you delivering it.
Squad sizes and any player-eligibility rules, including whether players can play for more than one team and any affiliation or organiser-set restrictions that apply.
Whether there are trophies or medals, and for whom.
Whether referees are appointed by the organiser or provided by clubs.
What happens if the event or an age-group section is cancelled, and what happens if a team withdraws.
The entry deadline, how a team applies, and exactly when its place becomes confirmed - for example, when the form is accepted or when payment is received.
Who to contact and when the manager should expect a reply.
Which association sanctioned the event, and the sanction reference if one has been issued.

Put clear, fair entry terms in writing before you take money

Once you take an entry fee, the entering team should be able to see the terms that apply to cancellation, postponement, withdrawal and refunds.

What the fee buys and what it does not.
What happens to entry fees if you cancel or postpone the event, including where weather makes the venue unusable.
What happens if a team withdraws, including any dates or conditions that affect a refund or credit.
What happens if an age group does not get enough entries to run.
When a place is treated as confirmed and when payment is due.

For a club-run event, use an account controlled by the club or organising body rather than a volunteer's personal account.

Keep the terms clear and fair. Do not assume that writing "non-refundable" automatically means an advance payment can always be kept. Consumer-law rules on fair cancellation terms can apply depending on who is booking and the circumstances.

Results and younger age groups: check the event type before you publish

Older articles and guidance can still say that results may never be published below Under 12. That is out of date. The current 2026/27 rules draw a more precise line.

At Under 7, trophy events are not permitted. Competition at that age is organised development fixtures, and their results may be collected but must not be published.
At Under 8 to Under 11, permitted trophy events are allowed within the limits in the rules, and the results of those trophy events may be published. Outside a permitted trophy event, results and tables from development fixtures must not be published.
From Under 12 upwards, the U7-U11 competition-structure restrictions described above do not apply.

For a one-day tournament this matters practically. Before enabling a public results feed, table or knockout bracket for a younger age group, confirm with your County FA how that section is being sanctioned. Our England age-group rules guide sets out the formats and structure in more detail.

Where to promote it

Use the routes that fit your event and area, and send every advert to one page that carries the full information.

List it free on FindMeFootball, where teams can find it by age group, date and location. You can keep availability current for each age group, take enquiries, manage team status and waiting lists, and publish fixtures, results, tables and knockout stages where the relevant age-group and competition rules allow. Listing is separate from sanction: FindMeFootball does not grant or verify County FA sanction simply because a tournament appears in the directory.
Your County FA. Check whether it circulates or publishes sanctioned tournaments to affiliated clubs.
League secretaries in your area. Ask whether they will circulate the event to member clubs.
Clubs and team managers you already know, including previous entrants where your contact arrangements allow it.
Club and team-manager groups on social media, using the club or organiser account rather than relying on a personal profile.
Your own club's website, social channels and noticeboard.

Do not make managers contact you for basic information that could have been on the event page.

Keep availability current, age group by age group

Availability is part of promotion, not just administration. A team manager needs to know whether the section they want is actually open.

Show availability separately for each age group rather than for the event as a whole.
Mark a section full as soon as it is full, and use a waiting list if you still want replacement teams.
Make under-filled sections visible so managers can see where spaces remain.
If a confirmed team withdraws, use the waiting list before reopening the section more widely.

Make entering easy

Use one clear link and one entry route rather than making managers piece the process together from several messages.
Reply to enquiries promptly and state clearly when a place is confirmed.
Tell teams what happens next and when they should expect the schedule or further event information.
If payment is required, make the amount, recipient and confirmation point clear.

Make it easy for teams to come back

Teams that entered this year are a natural audience for a future event, subject to the contact and marketing rules below.

Run to the timetable and format you advertised as closely as circumstances allow.
Publish the schedule in advance. If you plan to update results during the day, check first what can be published for the age groups you are running.
Have a named person for event problems and make sure managers know how to find them.
Keep safeguarding arrangements visible, including who to speak to about a concern.
Thank teams afterwards and ask for feedback.
Invite teams back once the next venue, date and sanction route are sufficiently settled. Do not announce an unconfirmed date as final.

If you plan to contact managers about future events, decide at entry how those contact details will be used and provide any consent or opt-out required. Do not assume that an email address supplied for one tournament can be used indefinitely for future marketing.

Elsewhere in the UK

Sanction and safeguarding requirements are set separately in each nation, so start with the association that covers you.

England: the Football Association and your County FA.
Scotland: the Scottish Football Association.
Wales: the Football Association of Wales.
Northern Ireland: the Irish Football Association.

List your tournament

Put your event in front of teams looking for one. Listing is free, you can manage enquiries and team status from a dashboard, and you can publish fixtures, results, tables and knockout stages where the relevant age-group and competition rules allow. Parents and coaches can follow the public event page as you update it.

A FindMeFootball listing does not mean we have sanctioned, approved or verified the tournament. Sanction remains a matter for the relevant football association and County FA.

Common questions

When should I start promoting?

Start preparing the listing and entry information as soon as you have a venue and likely date. Promote once the sanction route is clear and you are confident enough in the event to describe its status accurately. If sanction is still pending, say so and make the entry-money position clear.

What should I charge?

We do not publish entry-fee figures, because the right figure depends on your costs, format and area. Work out what the day costs to run, how many teams you need and what the fee includes, then make the total cost clear to managers.

How many games should a team get?

Publish the minimum number of games you plan to deliver and build the schedule around it. If circumstances change that number, tell teams as early as you can.

Do I need referees?

Say clearly whether referees are appointed by you or provided by clubs, because it changes what a manager has to organise. County FAs can set requirements around match officials, so check yours as part of sanction.

Does it cost anything to list on FindMeFootball?

Creating, publishing and managing a standard tournament listing on FindMeFootball is free. Teams can enquire through the listing, and organisers can use the tournament-management tools without paying to list. Listing is not sanction, verification or a safety check on the event.