How to organise a grassroots football tournament

The sequence

Do not start promoting without knowing the sanction route. If you take entries before sanction is granted, make the sanction status and your cancellation and refund terms clear.

Already decided to run it? Go straight to getting your tournament sanctioned.

The formats changed for 2026/27

If you have organised tournaments before, check this before reusing last year's plan. England Football's FutureFit changes took effect from the start of the 2026/27 season. A new 3v3 format was introduced at Under 7, smaller formats are kept for longer, and 11v11 is now introduced as the maximum format from Under 14.

The current maximum-format pathway is U7 3v3, U8-U9 5v5, U10-U11 7v7, U12-U13 9v9 and U14 upwards 11v11. These are maximum permitted formats, not compulsory ones: smaller-sided formats can still be used.

That is a site-planning issue as much as a football rule. Check the format you intend to run against your County FA requirements and put it into the sanctioned tournament rules before you mark pitches or buy equipment.

Tournaments can be one of the places younger teams get a genuine competitive experience within the rules. At U8-U11, the current FA rules allow permitted trophy events and allow the results of those trophy events to be published. U7 is different in 2026/27: it is 3v3 and non-competitive, and U7 trophy events are not permitted. For a standalone one-day event, confirm with your County FA how each younger-age section is being sanctioned before you build the competition structure.

2026/27 formats and maximum playing time

England Football also publishes a maximum number of minutes an individual child should play in one day or festival. Treat that as a player-welfare limit, not simply as a cap on the number of matches a team can enter.

These are current 2026/27 England Football figures. Recheck them when planning a future season because they are schedule-critical.

How much football your site can hold

Capacity depends on pitch space, time and the maximum minutes each child can play in a day. Keep the player-welfare check and the site-capacity calculation separate.

1. Choose the format, intended match length and the number of guaranteed or group matches you want to offer each team.
2. Check the worst-case minutes an individual child could play under your squad and rotation plan, including the possibility of progressing into knockout or plate matches. Keep every player within the current daily maximum.
3. Count the guaranteed or group matches once: number of teams × planned matches per team ÷ 2.
4. Add knockout, plate and classification matches separately. Do not hide those fixtures inside an average 'games per team' figure.
5. Add turnaround time to the match length to create one pitch slot.
6. Divide the total number of matches by the number of pitches that can run simultaneously, rounding up where needed.
7. Multiply the number of pitch slots by the slot length, then add dependencies between rounds, breaks, delays and genuine contingency.
8. Compare the result with the hours the venue is actually available, including setup and clear-down.

Worked example: 16 teams playing four guaranteed matches each create 32 matches, not 64. On four pitches that is eight pitch slots. At 15 minutes per match plus five minutes for turnaround, the bare guaranteed-match calculation is 160 minutes. That does not include knockout or plate fixtures, breaks or contingency.

The same example also shows why the player-time check is separate. If every child in a U8 or U9 squad played all four 15-minute matches, that child would already reach the current 60-minute daily maximum before any later knockout game. A larger squad and genuine rotation can change an individual child's minutes, but the limit still follows the child.

If the event does not fit, reduce the number of teams, age groups, guaranteed games or match length. Build contingency into the schedule rather than using every available minute.

Pitch count is not a tiling exercise

Do not work out how many pitches fit by dividing the site by the published playing-area dimensions. England Football's current FutureFit pitch dimensions expressly exclude run-off. You also need safe space for team areas, spectators, officials and movement around the site, while keeping emergency access routes clear.

Do not assume one universal run-off distance applies to every venue. Check the site, facility requirements and your event risk assessment.

The people you need

A venue is only useful if the people needed to run the event are named and available.

• An event lead who owns the tournament by name rather than leaving responsibility with the committee in general.
• The safeguarding or welfare contact required for the event, in place before sanction and visible on the day.
• First aid provision and somebody responsible for the medical emergency action plan.
• Match officials arranged early, with the current referee age and safeguarding requirements checked.
• Someone responsible for entries and organiser enquiries from the point the event is promoted.
• Enough volunteers for the site plan you have chosen, including whatever you need for pitches, parking, catering and results or information.

Put names against the roles before you commit the club to the date.

Where each stage is covered

• Should your club host a football tournament? — the decision itself, the duty of care, the money and a committee go/no-go test.
• How to get your football tournament sanctioned — the Competition Portal, County FA review and the local lead time.
• How to fill a grassroots football tournament — what teams need to know, entry terms, promotion and the younger-age publication rules.
• Running a grassroots football tournament on the day — match officials, first aid, safeguarding, weather, results and reporting.

Elsewhere in the UK

Formats, sanctioning and safeguarding are set separately in each nation. 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

Once the event is sanctioned and the date is firm, you can list it free on FindMeFootball. Teams can find listings by age group, date and location, and organisers can manage enquiries and team status from the dashboard.

You can also publish fixtures, results, tables and knockout stages where the relevant age-group and competition rules allow.

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.