How to start a grassroots football club in England

Contact your County FA early

Do this before committing to a club name or spending money on branding, and before you assume you know what the process involves where you are.

Essex FA, for example, asks prospective clubs to get in touch so the new club's name can be agreed before anything else. County FAs structure new-club setup differently and some point clubs towards a league very early, so ask yours what its process is rather than assuming Essex's applies.

That early conversation also tells you what your affiliation will involve and means somebody knows you are coming.

Which County FA covers you

You do not choose this, and it is not always the one named after your county.

A club affiliates to a parent County FA determined by where its headquarters is, which is normally its home ground. London FA, for example, sets its area as a twelve-mile radius from Charing Cross, so a club just outside that line affiliates elsewhere even with a London address.

County FA areas overlap in several parts of the country, and modern county boundaries are not always the football ones. If you are near a border, or in a region where more than one association operates, ask rather than assume. Our area pages cover this for Surrey, London, Berkshire, Hampshire and Kent.

The people you need

A club needs named officers before it can affiliate.

A chairperson, a secretary and a treasurer. County FAs require these three so the club can function within their rules.

A welfare officer appropriate to the football you run. A youth club needs a Club Welfare Officer. For 2026/27, clubs with adult teams also need a Welfare Officer (Adult Teams), while adult disability teams have their own welfare requirement. Your County FA can confirm the role and training that applies. Our safeguarding guide covers what the role involves.

County FAs also suggest appointing other people to help with administration. A small group can cover several roles between them, although relying heavily on one person leaves the club vulnerable.

A constitution and how the club is set up

You will need a written constitution setting out how the club is run, how decisions are made and what happens to its money and equipment.

You will also need to decide how the club is structured. Structures differ in how liability sits with the people running the club, and it is worth taking proper advice on that rather than copying whatever another club did.

Your County FA can point you toward templates or guidance and will tell you what they need to see.

Somewhere to play

Get this sorted before you affiliate, not after.

League entry generally requires a home pitch that meets the competition's specifications, so a league place is contingent on having somewhere to play it. Book training facilities early too, and prioritise a slot you can keep over a better pitch you might lose.

Ask the league what its specifications are before committing to a venue, rather than finding out afterwards that a pitch does not meet them.

Officials, coaches, checks and insurance

Before a team can be selected for affiliation, the required grounds, officials and qualifications need to be in place. For youth teams, that includes the relevant DBS and safeguarding requirements. Welfare requirements also apply to adult and adult-disability football, depending on the teams you run.

Insurance is also part of affiliation. Clubs need public liability insurance and teams generally need personal accident insurance, subject to the exemptions in the FA requirements. Club Portal allows you to arrange the required cover, or provide evidence of suitable existing cover where applicable, as part of completing the affiliation process.

Your County FA will tell you what is required for the football you are running and what coach education and support are available locally. Ask this early, because courses and checks have their own timescales. What the checks cover is in our safeguarding guide.

Affiliating with your County FA

Affiliation is the process through which your club and its teams enter the affiliated game. It is completed each season, online, through Club Portal.

The important structural point for 2026/27 is that the Club Portal affiliation process is team-based. You complete requirements at club level, but each team you intend to run is affiliated individually.

That is why the things in the previous section come first. Club Portal will only let you select teams that meet the required ground, official and qualification requirements.

London FA describes its own affiliation as a five-step online process covering club details, kit, home ground, club officials, team information, insurance and cup entries. Other County FAs run their own version, so expect to have that information ready.

Finding a league

Your County FA publishes the leagues in its area and can advise which one suits your teams. Leagues then have their own entry process, their own rules and their own deadlines.

Ask about entry windows the first time you speak to a league. Leagues plan their divisions ahead of a season and set their own deadlines, so find out what theirs are rather than working backwards from when you want to start.

Leagues have their own competition rules covering areas such as registration, fixtures, postponements and result reporting within the national FA framework. Read them before the season rather than during it.

Players

You will need enough players to field a team and to survive the weeks when several are away.

Essex FA advises new clubs to make sure each team has a squad of at least fourteen players, or the appropriate number for mini-soccer and small-sided teams. Check what your league requires, since squad and match-day limits vary by age group and format.

The formats themselves, along with ball sizes and match lengths, are set nationally for each age group and our England age group rules page covers them. When you are ready to find players, our guide to recruiting players for a grassroots team covers what an advert can and cannot say.

What it costs

We are not going to give you a figure. It depends on your county, your league, your pitch and how many teams you run, so any number here would be wrong for a lot of the people reading it.

What you can do is build the list. Affiliation fees, league entry, pitch hire for matches and training, referee fees, kit, equipment, first aid provision and insurance. Ask your County FA and your league what each of theirs is, and you will have a real budget rather than an estimate.

Ask about funding at the same time. Support may be available from your County FA, from national funders or from your local authority, and what exists changes year to year. Our guide to grassroots football funding and grants covers how to find what is open and whether it is worth applying.

The order to do it in

Club Portal will only let you select teams that meet the required ground, official and qualification requirements. Insurance is then dealt with as part of completing the affiliation process.

If you are not in England

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each run their own affiliation and registration systems, and the process is not the same as England's. Start with the relevant national association.

• Scotland: the Scottish FA (opens in a new tab), including its youth football structures.
• Wales: the FAW (opens in a new tab) and your Area Association.
• Northern Ireland: the Irish FA (opens in a new tab).

The other nations have their own requirements and structures, so do not assume the England detail transfers.

Once you are up and running

Add your club to FindMeFootball so parents looking for football in your area can find you. Listing is free, and our guide to claiming a club listing covers what to include.