Can you play adult football at 16 or 17?

What the rules say

These are rules in The FA’s Standard Code of Rules (opens in a new tab) for 2026/27, which applies to grassroots adult competitions. Competitions higher up the men’s and women’s game run under other FA rules.

• Age. Rule 18(N)(3), in a clause for competitions involving players in full-time secondary education, says a player must be 16 to play open-age football.
• Mixed adult football. Rule 18(B)(5) says players under 18 are not permitted to play in a mixed adult football competition. England Football describes mixed adult football (opens in a new tab) as a separate format, outside the existing male and female game, for players aged 18 or over. It does not, by itself, prevent you playing in a men’s or women’s open-age team, subject to that competition’s eligibility and registration rules.
• Fines. Rule 6(F) says no participant under 18 can be fined under the Standard Code.
• Consent. The FA’s best practice guidance for open-age football (opens in a new tab) says players aged 16 and over self-consent to take part, including to playing, photography and social media. The FA’s safeguarding section on under-18s (opens in a new tab) says 16 and 17 year olds “will usually be asked to make their own decision about getting involved” and that “in some exceptional circumstances parents/carers may also be asked”. A club still follows its own safeguarding and photo procedures.

Your league’s own rules can add to these. Our guide to player registration explains how registration works.

What a club must do when under-18s play in adult teams

The FA’s guidance on safeguarding in open-age adult football (opens in a new tab) says 16 and 17 year olds remain legally classified as children while they play in the adult game. It says that where they do, the club or league must:

• follow The FA’s Safeguarding Children Policy as well as its adult policy;
• make sure the coaches and managers who work with 16 and 17 year olds have the DBS check their role requires. The FA’s guidance ties this to eligible roles and to what the law calls regulated activity, so it depends on the role and the activity, not on everyone at the club;
• make sure those people complete the relevant FA course, which The FA names as Player Welfare in Open-Age Football, or the Safeguarding Adults Course in disability football, and says it is best practice to complete both;
• make sure 16 and 17 year olds know how to raise concerns.

The same guidance says every open-age club or league should appoint a welfare officer. You can still go to any of the routes in the section on raising a concern below. Our guide to the club welfare officer explains the role.

What The FA recommends as good practice

The FA’s best practice guidance for open-age football is guidance for clubs, separate from the duties above. It covers all players, including under-18s, and says:

• Changing rooms. Under-18s should be given a clear choice, and it should not be assumed they will change at the same time as adults. Photography and filming are not allowed while people are changing.
• Travel. Under-18s may find it harder to speak up about travel arrangements, so clubs should ask them discreetly, and more than once. No one should feel pressured to travel with anyone they do not want to.
• Photos. Only the person in a photo can consent to it being taken or used.
• Overnight trips. Club-provided accommodation must be risk assessed, under-18s should not share rooms with adults or staff, and under-18s should have a voice in the arrangements.
• Messages and social media. Adults should remember their position of trust and keep the focus on football.

The guidance also notes that in law, a position of trust has a specific meaning under the Sexual Offences Act 2003, which applies to certain roles involving responsibility for 16 and 17 year olds, and that not all roles in football fall within it.

Your rights

The FA’s guide Know your rights in football (opens in a new tab), written for 16 and 17 year olds, says you have the right to feel safe on and offline, and the right not to be bullied, harassed or intimidated. If something is not right, it says to tell an adult you trust at home, school, college or football, or to speak to the designated safeguarding officer at your club or County FA.

Before your first match

1. Check with the club that you are registered with its league and eligible to play.
2. Find out who the welfare officer is and how to contact them.
3. Agree how changing, lifts, photos and messages will work for you.
4. Know how to raise a concern, using any of the routes below.

Questions to ask before you sign

Ask the club, and take a parent or carer with you if you want to:

1. Who is the welfare officer for the adult teams, or the adult disability teams, and how do I contact them?
2. Have my coaches and managers completed the safeguarding training and DBS checks required for their roles?
3. How do changing rooms work on match days and at training?
4. How do players get to away matches, and can I choose who I travel with?
5. Does the club go on trips or overnight stays, and how are they arranged for under-18s?
6. How does the club use photos and social media?
7. What does it cost, and what does that cover?
8. Can I keep playing for my youth team as well? Ask both leagues, because their rules decide this.

Our guides to choosing a grassroots football club and football trials cover the rest of the decision.

If something is wrong

In England, if you have a concern about a 16 or 17 year old in adult football, including yourself, you can tell any of these:

• the club or league welfare officer;
• the County FA’s Designated Safeguarding Officer;
• The FA’s safeguarding team.

You do not have to report through the club first. If your concern is about someone at the club, you can go straight to another route. The FA’s Know your rights (opens in a new tab) guide for 16 and 17 year olds also names the NSPCC helpline and Childline, which you can contact instead of or as well as these, and says you can tell an adult you trust. If you think a child is suffering, or likely to suffer, significant harm, contact your local authority’s children’s social care. If someone is in immediate danger, call 999.

Our guide to safeguarding in grassroots football explains more.