Safeguarding in grassroots football: what parents should expect
Grassroots football relies heavily on volunteers, which makes clear safeguarding arrangements especially important. Clubs involved in youth football should not rely on good intentions alone: they need named responsibilities, appropriate checks, training and clear reporting routes.
This page sets out what those arrangements are, what they are called where you live, and what to do if something worries you.
Safeguarding requirements are set separately by the four UK football associations and are reviewed regularly. This page describes what affiliated clubs are expected to have in place. Your club, league and association can tell you exactly what applies to you.
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Youth clubs have a named safeguarding person. The title depends where you are
Every affiliated club involved in youth football should have one. This is the single most useful thing to know, and it is also where a lot of confusion comes from, because all four nations use a different name for broadly the same role.
The named club safeguarding role in each UK nation
| Nation | What the role is called | What they are there for |
|---|---|---|
| England | Club Welfare Officer | Mandatory for every club or league with youth teams. First point of contact for a parent with a concern |
| Scotland | Child Wellbeing and Protection Officer | Every club involving children must have one. First point of contact for any concern within the club |
| Wales | Club Safeguarding Officer | Point of contact for safeguarding and welfare issues at club level, and escalates what cannot be dealt with there |
| Northern Ireland | Designated Children's Safeguarding Officer | The person a child protection or poor practice concern is reported to |
You should be able to find out who this person is easily. If nobody at the club can tell you, that itself is worth asking about.
The type of background check depends on where you are
People working in roles that require safeguarding vetting must have the appropriate check before carrying out that role. Which roles qualify, and which checking system is used, differs across the four nations, and the names are not interchangeable.
- England: an FA-accepted enhanced check (opens in a new tab) including the children's barring list, renewed every three years.
- Wales: an enhanced DBS check processed through the FAW. It is free for volunteers (opens in a new tab), and the club's safeguarding officer is responsible for making sure coaches and other relevant people hold current and valid checks.
- Scotland: people carrying out regulated roles with children must be members of the Protecting Vulnerable Groups Scheme, administered by Disclosure Scotland. Scotland uses PVG rather than DBS, and membership is now renewed every five years (opens in a new tab).
- Northern Ireland: an enhanced AccessNI disclosure (opens in a new tab) including a barred list check, with the Irish FA acting as the umbrella body, renewed every three years.
A check on its own is not safeguarding. It tells a club what is on record about someone at a point in time, which is worth having and is nowhere near sufficient by itself. That is why training, a named officer, codes of conduct and a reporting route all sit alongside it.
What a well-run club looks like
None of this needs to be intimidating to ask about. A club with its arrangements in order will answer easily.
- A named safeguarding contact whose details are shared with parents rather than kept in a committee folder.
- Coaches with current checks and safeguarding training, and someone who tracks when those expire.
- Codes of conduct for players, coaches and parents, which get used rather than filed.
- More than one adult at sessions, and known first-aid cover.
- Clarity about photography, social media and how coaches contact players, particularly for older age groups.
- A reporting route that parents actually know about.
If something concerns you
For a lower-level concern about behaviour or poor practice, the club's named safeguarding contact is usually a sensible first step. Bullying, humiliating or intimidating behaviour, unsafe boundaries or inappropriate private messages all sit here. If the concern is about that person, go to another senior club official or directly to the relevant football association.
You do not have to keep a serious safeguarding concern at club level first. If you are worried about abuse, significant harm, a possible criminal offence, or something the club should not be investigating itself, use the association or statutory reporting route straight away.
If a child has disclosed something to you, treat it as serious. If you are unsure which route is right, contact the safeguarding team for the relevant football association and ask for advice.
Where a concern goes above the club, by nation
| Nation | Where it goes above the club |
|---|---|
| England | The Designated Safeguarding Officer (opens in a new tab) at your County FA |
| Scotland | The Scottish FA wellbeing and protection team (opens in a new tab), or your relevant association |
| Wales | The League Safeguarding Officer, then the Area Association, then the FAW safeguarding team (opens in a new tab) |
| Northern Ireland | The Irish FA safeguarding department (opens in a new tab) |
Write down what you saw, heard or were told, and when, while the details are fresh. Record facts rather than trying to investigate or reach your own conclusion.
If a child is at immediate risk
Call 999 if a child is in immediate danger
- If a child may be at immediate risk of harm, contact the emergency services or the statutory child-protection service for your area without delay.
- In Northern Ireland this may be the Gateway team for the relevant Health and Social Care Trust.
- Do not investigate the concern yourself before reporting it.
- You do not need to be certain. Reporting should not be delayed while you try to find out more.
What FindMeFootball does and does not do
FindMeFootball does not assess or approve a club's coaching quality, club standards or safeguarding arrangements. A club appearing on FindMeFootball should not be taken as a statement that we have checked how that club operates.
Some club listings are created from publicly available information and may not yet have been claimed by the club. A club claiming its listing does not mean FindMeFootball has assessed its safeguarding arrangements or confirmed that the club is suitable for a particular child.
If you see something on FindMeFootball that causes a safety or safeguarding concern, you can use our Report a Concern form to tell us about it. Our trust and safety page explains what we do about listings.
FindMeFootball is not an emergency service, and reporting something to us is not a substitute for reporting a concern to the club, the relevant football association, the police or statutory child-protection services where appropriate.
If a child is in immediate danger, call 999.
Find a club near you
Search grassroots clubs by location and age group. Where information is available you can check it before contacting the club, and anything not shown is worth asking about directly.
Common questions
Do all coaches need a criminal record check?
Coaches and other people working in relevant youth-football roles normally need the safeguarding check required by their football association and the law where they live. The exact eligibility rules differ by nation and by role, so the club should be able to explain what applies to its coaches and volunteers.
Who do I speak to first?
For a lower-level concern, the club's named safeguarding contact, whatever it is called where you live. If the concern is about them, or if it is serious, go to another senior club official or straight to the football association.
What if I am not sure it is serious enough?
If you are unsure, do not dismiss the concern. Speak to the appropriate safeguarding contact and ask for advice. You do not need to decide for yourself whether something meets a particular safeguarding threshold before asking for help.
Can I stay and watch training?
Ask the club what its policy is. Arrangements vary, and there is a difference between a club that has thought about it and one that has not.
My child has been added to a team group chat. Is that normal?
Group communication is common, but direct one-to-one messaging between an adult and a child usually is not. Ask what the club's policy is on contact and social media.
Does FindMeFootball check that clubs are safe?
No. We do not assess coaching quality, club standards or safeguarding arrangements. Use this guide to ask the club directly.