Kit and equipment: what your child actually needs

The short version

• Shin pads are compulsory at every age, and must be covered by the socks.
• Jewellery and other accessories are allowed only if they are not dangerous and are safely and securely covered. Anything dangerous must be removed and cannot simply be taped or covered.
• Under 7 to Under 11 use a size 3 ball, Under 12 and Under 13 a size 4, and Under 14 and above a size 5.
• From Under 8, goalkeepers wear a colour that tells them apart from everybody else on the pitch, including the referee.
• Boots depend on the surface, and the home club should tell you what its ground requires.
• Who provides what is a club decision. The Laws say what must be worn, not who pays for it.

What the Laws make compulsory

Law 4 of the Laws of the Game (opens in a new tab) sets the basic list for every player: a shirt with sleeves, shorts, socks, shin pads and footwear. Beyond that:

• Shin pads must be of a suitable material, of an appropriate size to give reasonable protection, and covered by the socks. The player is responsible for whether their size and material are suitable, which in a child's case means the adult buying them.
• Jewellery and accessories now turn on safety. For 2026/27, IFAB replaced the old blanket jewellery ban with a rule allowing accessories that are not dangerous and are safely and securely covered. Dangerous items must be removed and cannot be made acceptable simply by taping or covering them.
• What that means in practice. IFAB says small earrings should be removed or safely and securely covered. Whether a covered item is safe is for the referee to judge. If the referee considers it dangerous, it has to come off.
• Tape on socks must match the colour of the part of the sock it covers.
• The captain wears an armband, issued by the competition or a single-coloured one.

Referees check players before kick-off, and substitutes before they come on. If something has to come off and a player will not remove it, the referee can caution them.

Ball sizes, and what changed

Ball size follows the format, and the formats moved for 2026/27. The Standard Code (opens in a new tab) sets them:

• Under 7 to Under 11: size 3.
• Under 12 and Under 13: size 4.
• Under 14 and above: size 5.

The change worth knowing is at Under 11, which now stays on a size 3 because 7v7 runs a year longer, and at Under 14, where the move to 11v11 and a size 5 happens together. A ball bought for an older sibling two seasons ago may be the wrong size for the same age group now.

You do not need to buy a match ball. The Standard Code makes the home team responsible for providing at least two footballs fit for play. A ball for the garden or for training is worth having, in the size their age group plays with.

Boots

Footwear has to suit the surface. The Mini-Soccer Handbook (opens in a new tab) puts it that simply, and the Standard Code makes the home club responsible for telling visiting teams what its ground requires when the match is arranged. Ask the club, rather than guessing, before buying for a specific pitch.

• If training and matches use different surfaces, the club may recommend different footwear. Check before buying a second pair.
• Buy for the surface they use most often, then add another pair only if the club says the other venue needs different footwear.
• Find out what both the training venue and the home ground require before buying anything. That is the question that decides whether one pair is enough.

Goalkeepers

• A goalkeeper wears colours that distinguish them from the other players and from the match officials. In mini soccer the handbook puts it as a different coloured shirt from the rest of the team.
• Gloves are not required by the Laws. They are worth having, and they wear out, which makes them a recurring cost rather than a one-off.
• At Under 7 there are no goalkeepers at all, because 3v3 does not use them.

What the club decides

Some of the kit rules are the competition's rather than the Laws'. The Standard Code (opens in a new tab) says:

• Every team registers the colour and design of its shirts and shorts with the competition, and changing them mid-season needs permission.
• No player, including the goalkeeper, may wear black or very dark shirts.
• Shirts must be numbered differently from each other.
• Names of youth players must not appear on shirts.
• If two teams clash, one changes, and a team that delays kick-off by having no change of colours can be fined.

That last rule is why clubs ask for a change kit, and why a parent buying a shirt independently can end up with something the team cannot use.

Cold, wet and faith clothing

• In poor weather, players should wear appropriate clothing, but the Mini-Soccer Handbook says hoodies are not allowed.
• Where a player wears clothing as a requirement of their faith, the Mini-Soccer Handbook expects the referee to accommodate it, and wearing shorts over trousers is not required and should not stop anybody playing.
• Head covers have their own rules in the Laws. They must be black or the same main colour as the shirt, with teammates matching, not attached to the shirt, not dangerous and with nothing protruding.
• Non-dangerous protective equipment is allowed, including gloves, headgear, facemasks, soft padded knee and arm protectors and sports spectacles. Goalkeepers may wear tracksuit bottoms.
• Base layers have colour rules in the Laws. An undershirt has to be a single colour matching the main colour of the shirt sleeve, or a pattern that exactly replicates the sleeve. Undershorts and tights have to match the main colour of the shorts or their lowest part, and teammates have to wear the same colour as each other.

What to buy, and when

A reasonable order for a first season:

• Ask the club what it provides before buying team-specific items such as match kit or socks.
• Shin pads and socks, because a child cannot play without them.
• Boots for the surface they will train on.
• Nothing else until the club has said what it provides and what it expects.
• A ball in their age group's size, when you are ready, for use outside training.

Our guide to what grassroots football costs a family covers the wider picture, including subs, tournaments and travel.

Elsewhere in the UK

The Laws of the Game apply across the UK. Format and ball size pathways are set separately by each national association, so the age-by-age sizes above are for England.