In an English youth league match, the appointed referee decides on the day whether the ground is fit to play on, and that decision is final, unless the pitch owner has closed the ground. A council, school or other owner’s closure has to be accepted. Both points are in The FA’s Standard Code of Rules (opens in a new tab) for youth competitions, which The FA says is mandatory for all mini soccer and youth football competitions. Each competition then fills in its own details, such as how you report and by when.
This page is for club secretaries, fixtures secretaries and team managers, with a short section for parents. For a tournament, see our guide to running the day.
This page follows The FA’s 2026/27 Standard Code of Rules for Mini Soccer and Youth Football Competitions, The FA’s pitch inspection guidance for referees and England Football’s thunderstorm guidance. Your league’s or cup’s own rules fill in the details, so check them too.
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The match may be off: what to do
- Find out who has made the call. A pitch owner’s closure, a postponement your league allows the home club to make, a referee ruling the ground unfit, and a match abandoned after kick-off are different situations, covered below.
- Do not try to overrule it. A pitch owner’s closure stands, and so does the appointed referee’s decision on the ground.
- Tell the four people the rules name, without delay (see “Who you have to tell”), using whatever reporting method your league or cup sets.
- Tell your players’ families through your usual channel.
- Agree a new date with the other club and get it approved by the league (see “After the decision”).
Who decides
- The pitch owner. If the council, school or other owner closes the ground, the match is not played there. The Standard Code makes the referee’s decision subject to the owner’s, which must be accepted.
- The appointed referee. Rule 23(D) gives the appointed referee power to decide on the fitness of the ground in all competition matches, and that decision is final.
- The league’s management committee. It decides whether a pitch and facilities are suitable, can order a club to play on another ground, and has to give permission before a match is played on any date other than the one fixed.
- The home club, only if your league’s rules allow it. The FA’s pitch inspection guidance notes that some competitions allow the home club or the venue to postpone a match. Ask your fixtures secretary what yours allows, before the weather turns.
If no official is appointed, the Standard Code says the clubs agree on a referee, who then has the full powers, status and authority of a registered referee for that match. Ask your league how it expects pitch decisions to be made in that case.
FA and County FA cup competitions take priority over league fixtures and have their own rules. For a cup tie, check that competition’s rules rather than your league’s.
New for 2026/27, the Standard Code says a league must not cancel, postpone or withdraw an entire programme of matches without written approval from its Sanctioning Authority, except in exceptional circumstances of a serious nature, when it must tell the Sanctioning Authority at the same time as the teams.
Before kick-off: the pitch inspection
The FA’s pitch inspection guidance (opens in a new tab) asks referees to check whether the playing area is dangerous, for example from ice or frost, and to look at the forecast temperature for when the match is due to end, not only at kick-off. For standing water, it asks whether the drainage can cope, using the groundsman’s local knowledge. It suggests testing the surface with a ball, inspecting all of the pitch, checking fog from ground level, and talking to the groundsman and both managers. The decision should then be given to both teams, and the league told. The guidance calls player safety the overriding concern. It is general guidance for referees rather than written for youth football alone.
England Football’s thunderstorm guidance (opens in a new tab) says that where the weather looks set to become unsafe, the activity should be postponed or cancelled in advance. For a fixture, the match official decides, ideally after talking to both teams; for training, it is the person in overall charge. The home team is mainly responsible for knowing where people can shelter.
If play has started: abandoned matches
If a storm arrives during play, England Football’s guidance says play should stop and everyone should take shelter, and restart only once the weather is safe and the pitch has been checked.
An abandoned match is not the same as a postponement. If it was abandoned for reasons neither club controls, it is replayed on a date the clubs agree and the management committee approves, or a date the committee names. The committee can let the score at the time stand, if that is in the interests of the competition and the clubs agree. Where one team’s conduct caused the abandonment, the committee can award the points to the other. No fine can be applied for the abandonment itself, but each club must report it by the deadline the league sets for results, and not doing so can lead to a fine.
Who you have to tell
If your club cannot fulfil a fixture, or a match has been postponed for any reason, the Standard Code says you must, without delay, tell:
- the league’s fixtures secretary;
- the referees’ appointments secretary;
- the opposing club’s secretary; and
- the match officials.
A match postponed because of weather outside either club’s control is rearranged. That is different from a club failing to keep its engagement, where the management committee decides whether to award the points to the opponents or reschedule the match, and can also fine the club, deduct points or order it to pay the opponents’ reasonable expenses.
At Under 7 to Under 11 there are no league tables, so ask your league how it records a match that was not played. The duty to tell people still applies.
After the decision: rearranging the match
A match not played for reasons neither club controls should be played on a date the two clubs agree and the management committee approves. The clubs have to agree it and tell the fixtures secretary within the number of days your league sets; if they do not, the committee can order the match to be played on a date it names. Not following this rule can lead to a fine, so do not leave the new date until the end of the season.
When the league sets a revised date, it has to give the clubs five clear days’ notice unless they agree otherwise. Separately, clubs can agree to bring a match forward with the fixtures secretary’s consent.
If the match officials turned up and the match did not go ahead for reasons neither club controls, the Standard Code says they are entitled to a fee, expenses or both, under the option your league has chosen. Where one club was in default, it can be ordered to pay officials who attended their full fee and expenses.
For parents
Check your team’s usual messages before you set off, especially for an early or away match. The decision is made by the pitch owner, the referee or the league, or by the home club where the league’s rules allow, and the referee’s decision on the day is final. If you are on the touchline when it is made, our guide to the Grassroots Code covers how to support the officials.
Common questions
It is dry where we live. Why is the match off?
The pitch owner may have closed the ground, or the pitch may be waterlogged or frozen where you cannot see it. The pitch owner’s decision has to be accepted.
Can we move the match to a 3G pitch instead?
Ask the league. The management committee decides which pitches are suitable and can order a match to be played on another ground.
Can the two managers just agree to call it off?
Not on their own, unless your league’s rules allow it, and a pitch owner’s closure still stands. Matches are played on the dates fixed unless the management committee gives permission, and the referee decides on the ground.
Who pays the referee if the match is off?
It depends on the option your league has chosen in its rules. If neither club was at fault, officials who turned up can be entitled to a fee, expenses or both. If one club was in default, it can be ordered to pay officials who attended their full fee and expenses.
Elsewhere in the UK
This page covers The FA’s rules for England. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland set their own competition rules, and leagues there have their own procedures.
- England: The FA and your County FA.
- Scotland: the Scottish FA.
- Wales: the Football Association of Wales.
- Northern Ireland: the Irish FA.