Youth Club Welfare Officer
If your league or club runs teams from mini-soccer to under-18s, it is now an FA requirement for a Welfare Officer to be in place to be able to affiliate your league or club for the 2008-09 season. That also means completing an FA Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) application on the Officer, which must have been accepted or in progress at the point of affiliation.
Making an appointment is not a huge job. Once in place, Cornwall FA provides full training and offers ongoing guidance, advice and sharing of best practice.
Full details are in the leaflet which is available on the right. Please contact us if you have any questions.
When Children Are Permitted to Play in Competitive Matches
Children must be 8 years old at 31st August to be able to play in a league. This means where scores are recorded and a table of teams kept. Players who are under-7 and under-8 can play friendly matches against other teams in the same league but scores and points must not be recorded.
This is detailed in the updated Mini-Soccer handbook which is available on the right.
Age Ranges For Players Under 16 Years old
FA Rule 4 Extract -
[a] Children not registered in the programme for excellence. The following provisions apply to children not registered in the programme for excellence:
[vi] Age Brackets
[a] A child in the age ranges Under7, U8, U9,U10,U11,U12,U13,U14,U15 must not play and shall not be permitted, or encouraged to play, in a match where any other player is older or younger by 2 years or more than that person”
[b] To play in a Under 18 age bracket competition the player must have achieved the age of 15 on or before 31st August of the playing season
[c] To play in an open age competition a player must have achieved the age of 16.
Age When A Child Can Play In 9v9 and 11v11
From next season a child who is not 10 years old as at midnight on 31st August is not allowed to play in a match between sides of more than seven players in that playing season. Those children who are younger than ten years old as described can only play in a match according to the ‘Laws of the Game - Mini Soccer’ or in other formats of small sided football approved by The FA. The rule was previously age nine.
The FA Rule Change in full is:
"A child who has not attained nor will have attained the age of ten as at midnight on 31st August in a playing season shall not play, and shall not be permitted or encouraged to play, in a match between sides of more than seven players in that playing season. Such children shall only play in a match according to the ‘Laws of the Game - Mini Soccer’ or in other formats of small sided football expressly approved by The Association from time to time. The particular age ranges for such activity are subject to amendment by the Council from time to time."
Advice on International Clearance For Players
The FA’s registrations team is mindful of the pitfalls of advising on the position of players from abroad who join teams in England and urges all County FAs to inform their clubs that all players moving countries (including Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) must have International Clearance. This includes players outside of the National League System and for example, playing in a local Sunday League. It applies to all players over the age of 12.
Please see the full regulations on the FA website using the link on the right. The appropriate form is availbale from there too.
If in doubt please contact The FA or 0207 745 4629
Playing Matches Against International Opposition
Information is available on the right. Teams from Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales are not considered to be international opposition, therefore no special permission is needed to play against these teams. Teams from the Republic of Ireland are classed as international opposition so the guidelines for permission must be followed.