The following guide is designed to provide you with the basic information behind setting up a football club. It is hoped that by using this guide you will understand the costs associated with doing so and the support available to you.
Costs
We strongly advise you to consider the finances involved with setting up a club from the start. This way you can produce a budget and are aware of the likely outgoings which are going to require off-setting with money coming back into the club. This will give you an idea of how much you are going to need to charge players and whether you are going to require additional financial assistance.
Affiliation
Each club is required to affiliate with their local County Football Association: this will be wherever the club plays. Affiliation runs from June 1st to May 30th each season. Clubs traditionally affiliate every June for the following season but there is no deadline to do so.
Affiliation means that you can enter sanctioned leagues and will be insured to play for the season. You will be registered which means you are able to access funding, county support and will be able to apply for Football Association initiatives such as the Charter Standard.
Youth Clubs must have a nominated Welfare Officer. This person must have an FA CRB check, attended a Safeguarding Children Course (in the past three years) and been on a Welfare Officer Workshop. Youth clubs cannot affiliate until this has been put into practice. For more information on this please contact Football Development Officer, Steeven Sharpe on 020 8515 6901 or steeven.sharpe@middlesexfa.com
To obtain an affiliation form please call 020 8515 1911.
Funding
We are able to assist you with trying to access funds to set up your club. Working with the Football Foundation we can help apply for a number of schemes including Grow the Game, Junior Kit, Goalpost Safety and Facilities: www.footballfoundation.org.uk
Other schemes worth looking at are:
• Awards for All http://www.awardsforall.org.uk/england/index.html
• Sportsmatch http://www.sportsmatch.co.uk/about/index.html
• Cash 4 Clubs http://www.cash-4-clubs.com
Pro-Active London offers an excellent website with details about funding opportunities at http://www.pro-activewestlondon.org
If you would like to discuss funding support further please contact Football Development Officer, Steeven Sharpe, through steeven.sharpe@middlesexfa.com or call 020 8515 6901.
Finding a pitch & training facility
The best method of doing this is by speaking with your local council to find out which facilities close to you are available. You can do this by calling directory enquiries or searching via the internet.
If you are still not sure please contact Steeven Sharpe, Football Development Officer, steeven.sharpe@middlesexfa.com or call 020 8515 6901.
Joining a League
A range of youth, adult and disability leagues register to their local County Football Association’s. These are the leagues which you are able to take part in as they offer sanctioned football (insured, FA Match Officials etc.). We can provide you with the contact details for leagues registered with the Middlesex County Football Association. A good source of finding out further information about leagues is the following website: http://www.football.mitoo.co.uk
FA Charter Standard
The FA Charter Standard award was introduced by the Football Association to raise standards, recognise good practice and reward quality. It has recently been redefined to reflect a new FA strategy which targets 75% of teams nationwide achieving the award.
In order to attain the FA Charter Standard youth clubs are required to have one coach with each team who has achieved the Level One Coaching Certificate, have a written constitution, a Child Protection policy and codes of conducts for Players, Spectators and Managers. Benefits for the club include use of the FA Charter Standard logo, Umbro equipment vouchers, free in-service training days, free England youth tickets, discounted coaching courses and much more.
You can down load a Charter Standard application form from the following link: http://www.middlesexfa.com/Development/Charter+Standard/
Please contact Steeven Sharpe, Football Development Officer if you need more information on 020 8515 6901 or steeven.sharpe@middlesexfa.com
Additional Support
The Middlesex County Football Association has a team of full-time staff covering areas including club development, women’s and girls, refereeing, disability, welfare as well as governance. If you need any support please don’t hesitate to contact us. You can find details about our staff at the following link: http://www.middlesexfa.com/AboutUs/Contacts/
If you are still not sure please contact Steeven Sharpe, Football Development Officer, steeven.sharpe@middlesexfa.com or call 020 8515 6901.
Please also visit our website at www.middlesexfa.com