How to start a Sunday League Football Team
Sunday League Football is hugely popular across the whole of the UK and many people search online about how to get involved. On this page we are going to have a look at what you need to do to set up your own Sunday league football team. We will see what and whom you need for your team as well as the possible costs involved.
Setting up a football team may seem like a pretty straightforward task but in the initial start-up stages there are a few components that you need to be able to execute successfully to have your team joining, and hopefully staying in a Sunday league.
Before we begin with the forerunners of your team, it is important to note that organisation is vital. Even with the best intentions and enthusiasm for the game, without carefully thought-out plans, a team can unfortunately easily fall apart. That said, with the backing of your teammates and having a read through of this support page, you will be kick-starting your organisational skills and will soon be able to get set up.
Who will you need to get your team going?
Besides football players being obvious members to your team, you would benefit from having a treasurer, a secretary and a manager. Let us look into more detail about these three rolls.
The treasurer: needs to handle the money coming in and out of the team. It is probably the least popular job but is an essential ball part. The treasurer checks that the members are not just playing their part, but that they are paying it too. This will ensure that the team keeps on playing.
The secretary: will need to plan games and ensure that the games go ahead. He will communicate with opponents, referees and the league. The secretary will also need to confirm fixtures, attend meetings, inform the league of any results and submit result cards. Your team can get warnings or fines if you do not do these things. The secretary can help to ensure that any fines incurred are paid.
The manager: has the busiest job and one of his big tasks is to chase up his players during the week and choose who is going to play and make sure that they are able to play on the weekend. He will be looking ideally for players who did not quite make it to a professional level but who are keen to commit to play on a regular and ideally, weekly basis.
The manager also needs to consider how many players to have on his team. He should not opt for too few players so that when Sunday comes round, he does not have enough players to actually play. He also does not want too many players so that he is forever swapping players in and out of the match. This can often cause players to become reluctant to commit to playing if they are hardly ever getting a decent game. It is normally recommended to have a number of players somewhere between fifteen and twenty.
Starting out
A good place to start would be find players to make up your team! You could spread the word through social media or via the more traditional methods of word-of-mouth and by putting up posters/flyers in your local area.
It may be a good idea to hold trials to make sure that your players actually know how to kick a ball and play a decent game! Once you have got a team together you could also try and play a few games as a team in preparation for upcoming matches.
Once you have done all this, you will need to get your players to commit to playing regularly. You are then well on your way to be ready to sign up for a Football Sunday League.
How to get into the Sunday league
The next job is to try and find a link to get you into the Sunday football league. You can contact your local Football Association who can provide you with a list of the leagues around your area. Normally when you join a league you would be placed at the bottom and have the opportunity to work your way up. This adds to the excitement and drive to compete and succeed.
You also will need to find a pitch to play on. Your local council should be able to tell you where all the local playing grounds are that you can sign up to. Schools are Colleges are also potentials to make contact with.
In the meantime and whilst waiting to officially become part of a league it is important to keep on playing and training with your team. It can take some time to start your new season and by playing a few games and working on your skills, you will hopefully shoot your way up from the bottom when you do join your new league. You will also give your team their best chance of winning by having regular play.
What else?
This next point is mainly focused towards the treasurer but with the help of the manger and secretary, spending needs to be decided. Money plays a big roll in supporting your team. You must sort through and pay off all of the bills. There are a number of costs to consider when setting up your football team and these should ideally be paid early on otherwise you can get fined or worse suspended from play. It can be useful to have a bank account for your club rather than handling money every week.
What costs are involved?
- Affiliation Fee: this fee registers you as a club
- League Affiliation Fee: this fee allows you to play in the league
- Insurance and public liability: these are necessary for any accidents and injuries that may occur
- Pitch hire: this is for your training and matches. There can be a hidden cost here though. You can sometimes charged to play on other pitches at matches and so will need to account for this
- Referee fees: you need to find and pay someone who is resilient as games can get heated when competitive.
- Fines: as a team you are responsible to pay any fines but you could get the individual to pay if they have caused the fine
- First Aid Kit: it is best to have one that has been approved by the Football Association
- Cups: if you want to enter in some cup competitions, these are additional costs too
- Team Kit: although having a top-of-the-range kit would be ideal, unfortunately it will not make you players perform any better. You could look into getting sponsors for your kit to help cover these costs
- You may want to pay somebody to wash the weekly wet and dirty kit and to provide halftime drinks and snacks
- Nets
And finally,
- Footballs! You will get through a lot of footballs and will need training and match balls.
It is worthwhile thinking about ways to raise your funds. You could hold quiz nights, raffles, car washes, bake sales and other fundraisers for extra money. You could consider charging a registration fee or subscription fee per player to help cover the costs. For players who cannot play due to other commitments you could get them to pay half of the fee and then pay for each match that they play in. You do not want them to over pay though and pay more than the registration fee.
Potential Pitfalls
Once you have got your football team up and running there are a few problems that you could encounter and that you will need to take into consideration:
Your teammates may not turn up on time on the Sunday morning for the game.
Perhaps not enough players turn up.
It could be that the referee does not show up and then you would need to find someone to stand in at the last minute.
It can be a hard task trying to keep the calm when disagreements between your team and their opponents occur.
What do you do if the changing facilities are locked and you have no access to a key?
Hopefully not…but what if the pitch is not marked out?
Organisation is again very important here. Check and double check!
It is important that once you have joined a league that you keep asking questions. If you are unsure of what to do, you can get in contact with somebody in management of the league. They will have a wealth of experience and should be able to advise you.
6 Top Tips
Letyour team have a good name andnot only in the literal sense. You want to have a good reputation from the offset!
EverySunday - make sure you are willing to get up every Sunday, and early! Ask for help!
Get fit and eat well to fuel your game!
Understand and be prepared that the outcome of your match is likely to have an impact on how you start your new week!
Enjoy!
Have you set up a Sunday League Football Team? Have you got any advice? Why not add any comments in the box below…?
