What's confirmed for 2026-27

The FA's Future Fit framework continues to evolve. The following changes are confirmed or being phased in across grassroots football in England for the 2026-27 season:

Heading restrictions — younger age groups

Heading restrictions continue to be phased down the age groups. For 2026-27, deliberate heading in training is restricted for players under 12 (U12 and below). This applies to training sessions, not matches — but coaches should be updating their drill content accordingly. The SimpleDrills library already reflects this across all U7–U11 drill content.

Ball sizes — no changes for 2026-27

Ball sizes remain unchanged under Future Fit:

  • U7–U8: Size 3
  • U9–U11: Size 3 (7v7 format)
  • U12–U13: Size 4 (9v9 format)
  • U14 and above: Size 5 (11v11)

See our full FA Future Fit guide for complete ball size and pitch size tables by age group.

Pitch sizes — check your county FA

Pitch dimensions are set by individual county FAs within FA guidelines. No national changes to pitch sizes are confirmed for 2026-27, but some counties have updated their local requirements. Check with your county FA before the season starts.

Player registration and dual registration

The FA continues to tighten player registration rules. Key points for 2026-27:

  • Players must be registered with their club before they can play competitive matches.
  • Dual registration (playing for two clubs) rules remain in place but with stricter consent requirements from both clubs.
  • Age group eligibility: players can play up one age group with parental consent but cannot play down.

Return to Play protocols — updated guidance

The FA has updated Return to Play guidance for injuries, including concussion protocols. All coaches are expected to follow the Headcase concussion protocols. Players who show signs of concussion must not return to play the same day.

What hasn't changed

  • Format sizes (3v3, 5v5, 7v7, 9v9, 11v11 by age group) — no changes
  • Game duration by age group — no changes
  • The volunteer coach DBS requirement — still required for all coaches with regular unsupervised access to children
  • Emergency First Aid in Football (EFiF) — still the minimum FA coaching requirement

Preparing for the new season

With these changes in mind, here's what to do before your first session of 2026-27:

  1. Check your ball sizes — if you've had the same balls for a few seasons, they may be the wrong size for your age group now players have moved up.
  2. Update your session plans — remove any heading-focused drills from your U11 and below sessions. Our U10-U11 drill library and U8-U9 drill library are already updated.
  3. Renew your DBS and First Aid — DBS certificates are valid for 3 years with the FA's Update Service. First Aid in Football (EFiF) certificates last 3 years too.
  4. Register your players early — player registration issues are the most common cause of match suspensions at grassroots level.

Where to find official FA guidance

This article reflects current FA guidance as of July 2026. For the most up-to-date rules, always check:

Communicating changes to parents

Most rule changes that affect training content (like heading restrictions) are invisible to parents unless a coach explains them — a brief note at the first session or in a team group chat ("we're following the FA's updated heading guidance this season, so training will look a little different for this age group") heads off confusion or, occasionally, a parent assuming a change is the coach's personal decision rather than an FA-wide requirement.

Building a habit of checking each season

Rule and format changes tend to arrive gradually rather than all at once, which makes it easy to miss one that doesn't affect your specific age group this year but will next year. Setting a simple habit — a five-minute check of official FA and county FA guidance each pre-season, rather than relying on word-of-mouth from other coaches — keeps a squad's preparation current without needing to track every change in real time throughout the season.

If a change affects an in-progress season

Most changes land at the start of a season rather than mid-way through, but where a genuine mid-season update does apply (an updated Return to Play protocol, say), applying it from the point of confirmation rather than waiting for the next season to start is the right approach for anything safety-related specifically — even if it means adjusting a session plan that was already set for the week.

What to do if your club is slow to communicate a change

Not every club passes FA and county FA updates down to coaches quickly, and a coach who reads the changes directly (rather than waiting to be told) is in a better position either way. Where a change is safety-related — heading restrictions, concussion protocols — it's worth applying it based on your own reading of official guidance rather than waiting for a club communication that may be delayed, since the responsibility for what happens in your own sessions sits with you regardless of how quickly the club circulates the update.