The problem with unplanned pre-season

Pre-season often happens by default — a few sessions before the first match, whatever feels relevant at the time. A 6-week framework turns this into a deliberate on-ramp: building fitness gradually, re-establishing team shape, and setting the season's tone — rather than arriving at match one having "sort of" prepared.

The 6-week framework

  • Weeks 1-2: reintroduction — ball familiarity after a break (especially for younger players), light fitness building (see our pre-season fitness guide), low-intensity small-sided games.
  • Weeks 3-4: technical focus returns — a coaching block (see our guide) on whatever's the season's first priority, increasing intensity gradually.
  • Weeks 5-6: tactical/team shape — re-establishing positions and shape (see our formations guide) with the team as it'll be for the season, higher-intensity small-sided games approaching match conditions.

Balancing fitness and football

See our pre-season fitness guide for the physical side — but the key integration point is that fitness building works best EMBEDDED in football activities (higher-intensity small-sided games) rather than as separate "fitness sessions" that feel disconnected from why players are there.

New players and trialists

Pre-season is often when new players join or trial (see our trials guide) — weeks 1-2's lower-intensity, game-based activities are also genuinely good assessment opportunities, without the pressure of a formal trial format.

Setting the season's tone

Pre-season is also when your pre-season parents meeting (see our guide) happens, and when your coaching philosophy (see our guide) — if you're articulating or revisiting it — gets communicated. The football and the "setting expectations" work happen in parallel across these 6 weeks.

What "ready" looks like by week 6

Not perfection — but: players reasonably fit for match demands, the team having SOME established shape (even if it'll develop further), and everyone (players, parents) clear on the season's approach. "Ready" is relative — ready to START the season's development, not a finished product.