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.

In practice, a typical week 1 session might look like: 15 minutes of simple ball-mastery and rondo work at low intensity, a 20-minute small-sided game (4v4 or 5v5) with no tactical instruction beyond "enjoy it," and a short cool-down — the goal is genuinely just touches on the ball and re-establishing the habit of training, not fitness or tactics yet. By week 4, that same session slot would carry a specific technical focus (say, first touch under pressure) built around a coaching block, with intensity noticeably higher. By week 6, sessions should resemble a genuine match warm-up in intensity, with shape work integrated into a near full-tempo small-sided game.

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.

Common mistakes

The most frequent one is intensity in the wrong order — starting week 1 with a high-tempo fitness-focused session because "the season's coming" rather than easing in, which risks injury and burns out enthusiasm before it's even started. The second is skipping weeks 1-2 entirely for older, more established squads on the assumption "they don't need it" — even experienced players benefit from a genuine reintroduction period, and skipping straight to tactical work with players who haven't touched a ball in weeks tends to produce sloppy, frustrating sessions. The third is treating all 6 weeks identically instead of progressing intensity and focus as outlined above.

Adjusting the framework by age

For younger age groups (U7–U9), compress the framework — 3-4 weeks is usually enough, weighted almost entirely toward reintroduction and fun, game-based activity rather than structured tactical work, since shape and positioning matter far less at this level. For older, more competitive squads (U14+), the full 6 weeks (or even longer) is worth protecting, since fitness demands and tactical complexity are genuinely higher and rushing the early weeks shows up as fatigue and injuries once proper matches start.

Tracking whether the framework is actually working

A simple weekly note — how did intensity feel relative to plan, did anyone seem to be struggling, did the technical focus land — takes a few minutes and gives you something concrete to adjust the following week rather than relying on general impression. Over a full pre-season, this also builds a useful record for spotting which players might need extra individual attention once the competitive season starts.

What to do if pre-season overlaps with holidays

Attendance during a 6-week pre-season is rarely consistent — summer holidays mean different players miss different weeks. Rather than treating the framework as something everyone must experience identically, accept that some players will effectively compress weeks 1-2 and 3-4 into fewer sessions once they return, and adjust their individual intensity down slightly for their first session or two back, exactly as you would for a player returning from any other extended absence.