Blog Post

Match Day Process

Oct 19, 2023

A few essential tips to get the season off to a great start...

It's really important that all teams, from u7 up to U18, understand and follow our match day process. This ensures allocated referees and visiting teams turn up at the right place at the right time; that we follow the Respect principles that we have all signed up to; and that we report results and submit post-match reports in a timely manner. From coaches to club committee members, Divisional Secretaries to league officials, we are all volunteers – and anything to help kids football run smoothly has to be good. There’s a whole stack of useful information on this website – but key steps can be summarised as follows:

PRE-MATCH CHECKLIST

Fixtures Changes

If you need to change a fixture then let you divisional secretary and opposition know as soon as possible – and preferably more than 14 days before the fixture. It always helps for both teams to agree an alternative date and let your divisional secretary know.

KO Time

The home team should make sure that the kick off time and venue are set correctly on FA FullTime. Not sure how to do this? Login to FullTime where you will then be able to select your team from the dropdown and click 'Fixture Wizard' or you can use the The FA's Matchday App.

Referee

Contact your referee and opposition manager by the Wednesday before the match at the latest – always ask for positive confirmation that they have received and understood your message. Opposition and referee contact details can be found in the NEHYL Member System.

Team Sheet

Both teams should swap the match day team sheet before kick-off – either by email or paper copy – and don’t forget to use the new team sheet documents that can be downloaded here. These new documents include some important changes – in particular around the taking of images during the fixture.

DURING & AFTER MATCH CHECKLIST

Respect

Set out your respect barrier or line when setting up the pitch – remember spectators must be on the opposite of the pitch to coaches and substitutes and MUST NOT stand behind the linesperson. And both teams must have a Respect Steward.

Squad List

Before kick off you must complete a photo ID parade that confirms your players are registered with your team – this can be using a recently printed paper copy from the FA Club Portal or showing the team photo ID page on your mobile device. More information of the Club Portal can be found here.

Handshake

The respect handshake takes place between the teams before kick-off for EVERY game.

Match Result

And once the game has finished your nominated contact must text in the match result in response to the text from FA Fulltime as soon as possible; and complete the online MRC within 5 days.