FA to Make Major Changes to Youth Football

May 28, 2012

 

The Football Association’s (FA) shareholders have overwhelmingly voted in favour of introducing radical changes to the way that youth football is organised across England.
A total of 87% of the 778 votes cast backed the proposals. which will see English youngsters playing smaller-sided games, with smaller pitches and goals and more emphasis on skills and technique, rather than victory.
The FA’s director of football development, Sir Trevor Brooking, called the decision “as important as anything that will happen this summer” for the future of the English game.
The changes will be introduced step-by-step ready for the 2014-15 season and see five-a-side fixtures for seven and eight-year-olds, with 11 and 12-year-olds playing nine-a-side games.
Reducing the size of the pitch and the number of players is designed to develop greater technical skills among budding footballers at a younger age.
The plans will see the introduction of a mandatory 5 v 5 format for Under 7s and Under 8s, with Under 11s and Under 12s playing in 9 v 9 games.
Children in the Under 9 and Under 10 age brackets will continue to play in the already-established 7 v 7 format, before they are allowed to play on full-size pitches from Under 13s.
“The main change is to make sure the future of game is more child sensitive than it has been before,” said the FA’s national development manager Nick Levett.
“There will be a lot more smaller formats of football – Under 7s and Under 8s playing 5 v 5, which means more touches, more shots, more dribbles and a lot more involvement in the game.
“We’re trying to stop that jump from 7 v 7 to 11 v 11, where previously we had children playing on massive adult-size pitches, and have 9 v 9. That is the middle ground between the two.
“These changes are a massive step forward for the future of children’s football in this country.”

The Football Association’s (FA) shareholders have overwhelmingly voted in favour of introducing radical changes to the way that youth football is organised across England.

A total of 87% of the 778 votes cast backed the proposals. which will see English youngsters playing smaller-sided games, with smaller pitches and goals and more emphasis on skills and technique, rather than victory.

The FA’s director of football development, Sir Trevor Brooking, called the decision “as important as anything that will happen this summer” for the future of the English game.

The changes will be introduced step-by-step ready for the 2014-15 season and see five-a-side fixtures for seven and eight-year-olds, with 11 and 12-year-olds playing nine-a-side games.

Reducing the size of the pitch and the number of players is designed to develop greater technical skills among budding footballers at a younger age.

The plans will see the introduction of a mandatory 5 v 5 format for Under 7s and Under 8s, with Under 11s and Under 12s playing in 9 v 9 games.

Children in the Under 9 and Under 10 age brackets will continue to play in the already-established 7 v 7 format, before they are allowed to play on full-size pitches from Under 13s.

“The main change is to make sure the future of game is more child sensitive than it has been before,” said the FA’s national development manager Nick Levett.

“There will be a lot more smaller formats of football – Under 7s and Under 8s playing 5 v 5, which means more touches, more shots, more dribbles and a lot more involvement in the game.

“We’re trying to stop that jump from 7 v 7 to 11 v 11, where previously we had children playing on massive adult-size pitches, and have 9 v 9. That is the middle ground between the two.

“These changes are a massive step forward for the future of children’s football in this country.”