| Today The FA have launched FutureFit – Tailoring youth football to fit even better, and mean even more for all young players in England
Their announcement is below:
We’ve come a long way together and youth football in England is thriving. The changes in 2012 had a profoundly positive impact on young players, their technical development and enjoyment of the game.
Now it’s time to shape an even brighter future.
From the 2026-27 season onwards, there will be changes to help maximise the experience of all players, including changes to the formats and laws of the youth game to give players more chances and ways to play.
Throughout this process and beyond, we want to keep working with you and the rest of the grassroots game to make youth football fit even better and mean even more for all young players.
Please copy and paste the link to find out more – the reasoning and what the new formats will look like.
https://thefa.shorthandstories.com/futurefit/index.html?sc_src=email_6024007&sc_lid=623076289&sc_uid=FDrTlsLJq4&sc_llid=2186
The current age groups that will be affected the most by the changes in 2026/27 are U7s, U9s and U11s. These current age groups will play three years at their current format whilst the changes work their way through the system. So, this season’s U7s will play 3 years at 5v5 until they move to 7v7 in 2027/28 season; This season’s U9s will play 3 years at 7v7 before moving to 9v9 and current U11s will play 3 years at 9v9 before moving to 11v11 at U14 in 2027/28.
Teams need to plan for these changes NOW to ensure they don’t over recruit players before the changes are made.
As a league, we already have some initial ideas on what the new 3v3 format will look like in the YEL and we’ll share these with you once they have been finalised. |
