Club Welfare Officer's Guide to England Football Safeguarding Under 18 2026/27

It is FA policy that anyone aged 16 or over in a role that involves potentially unsupervised activity with under-18s must hold an FA DBS Enhanced Criminal Records Check with Children's Barred List. The FA's eligibility list (Guidance Note 3.3) includes:

• Coaches, including assistants, working with under-18s, and coaches in open-age teams with 16 or 17-year-old players.
• Team managers and assistant managers working with under-18s, including open-age teams with 16 or 17-year-olds.
• Club Welfare Officers and assistant Welfare Officers in clubs with players under 18.
• Chaperones for under-18s on trips, tours and overnight tournaments.
• Regular club drivers transporting only children for the club (not private lift arrangements between parents).
• Host families (not private arrangements between families).
• First-aiders or medics with weekly involvement with an under-18 team.
• Referees in youth football, including referee mentors, observers and coaches below Level 4.

Roles that are not eligible on their own: club secretary, treasurer, chair, parent helpers who don't coach, clubhouse manager, groundskeeper, photographer, website administrator, social media managers, youth section administrator, a parent running the line, and players (including captains). If someone in one of these roles also coaches or does another eligible role, they need a check for that role.

Clubs must make sure everyone newly appointed to an eligible role has an FA Accepted DBS check before working unsupervised with children. If you're unsure whether a role is eligible, contact the FA DBS Unit on 0115 969 4618 or FAChecks@TheFA.com.

An FA DBS check lasts three years. To be "in date" it must have been completed within the last three years and be valid for the current season.

Renewals: someone renewing can keep working with children and young people as long as the renewal has been submitted to the DBS and shows as "in progress" on The FA's Club Portal. If it has expired and no renewal is in progress, they must stop any unsupervised work with under-18s until a new check is accepted.

Tracking: the Club Portal shows each person's DBS status, the issue date of their latest certificate and its expiry date. Club Welfare Officers, assistant Welfare Officers and club secretaries can use it to see who needs to renew.

Moving role or club: an in-date FA Accepted DBS check carries over to a new role or a new club within grassroots football, so no new check is needed until it expires.

Welfare Officers themselves must hold an accepted FA DBS check less than three years old to attend the Welfare Officer Course.

Who starts it (FA Guidance Note 3.2):

The three steps

1. The applicant registers online and completes their details.
2. Face-to-face ID verification with the club or league verifier.
3. Online payment by card (normally by the applicant or club; the verifier will say if the club pays differently).

Cost: volunteers pay a £11 administration fee and no government charge. Paid staff also pay the DBS government fee.

Setting the club up as a verifier: the Welfare Officer emails FAverifiers@FADV.com with the club name, Welfare Officer's name and FAN (FA Number), completes the registration form, and then receives the club's organisation PIN and login for the online system.

If the certificate hasn't arrived within 60 days, the applicant can track it on the DBS website.

Before they start: clubs must make sure every newly appointed person holds an FA Accepted DBS check before working unsupervised with children. A DBS check is only one part of safer recruitment; The FA also expects a clear role description, an interview, references, sight of qualifications and a supervised trial session.

FA DBS helpline: 0115 969 4618 or FAChecks@TheFA.com.

Sometimes. An existing DBS check can be "ported" into football only if both of these apply (FA Guidance Note 3.2):

1. It is a DBS Enhanced Criminal Records Disclosure with Children's Barred List Check, and
2. It is registered with the government's DBS Update Service (the person must register within 19 days of the certificate being issued).

To port it, the person tells the FA DBS helpline their Update Service details. There is a one-off £10 charge, which includes ID verification. The FA DBS Unit then checks the status every year for as long as the person is in football. The DBS charges £13 a year for the Update Service.

The FA notes that for most volunteers it is quicker and cheaper to apply for a new FA DBS check (free of government charge for volunteers).

Someone who already holds an in-date FA Accepted DBS check doesn't need a new one when moving to a new role or club within grassroots football.

FA DBS helpline: 0115 969 4618 or FAChecks@TheFA.com.

Content on a DBS certificate is assessed by a specialist FA Safeguarding team, not by the club:

• A conviction or caution does not automatically bar someone from football. Each case is reviewed individually, taking into account the person's age at the time, how long ago it was, how the court dealt with it and other relevant information.
• The FA applies the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and only considers offences it is entitled to. Old and minor offences are treated less seriously; recent assaults, violence with prison sentences, sexual offences and drug supply are higher risk.
• The person may be asked for more information or character references (not from a spouse or partner), and The FA may suspend them while it makes enquiries.
• Certificates with content are only seen by The FA Safeguarding team. Once The FA is satisfied, the check shows as Accepted on the Club Portal.

Not completing the process: under The FA's Safeguarding Children Regulations (Regulation 2), anyone in an eligible role must obtain the right DBS check, give any further explanation, references or information The FA asks for, and meet its deadlines. Anyone who fails to do so is subject to an immediate suspension from football activity, which lasts until they comply or win an appeal. This applies even if they withdraw or leave the role.

The FA can also make orders, including suspensions, where someone is barred by the DBS, disqualified from working with children, charged with or convicted of a relevant offence, or assessed as posing a risk of harm to children.

The FA's safeguarding courses and who needs them:

The Safeguarding Children Re-certification is free for anyone who did the old Safeguarding Children Workshop and whose qualification expires within six months or has already expired.

Completed qualifications appear on the person's FAN account, and Welfare Officers, assistant Welfare Officers and club secretaries can track training and DBS status on The FA's Club Portal.

Emergency: if a child is at immediate risk of harm, contact the police or your local Children's Social Care first.

Duty to report: under The FA's Safeguarding Children Regulations (Regulation 1.6), every participant must immediately report to The FA any alleged incident, facts or matters about potential abuse or harm to a child, or any sexual offence against anyone. Failing to do so can be treated as misconduct.

Who handles what (The FA's reporting chart):

If you're unsure, contact the County FA DSO or The FA Safeguarding Team and they will redirect the concern. The NSPCC Helpline (0808 800 5000, help@nspcc.org.uk) gives advice. As Welfare Officer, use The FA's Safeguarding Referral Form (Guidance Note 2.2) and liaise with your County FA DSO, who decides whether the concern goes to The FA's Safeguarding Case Management Team.

If a child tells you something: stay calm, reassure them they've done the right thing and are not to blame, explain you must involve others to help, and don't promise confidentiality or an outcome.

Whistleblowing (when usual procedures have failed): The FA Safeguarding Team on 0800 169 1863 or Safeguarding@TheFA.com.

Not safeguarding: player registration, team selection and playing time are club matters for the club's complaints procedure, not safeguarding concerns in themselves.

The FA also notes that the Crime and Policing Act, introduced on 30 April 2026, places a duty on people in key roles working with children in England, including in sport, to report child sexual abuse they are told about, witness or see in images. The FA is updating its guidance while the government prepares detailed guidance.

This may be an abuse of a position of trust. Under The FA's Safeguarding Children Regulations, anyone who cares for, advises, supervises, trains, coaches, manages, mentors or guides a young person is in a position of trust, whether paid or a volunteer and whatever their qualifications. They must not engage in sexual activity or have an inappropriate relationship with that young person, including 16 and 17-year-olds, even though the age of consent is 16. Since August 2022 it has also been a criminal offence for an adult in a position of trust in sport to engage in sexual activity with a 16 or 17-year-old.

If you suspect an abuse of a position of trust has happened, is happening or may happen, The FA's guidance (Guidance Note 1.7) says you must:

1. Immediately inform your Club Welfare Officer, the County FA Designated Safeguarding Officer, or The FA at Safeguarding@TheFA.com.
2. Report the matter directly to the police.
3. Make a written record of your concerns and the relevant details.

If you can't reach any of those people, or someone is at risk of immediate harm, report it to the police or the local authority's Children's Social Care. If you think your concern has not been dealt with properly, or there is no safeguarding officer, you can consult the local authority's designated officer in Children's Social Care, whose duties include concerns about breaches of a position of trust.

The FA can impose interim suspensions while the police, Children's Social Care or The FA investigate.

The FA's guidance (Guidance Notes 1.7, 6.1 and 6.2) sets these boundaries for anyone in a position of trust, such as coaches, managers and welfare officers:

One-to-one messaging

• Only text or engage online with a young person as part of a recognised group, for specific, legitimate football purposes.
• Only use platforms that keep a permanent, recoverable record of the conversation, not ones where messages or images disappear.
• If a young player sends a friend request on social media, politely decline, explain why it wouldn't be appropriate, and make a written report to the Club Welfare Officer.
• Never engage in sexualised communication or image sharing with any young person, including 16 and 17-year-olds.

Team group chats

• Under-16s should not be in chat groups used mainly by club officials, coaches, managers and parents to arrange fixtures and availability.
• If 16 or 17-year-old players, coaches or officials are invited into an official club or team chat, get written parent or carer permission. Ideally parents are added to the chat and can see the conversation.

16 and 17-year-olds with a role (for example young coaches or referees)

• Communicate only for that role, and copy in the parent or carer, the Welfare Officer, or both. Leagues appointing young referees must copy in another league official or a parent.

Video calls with under-18s

• Work with groups, involve a second official where possible, make sessions observable and interruptible, get parents to accept or decline participation, and never host from a bedroom.

Any inappropriate communication between an adult and an under-18 must be reported straight away to the Welfare Officer, who will seek advice from the County FA Designated Safeguarding Officer or statutory agencies.

The FA supports appropriate photos and filming of children, but its guidance (Guidance Note 8.3) sets these practices:

Do

• Share The FA's photography guidance with every new member (officials and parents or carers).
• Get written parental consent before using a player's photo or film in public, for example on the club website, social media or in a newspaper. The FA's Club Annual Membership Information and Consent Form (Guidance Note 8.2) can be used.
• Protect any child whose image must not be published (for example because of care proceedings or court restrictions) by making sure their image stays out of the public domain.
• Make sure everyone pictured is properly dressed (at least a vest or shirt and shorts).

Don't

• Publish a photo or film with a child's name unless you have written consent and parents know how it will be used.
• Use player profiles with pictures and detailed personal information online.
• Reuse an image for a different purpose than the one agreed.
• Allow any photos or filming in changing rooms, showers or toilets, including on mobile phones.
• Include alcohol or gambling advertising in images of children.

Professional photographers and media: brief them on what is appropriate, issue ID to wear at all times, mark no-photo areas, tell them how to identify children without consent (for example a badge or wristband), and don't allow unsupervised or one-to-one sessions or sessions away from the event.

Filming as a coaching aid is allowed if players and parents know it is part of the programme, the opposition is told beforehand, and footage is stored securely, kept only as long as needed and handled under data protection law.

It is not an offence to take appropriate photos in a public place. On private land the owner can decide whether photography is allowed. Report concerns about misuse of images to your County FA Designated Safeguarding Officer or Safeguarding@TheFA.com, or the police if a child is at risk.

The club or league is responsible for everything on its website, social media pages, message boards and blogs, including comments it shares or endorses. The FA's guidance (Guidance Note 6.1) says:

Do

• Appoint an adult to monitor the site and social media; they should complete The FA's Safeguarding Children Course. Make sure members know who it is.
• Set privacy settings so pages are used only for club matters and don't host private conversations.
• Only allow comments from people the club knows and has permitted.
• Link to CEOP's "Report Abuse" tool, ThinkUKnow and The FA's safeguarding pages.
• Follow The FA's photography guidance.

Don't

• Publish children's contact details in public areas, including the phone numbers and emails of coaches and referees under 18. Any details hosted need written parent or carer consent.
• Post pictures of individuals without the express permission of parents or carers.
• Post details that make a child easier to find or target, such as their school, class or year, or player profiles with personal information.
• Post or host match results for under-11 teams.
• Post anything offensive, insulting, abusive, threatening, racist or discriminatory. Such comments break FA rules, and comments about match officials can lead to disciplinary action.

The FA's travel guidance (Guidance Note 5.4) applies to youth teams and to open-age teams with 16 and 17-year-old players. At the start of the season the club should have:

• Signed permission and medical forms for each player, kept securely under data protection rules.
• A DBS check for anyone directly responsible for children on the club's behalf. A regular club driver transporting only children needs an FA DBS check; a private lift-sharing arrangement between parents does not.
• Valid driving licence, MOT and tax for anyone driving children for the club in their own vehicle, plus vehicle insurance and breakdown cover.
• Insurance for public and civil liability and personal accident.
• The right ratio and mix of adults: a male group should always have a male member of staff, and a female group a female member of staff.
• A qualified first aider and an in-date first aid kit, and staff briefed on any player's known medical conditions.
• A named point of contact for parents, a reporting procedure for concerns, and codes of conduct.

Overnight trips and tournaments also need:

• Written permission for each activity (for example swimming) and insurance that covers non-football activities.
• A named welfare officer on the trip and a contact at home with the full list of travellers.
• Separate single beds; staff and players must never share a room; players sharing must be the same sex. Ideally children aged 12 or younger share twin or triple rooms.
• A "Safe-Away Card" for every child, an information pack and a parents' meeting beforehand.
• When going abroad: suitable travel insurance, visas, passports stored securely, and health cover such as a GHIC.

The FA's guidance on ratios (Guidance Note 5.5) sets these minimums:

• Any age, any activity: at least two FA-DBS-checked coaches or adults must always be present, so there is cover if an incident happens.
• Players aged 12 and over (squads of up to about 16): at least one FA-DBS-checked coach per squad plus another FA-DBS-checked coach or adult present at all times.
• 5v5, 7v7 and 9v9 with players aged 6 to 11: a higher ratio of staff to squad is needed. Where children are 8 or younger, you need more staff, and never fewer than two FA-DBS-checked adults.
• Mixed-sex groups: male and female staff should be available.
• Disability football: ratios are set case by case, considering facilities, evacuation procedures, health and communication needs, and players' support needs.

Coaches or young leaders aged 16 or 17 do not count as adults. Having them in the group means you need more adults, not fewer.

The FA points to the NSPCC's recommended adult-to-child ratios as a guide:

Anyone supervising, instructing or coaching frequently (more than 3 days in any 30-day period) must hold an in-date FA DBS check.