Referee's Guide to England Football Youth Football Under 7-Under 18 2026/27

Deliberate heading is an offence in all Under 7 to Under 11 matches in grassroots football (FA Rule O, the IFAB heading trial). Rule O requires match officials to make sure it's applied.

• Award an indirect free kick to the opposition at the place where the ball was deliberately headed.
• If the player deliberately headed the ball inside their own penalty area, stop play and restart with an indirect free kick to the opposition on the nearest line of the penalty area to where the offence happened.
• No card for a deliberate header, unless a player does it persistently and deliberately, which can be a caution.
• An accidental contact of the ball with the head is not an offence; the rule is about deliberate headers.

Deliberate heading is allowed in matches from Under 12 upwards. Rule O doesn't apply to Premier League, EFL, WSL or WSL2 club teams at these ages unless they opt in.

These apply from Under 7 to Under 11 (The FA's Mini-Soccer Handbook 2026/27).

Retreat line

• At a goal kick, the team without the ball must retreat into its own half until the ball is in play (kicked and clearly moves). Then it can press.
• A goal kick can be taken from anywhere in the penalty area, by any player on the team with the ball.

Pass-in or dribble-in (instead of a throw-in)

• Ball stationary on the touchline where it went out; only the kicker may be off the pitch.
• Opponents at least 5 yards away (3 m in 3v3).
• In play when kicked and clearly moving. The taker may touch it again before anyone else.
• No goal directly from a pass-in.

Power Play (only if the league has adopted it; 5v5 and 7v7 only)

• A team 4 goals behind may add one player; at 6 behind, one more.
• When the gap drops back under the trigger, the team removes a player (not necessarily the one who came on).

Other mini-soccer points: no offside; all free kicks direct except for deliberate headers; opponents 5 yards from free kicks and corners; no goal direct from a kick-off or dropped ball; the goalkeeper can't handle a deliberate kick from a team-mate (free kick on the nearest penalty-area line). Explain your decisions so the players learn.

Maximum match lengths from The FA's Standard Code of Rules (2026/27):

• Matches must have equal halves. The clubs can agree a shorter match with you before kick-off.
• Under 8 to Under 11 can be played in halves or quarters, as the league's rules say. Mini-soccer half-time should be no more than 5 minutes.
• In youth football, half-time is set by the league but can't exceed 15 minutes, and can only be changed with your consent.
• Start at the appointed time and report any late start to the league.

Under The FA's Standard Code of Rules (2026/27):

• In youth football (Under 12 and up), substitutes must be named to you before kick-off by the deadline in the league's rules. A player not named can't take part.
• Substitutions in 9v9 and 11v11 follow Law 3: the substitute enters only after the player being replaced has left, at the halfway line, during a stoppage and with your permission.

Appointments and age limits (FA Standard Code of Rules for youth competitions):

• Leagues appoint registered referees. Where no official referee turns up, the clubs agree on one, who has the full powers of a registered referee for that match.
• Nobody under 14 may referee or act as assistant referee in any youth league match.
• Referees aged 14 to 16 can only referee age groups at least one year younger than themselves (a 15-year-old can referee Under 14 and below).
• Nobody under 16 may referee open-age football.
• Match officials must have attended a Respect briefing run by The FA, County FA or the league.
• In mini-soccer, anyone refereeing can apply the Laws of Mini-Soccer even if not qualified, and assistant referees aren't required. Under 7 (3v3) has a facilitator, not a referee.

DBS: The FA lists referees in under-18 football among the roles that need an FA-accepted DBS Enhanced Criminal Record Check with Children's Barred List if aged 16 or over, issued within the last three years.

Sin bins (temporary dismissals) are used throughout grassroots football in England, including youth football: up to Step 5 of the National League System and Tier 3 and below in women's football.

• Offence: dissent by word or action only, at your discretion.
• How: show the yellow card as normal and point to the touchline.
• Duration: 8 minutes in youth football (10 minutes in adult football).
• The player goes to their team's technical area or the touchline with the non-playing staff, and may warm up.
• The player can only come back on at a stoppage. When their time is up, the team can bring on a substitute instead (if it has substitutions left).
• A sin bin counts as a caution for the player's season total and carries the same admin fee.
• A player already sin-binned who commits another cautionable offence gets a second yellow and is sent off, and can't be replaced.
• Substitutes, substituted players and team officials who show dissent get a normal caution, not a sin bin. Goalkeepers can be sin-binned.

There's no limit on how many players can be sin-binned at once. In 11v11, if a team drops below 7 players the match is abandoned.

Misconduct (FA Disciplinary Regulations, 2026/27):

• Submit a report to the relevant County FA within two days of the match (Sundays excluded), covering every caution (including sin bins), every sending-off and any extraordinary incident.
• For sending-offs and extraordinary incidents, assistant referees may also submit reports.
• If you forget to show a card when giving a caution or sending-off, the disciplinary action still stands, but your attention will be drawn to the correct procedure.

Match report to the league (Standard Code of Rules):

• Send the league's report form with the result, the number of players in each team and the kick-off time to the league secretary within two days of the match.
• Report all late starts to the league.

Referee marks: each club marks the referee after every league match, and the league passes a summary to the County FA.

In youth football, County FAs bill caution and sending-off fees through the player's club; players under 18 are not fined by the league.

Coaches and other team officials: under the Laws of the Game you can caution (yellow card) or send off (red card) a team official for irresponsible behaviour. If you can't identify who did it, the senior coach in the technical area gets the sanction. A sent-off official must leave the field of play and its surroundings.

Parents and spectators: cards are only for players, substitutes and team officials, but:

• you can stop, suspend or abandon the match because of outside interference by spectators
• under FA Rules E20 and E21, each club is responsible for making sure its officials, players and spectators (home and away) don't behave in an improper, offensive, threatening, abusive or insulting way, and can be charged if they do
• the County FA investigates incidents you report.

Reporting: report any sent-off team official and any extraordinary incident (including abuse from spectators or an abandonment) to the County FA within two days of the match (Sundays excluded).

The FA's Respect code states that any physical assault on a match official will result in a lengthy or permanent exclusion from football and possibly a criminal prosecution.

The FA's concussion guidelines apply at every level: If in doubt, sit them out.

• A player with a suspected concussion must be immediately removed from play and must not return to activity that day, even if they seem fine.
• Signs include a dazed or vacant look, lying motionless or slow to get up, unsteadiness or poor balance, confusion, clutching the head, loss of consciousness, a seizure, or the player not protecting themselves as they fall.
• Match officials, coaches, team-mates and parents who suspect concussion must do their best to make sure the player is removed and supervised for the next 24 hours.
• Red flags (loss of consciousness, a seizure, worsening headache, repeated vomiting, increasing confusion or drowsiness, severe neck pain) need urgent medical assessment, by ambulance if needed.
• Video footage must not be used to overrule a removal.

Under the Laws of the Game, stop play for a serious injury and make sure the player leaves the field. A concussed player can't return to matches before day 21 under the graduated return-to-play programme.

Minimum players for a youth or mini-soccer league match (FA Standard Code of Rules):

Kit checks

• Shin pads are compulsory and must be fully covered by knee-length socks.
• No jewellery (Law 4).
• Footwear suitable for the surface, with no metal studs on 3G or artificial grass.
• No hoodies in mini-soccer.
• Goalkeepers must wear colours that distinguish them from all other players and the match officials. No player, including the goalkeeper, may wear black or very dark shirts.
• If the two teams' colours are the same or similar in your opinion, the team named in the league's rules must change.

The FA expects referees to allow clothing worn as a requirement of a player's faith.

Under The FA's Standard Code of Rules for youth competitions, the appointed referee decides whether the ground is fit for a league match, and that decision is final. The only exception is when the local authority or the ground's owners have decided the pitch can't be used: their decision must be accepted.

Related points:

• Complaints about the size of the pitch, goals or flag posts are only considered if a protest is lodged with the referee before kick-off.
• Overhead netting is allowed for 3v3, 5v5 and 7v7 only if it is at least 6 m high, and is not allowed for 9v9 and 11v11.
• If overhead wires for divider netting can't be removed, you have discretion to restart play in line with the Laws of the Game when the ball hits them.
• Referees must start matches at the appointed time and report all late starts to the league.