Affiliation

Affiliation Requirements for the 2023/24 season

The affiliation window opens on Monday 12th June 2023.

To get yourself and your club ready please familiarise yourself with what’s required. All the key information you need regarding affiliation can be found below.

The deadline for affiliation is 12th August 2023. Applications after this date may be levied with a late fee (exemptions apply for university and other further education teams).

Get in Touch

Visit our HELPDESK to find answers to our frequently answered questions, including safeguarding contact details.

If your query cannot be answered, please submit a ticket.

You can also visit the FA Grassroots Technology Forum for help with FA IT systems.

Affiliation will be completed via the Club Portal for the 23/24 season. Download our Affiliation Guide for Season 23/24.

For the benefits of what affiliation and being a member of the Amateur FA, download our benefits guide here.

Affiliation Fees


Clubs will be able to complete affiliation on a per team basis, rather than having to affiliate the whole of the club in one go. This means the process will not be delayed for example, by the need to confirm qualifications for a coach of one particular team.

There are also changes to the way fees clubs are charged to clubs. Under the new model the club fee that was applied to all clubs regardless of size has been removed, with the total now based simply on the number of teams a club has. The table below displays how much each club will be required to pay per team to affiliate for 2023/24 season. There are no separate club fees to pay.

Category of football

Team fee

Open-age 11 v 11

£55.00

Small sided

£25.00

Veterans

£45.00

Walking football

£25.00

Disability

£0.00

How to Prepare For Affiliation

-  Familiarise yourself with using the Club Portal to process your club admin (apart from processing discipline).

-  The FA Grassroots Technology Team held webinars for clubs and leagues which looked at the new process and how to complete affiliation. Watch them here.

-  Create any new teams ready for when affiliation opens.

-  Ensure all outstanding invoices from this season are paid. You will not be able to complete your affiliation without these being paid.

-  Ensure all player suspensions from last season have been assigned fixtures (unless the suspension is carrying over to next season). If you need any help, please click here. We strongly encourage all clubs to access their Club Portal and detach any players that are no longer part of your club.

Requirements For Affiliation 23/34

Safeguarding

Welfare Officer (new requirement!) - Clubs with adult teams require a named ‘Welfare Officer (Adult Teams)’. For the 2023/2024 season, no qualifications are required for this role.
Welfare Officer: Clubs with U18 players - it is mandatory that all adult clubs whereby there is at least one player under the age of 18 registered to play has an appointed Club Welfare Officer who has completed the FA Welfare Officer Course, has an in-date FA DBS and completed the FA Safeguarding Children Course. Please make sure your coach/manager/captain who is responsible for the team(s) that the under 18 players participate within have an in-date FA DBS and have completed the FA Safeguarding Children Course.
Committee Members - Committee members at a club with any under 18 players should complete the free FA Safeguarding for Committee Members online course.
Safeguarding Declaration - Every club will be required to accept a Safeguarding Declaration.
Clubs with adult disability teams - these clubs require a named ‘Welfare Officer (Adult Disability Teams)’. The free FA Safeguarding Adults Course will be required for this role.

Key Officials
Clubs are required to state their key officials. You can find guidance on how to add your key officials here.

Named Manager or Coach
Every team must have a minimum of one Manager or Coach. This can be completed ahead of affiliation through the ‘Officials’ tab. You can find guidance here.

Club Ground 
It is a requirement for clubs to state their main home ground. You can do this ahead of affiliation through the ‘My Club’ tab. You can find guidance on how to complete this here.

Team Ground (new requirement!)
It is a requirement for teams to state their main home ground. You can do this ahead of affiliation through the ‘My Club’ tab. You can find guidance on how to complete this here.

Personal Accident Insurance
All teams are required to have Personal Accident Insurance. You can buy this through us during the affiliation process. Please download the Sportsguard Insurance brochure for more information and the level of cover available.

Public Liability Insurance
All clubs are required to have Public Liability Insurance covering the club for the upcoming year. This must be a minimum of £10 million pounds. You can buy this through us during the affiliation process. Please download the Sportsguard Insurance brochure for more information.

County Cups

Entry to the Amateur FA County Cups should be applied for through the affiliation process. Please note the deadline to sign up to a Men’s County Cup is 28th July 2023.

Applications after this date will not be guaranteed entry. The deadline to enter the Capital Women’s Cup will be communicated separately.

The cost of entering our men’s cup competitions is the same as last year at £26.00 and the Capital Women’s Cup fee is £20.00, we have held this price to be the same as last year.

County Cup round dates can be found HERE.

New Clubs

If you are a new club looking to affiliate for the 23/24 season, please visit our Setting up a Club page on the Amateur FA website.

For further information and guidance on the affiliation process, please click the button below.

fa grassroots technology page

We are here to help. If you have any questions or need some advice, please email affiliation@amateur-fa.com and a member of staff will be happy to assist you.

Useful documents