Hi Amitrajit - thanks for your question. Hope you are doing well!

There are loads of roles available for you in football apart from reffing or coaching. I’ll try to highlight a few!

Currently I am on placement (from my Uni Degree) at Loughborough Students FC who are a men’s team in non-league football (they play 9 leagues below the men’s premier league). I am the secretary, treasurer and generally run a lot of the football club with support from others.

Loughborough also have a women’s team (Loughborough Lightning) who play in the 4th tier of Women’s football in England and we have volunteers who do the same roles as I do for the men’s team!

As Secretary I register players so they can play, wash and prepare the kit for matchday, complete a teamsheet (a list of all the players playing in the game) book the coach for away travel, communicate with the opposition on what kits we are both wearing and general arrangements (like if we are staying for food after the game) and also coordinate our other volunteers who help with serving teas and coffees and on the PA!

As treasurer, I am involved with preparing the money for the tin on the turnstiles, collecting registration fees from players and I also count up the money at the end of a game.

Sometimes I also take on our social media which I am not always the best at!!

I know I have highlighted a lot there (I do this full time for Loughborough) but a lot of these jobs are split between various volunteers at clubs all across the country.

As young person you are capable and able to do any of these roles.

A secretary for any club, may complete a team sheet or help with buying equipment like bibs or footballs and complete a lot of admin that helps football run. A treasurer may help with any payments made to the club. Often clubs are looking for volunteers to do their media which would involve taking photos, posting on social media or creating cool graphics to post.

You could also volunteer in the grounds team who are looking to have the best quality pitches (grass is more interesting that you think!!) and help with managing facilities so they are all ready for players to play football on and spectators to watch!

You could also volunteer as part of your clubs’ committee and look to encourage youth voice in the running of your club or develop the standard of coaching at the club. Looking to develop others at your club can be really rewarding!

This link here: https://find.englandfootball.com/onboarding/volunteer?_ga=2.263362121.419305599.1711641900-734258872.1711535919 will take you to the part of the England Football Site where you can look for clubs near you and then contact them directly to see what volunteer opportunities are available.

Or you could contact your local County FA to see if they know of any opportunities available. If you need any help with this then please ask on here - someone will be able to help!

Hope you found this informative and I didn’t ramble on for too long! Just remember as a young person you can do any role in a football club!

All the best,

Joel

Hi Amitrajit,

From my point of view, I would try get yourself involved into a local club on a placement/work internship.

I am currently finishing off my placement with Barnsley FC within their Shadow Scholarship Programme as a Performance Analyst. This placement opened my eyes up to the opportunities within football which weren't the previous experiences of coaching and refereeing.

What level of education or employment are you in? Is there an opportunity for you to do something along the lines of a placement or try to get involved within a club in another way?

Hope this helps and would love to see how your journey goes!

Hi Amitrajit,

Thanks so much for your question. I know it can be really daunting making your first step in the game outside of playing. I never grew up playing so was never attached to a club. I would recommend that if you are currently playing go to someone at your club to see if you could start getting involved with maybe the admin in the office, or with photography or social media (I know a lot of grassroots players especially appreciate this as they love to share it on their own social media). You could also start a free blog and start writing match reports for either games on TV or your local grassroots club - if they're good they may even let you put them in a match day programme! 

I hope some of this helps and feel free to reach out if you have any further questions about any of these.