Start your own club/team

The information in 'What if the club doesn't have a team?' will be useful to read in conjunction with this section. Here though you're starting from scratch, but you'll probably find that other enthusiastic parents will help out from the outset.

What you'll need to do:

Set up your club - download all you need here.

Do the fun bit………decide on a name and the colours you are going to play in!

Contact and register with your local County FA

They will provide guidance if needed
You will be able to find out which league is best for you

Find somewhere that you will be able to train and play your games

Some mini-football leagues play in one central location so this can make the start-up easier
Schools are often happy to rent pitches/facilities

Register with a league

Don't leave it too late. Most leagues will start in early September so the deadline for joining will probably be a good two-three months earlier.

Make sure you budget for all the expenditure

Playing kit
Training equipment
Footballs
Pitch rental (if you are renting it is likely that the goalposts will be there, but you might need to purchase your own goal nets and corner flags).
League Registration Fees and Match Fees
Referee fee for each home game played
First Aid Kit
Think about insurance. You'll almost certainly need public liability insurance.

It might look quite a lot, but it's very easy. As with all start-up situations, the work is front loaded – once it's done (and you'll hopefully have plenty of helpers) it's done.

It will also help to be blessed with a patient attitude! Make sure you try and get the right number of players in your squad. Too many and you'll have difficulty keeping everyone happy (including the parents!), too few and that bug that goes around every now and again may well leave the team depleted on matchday.