A Club will need to affiliate to a parent County Football Association (this is decided by where the home ground is situated i.e. if in Hampshire you will need to affiliate to Hampshire FA and the league it wishes to join.

Please note that it is now mandatory for all Clubs with youth sections to have an appointed Club Welfare Officer. This is also recommended for Adult Clubs with under 18 players. Requirements and further information can be found on the Clubs Safeguarding page.

To affiliate a new club for the 2017/18 season, please fill out the 2017-18 affiliation form (below) and return to Jon Fancy.

Please note all youth clubs must have a CWO who has completed the course through Hampshire FA. For more information on booking on to a CWO course, please contact Safeguarding. In order to play in competitive, sanctioned competitions within Hampshire, clubs need to affiliate to Hampshire FA. New clubs should follow the below steps in order to affiliate to Hampshire FA:

- Contact a league in your area you may wish to play in to see if they can accommodate your team. A list of all leagues in Hampshire and their secretary’s contact details are in the County Handbook which you can view here.

- Once you have confirmation that you can enter a league, you will need to contact Hampshire FA to affiliate to the county. Please contact Jon Fancy for more details.

- Yearly accounts need to be submitted to Hampshire FA by 1st June by post or by email. Posted forms should be addressed to Finance at Hampshire FA, Winklebury Football Complex, Winklebury Way, Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG23 8BF. Emailed forms should be sent to: Finance  - Please do NOT send any payment via post when affiliating.

- Affiliation fees should be paid within 14 days of the date on the invoice. The advantages of playing affiliated football within Hampshire FA are that you will be playing in a safeguarded and insured environment (every club affiliated with Hampshire FA is covered by public liability insurance). All reported misconduct is dealt with by the Hampshire FA Discipline department in accordance with FA Regulations (see the discipline section for more information). Hampshire FA registered referees cannot officiate a game involving un-affiliated clubs.

Please note it is mandatory for ALL CLUBS to take out Club Personal Accident Insurance, as part of The FA's National Game Insurance Scheme. This is offered through Bluefin, who also provide Public Liability Insurance under the Scheme. Please see the documents at the bottom of the page outlining the details of the Policy, along with additional information which can be found in the Guide for Properly Constituted Clubs. For any other affiliation queries, please contact Jon Fancy or 01256 853002.

Clubs must appoint a Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary to enable the club to function effectively within County FA Rules and Regulations. It is also suggested that other people are appointed to assist in other administrative areas of the club.

As a new club it will be important to raise funds to run the club and initially these will probably be from player memberships and subscriptions. It is also advisable to produce a list of costs to run your team which will help you create a budget of income and expenditure for the season. You will be required to send in a copy of your club accounts annually.

It is important that clubs are fully conversant with the rules of each competition that they may wish to enter. All discipline at grassroots is administered by the County Football Association and the Secretary of the club is responsible to ensure that all players are eligible to play. If clubs have any doubts about player eligibility, for example suspensions, they should contact us for details or by calling 01256 853000. For youth teams, it is important to be aware of child protection safeguards and advice is available from our Safeguarding department at Hampshire FA.

It is compulsory for all affiliated clubs in your county to be covered by Public Liability Insurance and Personal Accident Insurance. Details of these can be found with the affiliation information.

See below the Club Action Timetable which covers tasks in pre-season, tasks prior to the day of the game, task on the day of the game, discipline and the club annual general meeting (AGM).

Fixtures are administered by the appropriate competition secretary, who advises clubs of forthcoming matches. If it is a home match, the club secretary must arrange hire of a pitch (unless this is arranged by the league), notify opponents and match officials of kick-off time and location of venue. For away games arrange to inform your own team of venue, kick-off time and arrange for transport of players. All County Football Associations run cup competitions which give an opportunity for teams to play against clubs from different leagues or divisions.

Please make sure you read the relevant rules relating to the league/competition entered to ensure you abide by them. Each league/competition may vary with regard to their requirements. If in doubt contact the league/competition organizers.

Please be aware that the County FA only deal with fixtures relating to their own cup competitions.

If the league does not allocate pitches, apply to your Local Authority, other local teams, Parish council or owner of a private ground to hire a pitch. Please note hire charges will vary.

Purchase suitable equipment prior to the start of your fixtures and ensure you have sufficient equipment for all teams in your club. The necessary equipment will include, playing strip, first aid kit, nets and balls

Ensure you pass on results of your matches to comply with competition regulations. For County Football Association competitions, the results are collected by each League and therefore you will only need to notify your own league. All clubs are recommended to establish good relationships with the local press to publish results, match reports and possibly just interesting stories about their club. Good PR will help raise the profile of your club, bring in new players and may even attract some sponsorship.

- Players: Ensure each team has a squad of at least 14 players or the appropriate number for Mini Soccer/Small Sided teams.

- Affiliation: Complete and forward the appropriate documentation and fees to the County FA and league or other competitions.

- Facilities: Arrange pitch(es) which comply with appropriate league regulations and specifications. It is also prudent to arrange/book training facilities early.

- Meetings: Organise club/team meetings (eg. Weekly Training, Monthly Management Meeting, AGM). Also attend relevant league or County FA meetings when required.

- Registration: Ensure all players are registered with the appropriate league (forms will be available from the league). Up to date photographs may be required.

- Friendly Fixtures: Arrange fixtures with secretaries of other affiliated clubs and notify the County FA for approval.

- Subscription: Set a subscription for players and members to meet your costs for the season. Carry out fund raising (appropriate to the club).

- Delegation: Club Secretaries/Team Managers should seek support from other members to spread the administrative workload where practical.

- Confirm Fixture: E.g. kick-off time, colours, directions to ground, availability of pitch with groundsman, match officials.

- Pitch: Ensure pitch is safe and correctly prepared with nets, flags, markings and access to appropriate changing facilities.

- Match Officials: Ensure match officials have been paid (home team only).

- Refreshments: Provide refreshments where appropriate.

- Medical Bag: Further details can be found on the Pitch Side Medical Bag page

- Results: Ensure the result card is completed and posted to the appropriate league official to arrive by designated time. Please note the competition may require the result to be confirmed by telephoning the appropriate official. Level of detail on result card (e.g. players, goal scorers, substitutions, injuries etc) will be depend on league policy.

- Disciplinary Procedures: This is an ongoing task throughout the season. The secretary and players must complete and return appropriate documentation with fines. A record should be kept of players discipline and ensure any suspended players do not play.

Arrange AGM and/or presentation evening.

A copy of your club accounts must be posted or emailed to the County FA by the 30th September each season.

We recommend advertising for available positions on your club website or your clubs social media pages.

Hampshire FA has a Facebook Noticeboard page that clubs can join. You are able to leave as many posts on the page to support with your club's requirements.

For assistance with finance, income support and affiliation contact Jon Fancy

Information about funding and grant opportunities can be found here.

Alternatively, for direct enquires contact our Facilities department.

To become a Club Welfare Officer you must attend a Welfare Officers Workshop. In order to do this you must have an accepted and up-to-date FA Criminal Records Check and attendance at an FA Safeguarding Children in Football workshop.

For more information please contact our Safeguarding team.

CWO's are used as FACRC (Criminal Records Check) verifiers for their clubs, hence removing the need of club members sending personal documentation through the post. Additionally with the support of the County WO and the League WO they take the lead on educating best practices to their respective Clubs.

For your guidance we have provided the following resources:

The FA Welfare Officer Information Pack 
The CWO Club Safeguarding Checklist 
The Welfare Officer Code of Conduct 

The packs offers information about the role of a welfare officer at both club and league level. This has been developed in conjunction with other county FA's to provide guidance for all welfare officers across the country. This pack will provide information, guidance and ideas on the role of a welfare officer, as well as some practical tips.

The packs offers information about the role of a welfare officer at both club and league level. This has been developed in conjunction with other county FA's to provide guidance for all welfare officers across the country. This pack will provide information, guidance and ideas on the role of a welfare officer, as well as some practical tips.

Each CWO when qualified is notified of the CRC Online system which commenced in July 2011. So far over 330 CWO's have registered their club for this online service (July 2017).

CWO's should contact GB Group who facilitate CRC applications on behalf of The FA by calling 0845 210 8080 or via e mail FAChecks@TheFA.com.

This video will help assist CWO's to register their clubs for the online service this has been designed to assist CWO's to register their clubs for the online service.

Click here for the online site.

A paperwork application now costs £20.00 whereas clubs can save £10.00 per application by using the online service which is clearly cheaper and more efficient.

A number of our CWO's are already involved with the Safeguarding Online system. Please check our safeguarding and welfare page here for all relevant documents and essential links.

It does require the CWO to have an email address. Accessing Member Services as a Club Official will enable the CWO to see who in the club has been CRC’d and who also holds a current Safeguarding Certificate (3-year life).

As a consequence of The FA Safeguarding Commitment which clubs have signed to agree by, it is the club's responsibility to ensure that their records are reflected accurately on the Whole Game System.

Thinkuknow Website: The www.thinkuknow.com website provided by CEOP (Child Protection & Online Protection) is worth a visit if you haven’t already done so. It offers up to date advice and guidance for children and parents on the safe use of the internet. This website has been designed by young people for young people.

The FA/NSPCC 24 hour Helpline number: 0808 800 5000. The FA teamed up with the NSPCC several years ago and contributed financially to the nationally known NSPCC 24-hour Helpline number. Anyone wishing to report a concern about a child or seek advice can phone The FA/NSPCC 24-hour Helpline 0808 800 5000. This number is dealt with by a team of NSPCC trained staff who will inform The FA of concerns they receive relating to football. It also offers a deaf users textphone on 0800 056 0566.

The FA Report Discrimination free phone number and email address: 0800 058 0508 to report allegations of discrimination such as sexist, racist and homophobic abuse as well as abuse in relation to disability. This number is dealt with by FA staff in London although allegations can be passed back to a County FA or other organisation to deal with. There is also an email address: reportdiscrimination@TheFA.com which can be used as an alternative to the phone number.