From 1st June 2012, affiliated football clubs will no longer be required to obtain sanction for friendly matches from the County FA. This means that clubs do not need to contact the County FA to inform us of friendly fixtures but clubs should still ensure that the team they are playing against is affiliated to a County FA. Please ensure that your team and opposition are properly affiliated to their parent County Association. Unaffiliated teams will not be covered by public liability insurance and as such any insurance claims will be deemed invalid.
However, it is important that you only enter sanctioned competitions, particularly for governance and insurance purposes.
Rule 4(a) of The Football Association states that, ‘Clubs, players and officials subject to the jurisdiction of The Football Association or an affiliated Association shall not be associated with or play with or against any Club which is not a Member of The Association or an affiliated Association.’ The Club agrees to ensure that all competitions the Club or its members compete in are sanctioned by the appropriate Association.
Alternatively, if you are the organiser of a competition, you are required to apply for sanctioning by the Association at least fourteen days prior to the start date of the competition.