Pre-season

Pre-season football tournaments are great for giving your team a running start in to the new season for winter leagues. Wondered what pre-season means for junior football tournaments? Well, most junior leagues have their season start in September but the official FA season starts in July.  FA rules to qualify for a specific junior age groups change at the end of August. So when I list pre-season tournament in July or August, I use age groups from earlier in the year unless the Tournament Organiser’s listing explicitly says otherwise (and some do). If the tournament is in September then next season’s age groups always apply.

The County FA sanctioning process normally requires a Team Manager entering a pre-season football tournament to get written consent from their own League.