CLUB RESPONSIBILITIES IN OPEN-AGE ADULT FOOTBALL
NEW MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS FOR AFFILIATION
THERE ARE NEW SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES IN OPEN-AGE ADULT FOOTBALL THAT MUST BE IN PLACE FROM AFFILIATION.
All clubs with open-age adult teams are required to have a named Club Welfare Officer
All eligible Club Welfare Officers (Adult Teams) are required to have an in date and accepted DBS check
All Club Welfare Officers (Adult Teams) are required to have in-date Player Welfare Course qualification at the point of affiliation from 2024/25 season onwards
All open-age team officials of teams with under-18 players (coaches, managers, medics (including assistants) are required to have an in date and accepted DBS
All open-age team officials of teams with under-18 players are required to have in date Player Welfare Course qualification at the point of affiliation from 2024/25 season onward
Make sure you have all the requirements in place. Download the PDF
DID YOU KNOW?
THE LAW AROUND SEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS WITH PLAYERS IN FOOTBALL AND THE PERSON IN THE 'POSITION OF TRUST' CHANGED IN JUNE 2022.
The government has created a new Section 22A of the Act in which they will extend positions of trust offences to include where an adult is coaching, teaching, training, supervising or instructing in sport or a religion to a 16 or 17 year old on a regular basis.
Sport is defined using games in which physical skill is the predominant factor and those which are engaged in for the purpose of competition or display.
The reason for this extension is that adults who regularly coach, teach, train, supervise or instruct a child in sport are particularly influential over a child's development. They have a very high level of trust, influence, responsibility, power and authority and these figures are well established, trusted and respected in the community. As a result, there is a significant power imbalance between the adult and young person - even if the young person may not view the relationship as abusive or exploitative - which would amount to an abuse of the adult's position of trust and leaves the child open to manipulation and grooming.