Silent Support Weekend 2024

Our National Silent Support Weekend will be returning once again over the weekend of 2-3 March 2024, to promote good behaviour on touchlines across grassroots youth football.

This year, grassroots football leagues across the country will be invited to take part in the weekend by choosing to run games with the coach voice only, or to run games that are completely silent. You can show your support and sign up here.

The aim of the National Silent Support Weekend is to reduce pressure on youth players at grassroots level and give them a better opportunity and environment to find their own voice, improve their on-pitch communications skills, develop their own game, and most importantly have fun.

So far, 150 leagues have signed up to take part, with 45,382 teams and over 600,000 players, the highest numbers since the first National Silent Support Weekend was introduced last year.

Across the National Silent Support Weekend, we're encouraging spectators to show their support by applauding good play from both teams, but refraining from talking or shouting, with coaches supporting the players as they need to. This is to create an enjoyable, safe and developmental experience for all youth players, so that they can play the game with freedom, without pressure, and without an over-emphasis on winning at all costs.

Our director of football development, James Kendall, said: "The National Silent Support Weekend was a great success last season – and I’m delighted to see that this year we will have a record number of teams across the country taking part

"Players have told us it helped them talk more on the pitch and communicate as a team, which is allowing them to make their own decisions and, most importantly, many of them have found playing this way more enjoyable. This weekend is all about positive behaviours, both on and off the pitch, and we are encouraging even more leagues and clubs to take part this weekend by contacting their local County FA."