Updated measures introduced to improve behaviours in grassroots football

These interventions, introduced for the 2025-26 season, are aimed at driving a positive culture across grassroots football and act as a clear deterrent against unacceptable behaviours. They also form part of the ‘Love Football. Protect The Game’ campaign to introduce enhanced measures and tougher sanctions so that everyone can enjoy the game in a positive and enjoyable environment.

Key updates for the 2025-26 season include: 

Captains Only protocol

A Captains Only protocol is being introduced across all levels of English football. This will mean that only the team captain can approach a match official to discuss a decision after it has been made (unless the team captain is the goalkeeper, in which case a nominated outfield player will play this role). A ‘captain-only zone’ has been introduced which extends four metres around the referee, and only the captain can enter this space. Other players are not permitted to enter this space and would receive a caution for dissent if they do. This new protocol is intended to reduce wider incidents of dissent and intimidation of match officials.

Cooling off periods

The introduction of ‘cooling off periods’ will be trialled across selected grassroots leagues as a tool to help prevent escalation during heated moments in a match. If the referee feels the game is getting too heated or unsafe, they can pause play and send all players to their penalty areas. If this happens, captains and coaches will be required to meet with the referee in the centre circle to discuss the issue and help calm their teams. Other players must stay in their penalty areas during the break, and anyone who leaves without permission would receive a yellow card. After a short timeout, based on the seriousness of the situation and conditions, the referee will restart the match.

Bodycams

In 2023, we became the first football association to introduce the trial of bodycams for grassroots referees, which were used in over 4,000 matches across eight leagues last season. In these matches, the bodycams were activated a total of 6 times in response to situations where the referee felt it was necessary, and used as a visible deterrent when required.

The impact of the expanded bodycam trial is being assessed and feedback is being collated from participants, match officials, and leagues to help shape the next phase of the pilot and any decisions regarding future implementation. As part of this, for the 2025-26 season, bodycams will be used in certain leagues targeted as a result of discipline records.

Under-18 Referee Armbands

Starting this season, all youth referees (those under the age of 18) will have the option to wear a yellow armband, which signifies they are not an adult. This will add further protection to our U18 referees, serving as a visual notice to players, coaches, and spectators to treat them with an extra level of respect and patience. These armbands will be distributed to all U18 referees via their respective County FAs, and while not mandatory, we are encouraging those eligible to wear them.

Penalty points accumulations to continue

Penalty points will continue to be attributed to teams for offences that are behaviour-based, such as violent conduct, dissent, or threatening behaviour. When a threshold of accumulated penalty points is reached, bespoke support will be provided to the club, and they will be asked to evidence steps that are being taken to tackle their poor behaviour. Ultimately, ongoing accumulation of penalty points can lead to removal of England Football Accreditation or even the removal of a team from a competition. Last season, 20 teams either had their affiliation immediately removed or affiliation for 2025-26 was made subject to the CFA agreeing an action plan with them ahead of the start of the season. 

Continued league points deductions

Following on from the introduction of league points deductions in grassroots football in 2023, we are committed to tackling repeat offenders and points deductions can be applied to clubs where there are repeated incidents of serious misconduct, for example, discriminatory abuse from spectators. 

Grassroots Code of Conduct

We will continue to embed the Respect Standard, supported by Codes of Conduct, which was launched prior to the 2024-25 season, clearly setting out expectations of behaviours in the grassroots game: Enjoy the Game; Give Respect; Be Inclusive; Work Together; and Play Safe.

Rewarding Positive Behaviour

Our County FAs are running a wide range of initiatives to recognise and reward examples of positive behaviour from their local clubs; with these initiatives including discounts on affiliation fees and local awards.

Mandatory minimum fine

A key part of our work is the continued focus on addressing the most serious of cases. These include offences aggravated by reference to a protected characteristic, threats, physical contact or assaults on match officials and player-on-player assaults. Whilst these offences only occur in 0.2 per cent of all grassroots football annually, we know the serious impact these incidents have on those within the game.

A mandatory minimum fine of £75 will be introduced for individual misconduct charges and a mandatory recommended entry point of between £100 and £200 depending on the level of football for club misconduct charges where there is a protected characteristic involved. This includes cases of discrimination against race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and disability. 

Behaviour Improvement Programme

Our Behaviour Improvement Programme will run again this year following its success in the 2024-25 season. The programme uses discipline and respect score data to monitor clubs for poor conduct, including dissent, abuse of referees or players, and serious misconduct. Clubs accumulate penalty points for repeated incidents and receive respect scores from opponents, creating a league table that identifies both the worst offenders and consistently well-behaved teams. We are continuing the programme this season, which sees County FAs working directly with clubs identified to improve repetitive poor behaviour.

The FA’s Director of Football Development, James Kendall said: “Tackling poor behaviour at all levels of grassroots football is of paramount importance to us. We are committed to creating safe, respectful, and inclusive environments for players, match officials, spectators, coaches, and all others involved in the game, and we’re clear on our position that all forms of unacceptable behaviour, whether on or off the pitch, have no place in football.

“We’ve made good progress on addressing these issues, but we recognise there is still more to be done, and we need to constantly adapt, develop and evolve our procedures in line with changes in the game to create positive environments and tackle misconduct. We’re continuing to take important steps to achieve this, and our new set of updated measures are designed to further support a culture of respect, accountability, and enjoyment across the grassroots game.”