Affiliation for Lincolnshire clubs will be open as of 5th June 2024, so it's time to get Affiliation ready ahead of the 2024/25 season!

There are some new requirements which are important for our clubs to start preparing for now so you can be ready for the upcoming season. 

Opening from Wednesday 5th June 2024, club affiliation will again be available in Club Portal instead of through the Whole Game System.

Affiliation Requirements For The 2024/25 Season

All Clubs

• Public Liability Insurance – All clubs are required to have Public Liability Insurance covering the club for the upcoming year. This must be for a minimum cover of £10 million pounds.
  
  
• Club Ground – It is a requirement for clubs to state their main home ground. You can do this ahead of affiliation through the ‘My Club’ tab. You can find guidance on how to complete this here.
  
  
• Key Officials – Clubs are required to state their key officials. You can find guidance on how to add your key officials here.
  
  
• Safeguarding Declaration – Every club will be required to accept a Safeguarding Declaration. Where clubs have teams that play across different levels of the game, multiple declarations will need to be accepted (available from 5th June 2024).

Clubs With Adult Team Only

• Personal Accident Insurance – All teams are required to have Personal Accident Insurance, including U5 and U6 teams.
  
  
• Team Ground – It is a requirement for teams to state their main home ground. You can do this ahead of affiliation through the ‘My Club’ tab. You can find guidance on how to complete this here.
  
  
• Named Manager or Coach – Every named official apart from the Team Secretary will need to have completed the Player Welfare Course added as a requirement please click here.  If (and only if) your team has U18s players, all named managers, coaches, first aiders will also be required to complete a DBS. If you do not have your own club organisational pin contact either Ben Pearce (ben.pearce@lincolnshirefa.com) or Stuart Houlton (stuart.houlton@lincolnshirefa.com).
  
  
• Welfare Officer (Adult) - Clubs with adult teams require a named ‘Welfare Officer (Adult Teams)’. For the 2024/2025, it is mandatory to make sure this position has completed the course. To complete the course, please click here. In addition, the Welfare Officer (Adult) will also require a DBS in the event of an U18 being registered.

Clubs With Youth Teams

• Personal Accident Insurance – All teams are required to have Personal Accident Insurance, including U5 and U6 teams.
  
  
• Team Ground – It is a requirement for teams to state their main home ground. You can do this ahead of affiliation through the ‘My Club’ tab. You can find guidance on how to complete this here.
  
  
• Named Manager or Coach – Every youth team must name all managers and coaches assigned to each team. This can be completed ahead of affiliation through the ‘Officials’ tab. All managers and coaches require an in-date, accepted DBS and to have completed the Safeguarding Children Course.  It is not advisable to have coaches across multiple teams to complete affiliation, clubs that do so will be contacted to address.

How Should You Get Ready?

Before starting the affiliation process, all clubs should:

• Familiarise with using the Club Portal to process your club admin (apart from processing discipline).
  
  
• Please check the expiry date of your team officials Safeguarding for Children qualification and renew if they are about to expire. Click here to access the free Safeguarding for Recertification course.
  
  
• Ensure all outstanding invoices from this season are paid. You will not be able to complete your affiliation without these being paid.
  
  
• Ensure all player suspensions from last season have been assigned fixtures (unless the suspension is carrying over to next season). If you need any help, please click here or contact Discipline@LincolnshireFA.com
  
  
• Once you have finished your season, we strongly encourage all clubs to access their Club Portal and detach any players that are no longer part of your club. Any questions or support, please contact Discipline@LincolnshireFA.com and we can help.

For further information on the affiliation changes, please click here.

We are here to help. If you have any questions or need some advice, please email info@lincolnshirefa.com and a member of staff will be happy to assist you.

Club Affiliation Prices for 2024/25

Club Affiliation FAQ's

Do I still go to Whole Game System to complete my club affiliation?

No, you can access your affiliation in our Clubs Portal (Clubs.TheFA.com) in your ‘Teams’ tab.

Are there discounts on my affiliation?

There are no discounts on affiliation for the 2024/25 season, but other funding will be made available throughout the season to support clubs.

How can I pay for my clubs’ affiliation?

You can pay via debit/credit cards direct through Clubs Portal. If you need to pay in any other format, please contact Lincolnshire FA for more information.

When can I start affiliating my club?

Affiliation will be available from the 5th June 2024 on the Club Portal.

Can I only affiliate one team at a time?

No, you can affiliate all your teams at once, or a number of your choice, when your teams are ready to be affiliated.

Can a manager be assigned to more than one team?

Yes, where coaches are across several teams, clubs can reflect this on the portal.

Do I need to register my U5/U6 provision?

Yes, all 'Play Phase' provision should be added to the system with the coaches taking the sessions defined on Club Portal. This allows you to monitor the safeguarding requirements of those running your development sessions.

Can we have two club secretaries?

No, only one person can be given the role of secretary. Multiple assistant secretaries can be added and will have the same functionality as the club secretary. 

Do we still get an affiliation number?

No. As we move to a team-based model working 365 days a year, a club affiliation number would not be sufficient proof for a competition that a team is affiliated. Instead, teams will have an 'affiliation status' which will be visible to clubs, leagues, and County FAs.

Our venue isn't fully confirmed yet, can I change my ground details once a team has affiliated?

Yes, you can change your team grounds at any time.

Can I change league once I've affiliated a team?

Yes, where no players are registered you will be able to change the league. When you change league, the league your leaving, and your County FA, will be automatically notified.

Will my existing youth teams move up an age group automatically or do I have to edit the teams?

Existing youth teams will automatically move up an age group when the new affiliation process opens for you

Do I need to affiliate U5/U6 teams?

If your club currently has U5/U6 teams, these will also need to be affiliated. The FA will be launching a new programme called Play Phase, an initiative specifically designed for clubs who run sessions for players at U5 & U6, with an aim of creating the best possible environments for those children & young people at the beginning of their football journey. All ‘Play Phase’ provision should be added to affiliation with the coaches taking the session also added to the club portal. This is important to ensure your club are kept up to date with the introduction of Play Phase & it’s benefits, and it allows the County FA to ensure safeguarding requirements are adhered to.’

Safeguarding Requirements

Open Age Mandates 2024/25:

There are new Open Age mandates that are going to be in place from the start of next season, which relate to the qualifications of Adult Welfare Officers and Team Officials – when there is a player under the age of 18 registered with that team.

From the start of the 2024/25 season the following must be in place:

• Adult Welfare Officer & All Team Officials have completed the online Player Welfare course on FA Learning

• Adult Welfare Officer & All Team Officials have an in-date FA DBS (this can be ‘in progress’)

Safeguarding Declaration

What is the Safeguarding Declaration?
The Safeguarding Declaration is a statement of intent, a club acknowledges it understands and accepts its safeguarding responsibilities and commits to adhering to these.
 
Do clubs have to sign up to a Safeguarding Declaration?
Yes, it’s a mandatory requirement to affiliate for the 2024/2025 season.
 
How will my club know which Safeguarding Declaration to accept?
The Safeguarding Declaration relevant to the type of football a club wants to affiliate for will be automatically made available via the club portal e.g., Grassroots Youth Football or Barclays Women’s Super League.
 
Are all the Safeguarding Declarations the same?
In principle yes, each Safeguarding Declaration requires a club to acknowledge it understands and accept its safeguarding responsibilities as outlined in the Declaration or relevant League Safeguarding Standard, License or Rules that are explicitly referred to. 
 
Where can I find out more about the club portal?
Head to our Knowledge Base to find out everything you need to know about using the portal.
 
Where can I get more information/support about implementing safeguards at my club?
You can view The FAs safeguarding information – here or contact our Designated Safeguarding Officer, Ben Pearce via Ben.Pearce@lincolnshirefa.com. 

Safeguarding Training Schedule
 
If you are a youth club, please can you complete the Safeguarding Training Schedule [Download Here], for when your club is training through the season. This is to enable us to conduct Safeguarding validations visits throughout the season.  This is a mandatory document for all youth teams to be completed – Once completed, please can you upload this into Clubs Portal, within your dashboard there is a section called “Other Documents”.
 
County Cups

If you are a youth club with teams entering into the Lincolnshire FA County Cups, you will need to complete the Safeguarding Risk Assessment [Download Here] Once completed this will need to be uploaded to your Clubs Portal in “Other documents”. If this is not completed, you will not be able to enter the Lincolnshire FA County Cups.

For guidance on how to enter the County Cup competitions, click here.

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