Competition Sanctions
Hosting A Tournament?
All tournaments, festivals, friendlies and competitions must be sanctioned. This includes summer tournaments, mid-week competitions and charity games.
It is important to recognise that an unaffiliated tournament, friendly or competition renders a club’s insurance invalid, with participating teams and referees at risk of not being covered by their existing public liability or personal accident cover. Unaffiliated competitions are also not governed by the Sheffield & Hallamshire County FA's disciplinary process which means players, coaches and referees are potentially at risk.
To ensure that you do not void your team's insurance, or enter a tournament where the coaches have not been checked for a DBS, your tournament must be sanctioned by your local County FA. Registered Match Officials are only permitted to officiate in sanctioned tournaments.
- Permitted to use registered referees (registered referees are not permitted to officiate in un-affiliated football)
- Coverage under club public liability insurance
- County FA approval of rules
- Promotion of your tournament via our website
- Ensure that the tournament meets club / Sheffield FA safeguarding requirements
In order to sanction your tournament, we will need:
- A completed tournament sanctioning form - download HERE
- A copy of your competition rules
- A competition sanction fee - £50 (11v11 or 9v9) or £25 (7v7 or 5v5)
All of this information must be sent at least 28 days before your event. This allows us time to process your form and discuss any issues with the tournament rules.
Your sanction form and competition rules will be verified by a relevant staff member. Once we are satisfied, you will be issued with a sanction fee via the Whole Game System. Once this is paid you will receive a confirmation email that your competition is sanctioned and we will upload these details to our website.
Please note: Tournaments, friendlies or competitions involving children aged under 6 will not be sanctioned.
Get in touch
If you have any questions about competition sanctioning, please get in touch.
Sanctioned Competitions 2023-24
Carcroft Spartans Summer Tournament - Carcroft Spartans, Lodge road, Carcroft DN6 8AP - 09/06/24
Armthorpe Welfare JFC Tournament 2024 - Shaw Wood Field, Mere Lane, Armthorpe, Doncaster, DN3 2DG - 08/06/24
SESKU Miners FC Tournament - Frickley Country Park 3G Pitches, South Elmsall, Pontefract WF9 2EL - 20/7/24
Askern Miners U9 Summer league 2024 - The Welfare Ground, Askern Manor Way, Askern, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, DN6 0AJ - 26/05/2024
Barnsley FC Community Trust Football For Good League - Oakwell Stadium, Grove Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire S71 1ET - 13/03/2024
Vitruvian Consultants Summer League 2024 - Varies – Doncaster - 28/04/2024
Bramley Sunnyside JFC - Heidi’s Cup - Thurcroft Hub, New Orchard Lane, Thurcroft, S66 9AE - 11/05/2024
Download The FA's Tournament Guide
The following guidelines are intended to help you organise a successful festival or tournament that will run effectively and efficiently.