Organising football and 5-a-side

Whether it is a weekly 5-a-side booking or a club side with fixtures, the work is much the same: get enough players, collect the money, pick fair teams and keep everyone up to date. Here is what that involves and how Squadable handles it.

What organising football involves

Casual and small-sided games

Most casual football is 5, 6 or 7-a-side on a pitch booked for an hour at the same time each week. The organiser books the pitch, needs enough players to cover two full teams, and splits the booking cost between whoever plays. For 5-a-side that means ten players, and many organisers take a name or two on reserve because someone always drops out late.

The recurring jobs are the same every week: asking who is in, replacing drop-outs, collecting everyone's share, and splitting the players into two even sides so the game is worth playing.

Club teams

Club football adds fixtures against other teams on top of training. For 11-a-side you need eleven starters plus substitutes, positions matter more, and results and scorers are worth keeping for the season. Match fees often cover pitch hire, referees and kit washing, and parents manage availability for junior players.

Formats

5, 6, 7, 9 and 11-a-side

Session types

Fixture and Training

Formations

20 shapes, 5 to 11-a-side

How Squadable handles football

Weekly games and availability

• Create a recurring group (weekly, fortnightly or monthly) and Squadable creates each session. Change the time, venue, price or maximum players on any single session.
• Players opt in or out from the app, the web or straight from the invite notification. When the session is full, the next people join the waiting list and are promoted automatically when a place opens.
• Add guests who don't have an account. They count towards the numbers and can be put in teams.
• Sessions with a location show the weather forecast, and players get an alert when heavy rain or strong wind is expected.

Match fees

Set a price per player and players pay by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay when they opt in. You receive the full price and players pay a service fee on top. Enter the pitch cost to see each player's contribution and how much has been collected. See how match fees work for the fees and refund rules.

Fair teams

• Auto team selection splits the players who are in, guests included, into balanced teams using each player's skill level, stamina and position preferences. It runs a set number of hours before the session.
• Injured players are left out of auto team selection until they are marked fit.
• Drag players between teams on the pitch view, then share the line-up as an image for WhatsApp or notify everyone that it is ready.

Positions and formations

Players choose preferred positions from goalkeeper, left and right back, centre back, wing backs, defensive, central and attacking midfield, left and right midfield, wingers and centre forward. In simple mode the pitch view groups them as GK, DEF, MID and ATT. In professional mode you drag players onto a position on the pitch.

Fixture sessions have a formation picker. The 11-a-side shapes are 4-4-2, 4-3-3, 3-5-2, 4-2-3-1, 3-4-3, 5-3-2 and 4-5-1. For small-sided games there are shapes such as 2-2 and 1-2-1 for 5-a-side, 2-3-1 and 3-2-1 for 7-a-side and 3-2-3 for 9-a-side.

Fixtures, live matches and stats

• Fixtures have an opponent and a score. Training sessions split your own players into two teams.
• Run a live match over two halves and record goals with assists, yellow and red cards, substitutions and injuries. Members get a push notification for each goal.
• Club statistics include top scorers, top assists, and yellow and red cards.

Set up your game

Squadable is free for organisers and works on the web, iPhone and Android. If you just need teams for tonight, the team picker needs no account.

Create a free account Try the team picker

Football questions