AFFILIATION for Suffolk clubs will be open from June 12th 2023.

Club affiliation will be available in Club Portal instead of through the Whole Game System. 

All Clubs

• Public Liability Insurance – All clubs are required to have Public Liability Insurance covering the club for the upcoming year. This must be a minimum of £10million 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.

Clubs With Adult Teams Only

• Personal Accident Insurance – All teams are required to have Personal Accident Insurance.

• Team Ground (NEW) – 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 team must have a minimum of one Manager or Coach. This can be completed ahead of affiliation through the ‘Officials’ tab. You can find guidance here.

• Welfare Officer (NEW) - Clubs with adult teams require a named ‘Welfare Officer (Adult Teams)’. For the 2023/2024 season, no qualifications are required for this role.

Clubs With Youth Teams

• Personal Accident Insurance – All teams are required to have Personal Accident Insurance, including U5 and U6 teams.

• Team Ground (NEW) – 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. 

• Safeguarding Children Course (NEW) - All managers and coaches require an in-date, accepted DBS & to have completed the Safeguarding Children Course. The FA is offering a 50% reduction for their coaches taking the Safeguarding Children Course bringing the cost down to £15 during the months of May, June, and July. You can find guidance here.

Open Age Disability Teams

All Clubs with Open-Age Disability teams must: name a Club Welfare Officer (Disability Teams) who has completed The FA’s free Safeguarding Adults Course as part of the 2023-24 affiliation process. 

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).

• 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@SuffolkFA.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 info@SuffolkFA.com and we can help.

For further information on the affiliation changes, including the Affiliation 2023 Webinar Recording, please click the button below.

CLICK HERE