Remember the rowdy calls from the sidelines during games demanding you get your head on the ball?
Well, that could be a thing of the past, for youth footballers in the UK at least, as the FA is set to introduce new rules that prevent deliberate heading for Under 7’s to Under 11’s.
Here, Family F.C. will answer all your important questions on the matter.
The FA started trials in 2020 and after two successful seasons, they announced their plans to bring the rules into effect for the 2024/2025 season in Under 7’s to Under 9’s competition. They will then move this into Under 10’s in 25-26 and finally Under 11’s in the 2026/2027 season. 1
Building a Style
For a long time in this country, there was a feeling amongst fans that we were behind other nations when it came to developing a modern style of football.
That has slowly changed in the Premier League with managers such as Guardiola and Klopp implementing their ideas influencing how the game is viewed in England. Playing out from the back is now a requirement that filters through even the lower leagues of the football pyramid.
However, when England played Spain in the Euro 2024 final recently, it was still obvious we have some way to go before our players are truly comfortable on the ball when on the biggest stage.
This move aims to encourage younger players to spend more time with the ball at their feet, learning the technical side of the game. Instilling that confidence from an early age will go a long way towards producing the type of player we have craved, a midfielder who can dictate the pace of the game from the centre of the park.
Protection
There has been a lot of media coverage over the past 5 years regarding the links between the heading of a football throughout your career and developing dementia later on in life.
A recent study from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden found that footballers were 50% more likely to develop the disease. 2 This has led to calls from dementia charities to ban heading from football at all youth levels.
While the FA haven’t yet announced any plans to extend the rules beyond Under 11’s, if further research is presented, we could see a very different game in the future.
Deliberate Header Restart:
• Deliberately heading the ball is an offence punishable by an indirect free kick.
• The indirect free kick is taken at the point where the ball was deliberately headed, except:
o Where a player deliberately heads the ball within their own penalty area, the referee will stop the game and restart with an indirect free kick to the opposition from the nearest sideline of the penalty area where the offence took place.
Touchline Restart:
• When the whole of the ball passes over the whole of the touchline, on the ground or in the air, instead of a throw-in, a pass-in/dribble-in is awarded.
• The kicker that takes the pass-in/dribble-in may touch the ball again before it is touched by another player.
• At the moment of delivering the ball:
o The ball must be stationary on the touchline at the point where it left the pitch; only the kicker may be off the pitch.
o All opponents must stand at least five yards from the point on the touchline where the pass-in or /dribble-in is to be taken from.
• A goal cannot be scored directly from a pass-in.
• The ball is in play when it is kicked and clearly moves.
There will be no disciplinary sanctions for a deliberate header unless the offence is repeated, in which case a caution may be issued.
(courtesy of theFA.com)
At Family F.C., our goal is simple. Make learning easy for you and your family and maximise your experience with football.
Our ground-breaking app helps you to teach the basics and develop technical skills without the stress of planning, allowing you to focus on what matters most, enjoying time with your children.
We offer a range of activities in our carefully planned sessions that provide you with the tools to practise keeping the ball on the ground, including dribbling, passing and defending. As the game changes, it’s clear this will be as important as ever for young players, as they transition into youth football.
We’re excited to see the impact these new rules have on the evolution of the English game, and who knows, we may see a member of the Family F.C. team taking the field in a major final one day!
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