All league rules

FAI youth soccer rules: formats, match length and playing time (2026)

The Football Association of Ireland publishes The Football Pathways Plan (2024). Its football pathway chart gives illustrative format ranges to be developed with leagues. The dataset does not establish fixed match lengths, heading restrictions, substitutions or minimum playing time from this source.

How to read this page

These pages use a sourced dataset snapshot. Check document dates for your season; official documents and applicable local competition rules take precedence. “Not specified” means the dataset has no value for that field, so check your local rules.

What are the rules for each age band?

Notes and qualifications

1. 5-7 years old ('Me and My Ball'): The only current fai.ie document found that states formats by age. It gives format ranges per age band (5-7: 2v2 to 5v5; 8-11: 5v5 to 7v7; 12-14: 9v9 to 11v11; 15-16 and 17-19: 11v11) and example pitch/goal sizes (5v5 40m x 25m, 2m x 1.2m goals; 7v7 55m x 35m, 5m x 2m goals), but explicitly says formats are illustrative and will be developed with leagues. No match duration, ball size, heading, substitution or playing-time rule is published on fai.ie. The older FAI 'Player Development Plan' (2015: U8/U9 5v5, U10/U11 7v7, U12 9v9) survives only on club websites, which are not official sources, so it is NOT recorded here. Back to age band
2. 8-11 years old ('Me and My Skills'): See 5-7 row. Example pitch sizes: 5v5 40m x 25m; 7v7 55m x 35m. All other fields unverified from official FAI sources. Back to age band
3. 12-14 years old ('Me and My Team Mates'): Chart text for this band is partly garbled in extraction ('9v9 to 11v11' reconstructed from the chart). 15-16 and 17-19 bands are 11v11 in the same chart. All other fields unverified. Back to age band

What this means for your lineup

These equal-share examples use the recorded on-field count and match length, with 2, 3, 4 or 5 substitutes. For formats with options or a maximum, they use the dataset’s numeric count. Maximum durations remain maxima. Check roster limits in the rules and footnotes; example rosters may exceed them. Alongside the mathematical 50% result, check substitution windows, goalkeeper duties, eligibility conditions and any higher local minimum. Times are rounded to the nearest second.

Build a rotation with the free lineup builder for 7v7, 9v9 and 11v11.

Sources

Quotations below are reproduced verbatim from the dataset.

Corrections welcome: report a correction with an official source.

FAQ