Pitch Size in Junior & Youth Football Soccer
20th September 2010

The change from playing mini-soccer to full 11-a-side football is a big one, not only for the number of players in the team but also in the size of the pitch itself.

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Moving from a small pitch with small goals to a much larger pitch with big wide goals can be daunting for the junior footballer, and can take some time to get used too. Not only does the player have to cope with a new formation and position in the team, they also have to come to terms with the much increased size of the playing area.

Where this is an advantage to some, it can have a negative effect on many young players, especially goal-keepers, having to cope with the huge size of the goals compared with the smaller goals used in mini-soccer.  

Usually young players move up and find the pitch used for 10 and 11 year old boys is the same pitch played on by men, with dimensions to suit adult football. However  by the time the players reach 13, they are starting to out-grow of the intermediate pitches and require a larger pitch with more space.

There are some guidelines laid out to help junior teams to provide appropriate size pitches and goals.  

Pitch sizes used by Keelby United

Team Age	Pitch Length	Pitch Width	No. Players	Goal Height	Goal Width
U7/8	50	30	7 v 7	6ft	12ft
U9/10	60	40	7 v 7	6ft	12ft
U11/12	90	60	7 v 7	7ft	7yds
U13/14	105	70	11 v 11	8ft	8yds
Adult	105	70	11 v 11	8ft	8yds
Girls 7v7	60	40	7 v 7	6ft	12ft
Girls 9v9  U14	90	60	9 v 9	7ft	7yds

Junior Pitch Sizes

Team Age	Max Length	Min Length	Max Width	Min Width	No. of Players	Goal Height	Goal Width
5-a-side	45		25		5 v 5	6ft	8ft
Futsal	45	24	34	18	5 v 5	6ft 6"	10ft
U7/8	50	30	30	20	7 v 7	6ft	12ft
U9/10	60	50	40	30	7 v 7	6ft	12ft
U11/12	90	75	55	45	11 v 11	7ft	7yds
U11/12	85	70	55	45	9 v 9	7ft	16ft
U13/14	100	80	60	50	11 v 11	7ft	7yds
U15/16	110	90	70	50	11 v 11	8ft	8yds
Adult	130	100	100	50	11 v 11	8ft	8yds

 

FA Recommended pitch and ball sizes from 2013/2014

Age	Format	Ball Size	Pitch Size (yards)	Goal Size (feet)
U7	5 v 5	3	30x20 to 40x30	12 x 6
U8	5 v 5	3	30x20 to 40x30	12 x 6
U9	7 v 7	3	50x30 to 60x40	12 x 6
U10	7 v 7	4	50x30 to 60x40	12 x 6
U11	7 v 7  (Primary Sch.)	4	50x30 to 60x40	12 x 6
U11	9 v 9	4	70x40 to 80x50	16 x 7 to 21 x 7
U12	9 v 9	4	70x40 to 80x50	16 x 7 to 21 x 7
U13	9 v 9 or 11 v 11	4	90x50 to 100x60	21 x 7 to 24 x 8
U14	9 v 9 or 11 v 11	4	90x50 to 100x60	21 x 7 to 24 x 8
U15	9 v 9 or 11 v 11	5	90x50 to 110x70	24 x 8
U16	9 v 9 or 11 v 11	5	90x50 to 110x70	24 x 8
U17	11 v 11	5	90x50 to 110x70	24 x 8
U18	11 v 11	5	90x50 to 110x70	24 x 8

 

For mini-soccer (7v7) the Penalty Area should be 10 yards long, (out from the goal line), and 18 yards wide, with the Penalty mark being 8 yards from the goal line.

Unfortunately there are few intermediate size pitches available to junior football teams, and because of this many of our young teams have to play their games on full sized adult pitches, some of which are larger than the average premier league pitches.

Minimum and maximum pitch lengths and widths vary from region to region and within the associations, and it is important to keep to the rules laid down by the local leagues.

Summer tournaments can be difficult to gauge, because often all age groups will play on the same size pitches, with teams from under 8s to under 13s using the same pitch. In these circumstances you must make the pitch big enough for the larger age group to use comfortably. A suggested size would be between 40-60 yards x 20-40 yards depending on the number of players and their ages.

One additional point to consider when thinking of the space needed when marking out a pitch, is having enough space to put a respect line down the edge of the touch lines. A respect line should be at least one yard in from the touch line, and is there to encourage spectators to keep off the pitch itself.

 

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