Guides › Starting a team

How to start a 5-a-side team

To start a 5-a-side team you need eight to ten players, a regular pitch slot, and one person willing to captain. Get those three right and the rest (kit, a name, a league) can wait.

1. Find your players

Five play at a time, but you want a squad of eight to ten so you still have a game when people are injured, working late or away. Start with the people who already say "we should play five-a-side sometime":

Workmates. Office teams are the easiest to fill, because everyone's in the same place on the same day.
Friends of friends. Ask each player to bring one person.
Parents from school or the kids' club.
Local Facebook groups, Nextdoor and community noticeboards.

Mix abilities if it's a kickabout. If you want to enter a league, you'll need a couple of players who can run for 40 minutes.

2. Book a regular slot

Same night, same time, every week. A regular slot is what turns a one-off game into a team. Most venues let you book a block of weeks, and weeknights from 7pm go first, so book early.

Leisure centres and schools with 3G pitches are often cheaper than the big chains. The chains (Powerleague, Goals and others) have more pitches, changing rooms and leagues on site.

3. Pick a captain

Someone has to book the pitch, count who's in and collect the money. It's the job that makes or breaks a team. Agree who does it, and agree how the money works before the first game: see how to collect money for 5-a-side.

4. Set up a team chat

A group chat is fine for banter. For "who's in Thursday" it gets messy fast. Use one place where players say in or out by a set time, so the captain knows by the day before whether there's a game.

5. Get a name and kit

A name makes it a team. Pick one the squad votes for: here are 90 5-a-side team names to start from. Kit can wait. Two sets of cheap bibs do the job until you join a league, and most leagues only ask for matching colours.

6. Play friendlies, then join a league

Play a few weeks among yourselves or against other teams before committing to a league. When you join one, expect a weekly match fee per team, a set kick-off time and a referee. Ask the league about how long the season runs and what happens if you can't field five.

Before your first game, agree a shape. Our guide to 5-a-side positions and formations explains the common ones.

Checklist

8–10 players who can make the same night
A pitch booked for the next six weeks
A captain, and rules on paying
A way to say in or out by a set time
A name and two sets of bibs

How Rush Goalie helps

In the Rush Goalie app you start a team in a minute, drop the link in the group chat and your mates join the squad. Each week players say if they're in, pay their share of the pitch, and both captains confirm the score. When you're ready, find friendlies against teams nearby or join a league.