July 09, 2025

Transitioning between game formats with John Folwell | S6 Ep2

34 minutes

Format changes are coming to the grassroots game for the 2026-2027 season, and in this episode, you’ll find out exactly what’s changing and why.

John Folwell, head of grassroots coach development, returns to Coachcast to talk about supporting players as they move between formats – from 3v3 to 5v5 and beyond. He also shares a clear breakdown of the new changes coming next season, and how coaches can start preparing now to make the transition easy for coaches and players.

From adapting to different pitch sizes to helping players understand new rules and roles, transitions between formats can have a big impact on development. This episode gives you the tools to support your players if they're transitioning to a larger format and get ahead of the upcoming format changes well before they come into effect.

In this episode, we cover:

what changes are coming to grassroots football next season
when and how coaches should start preparing for next season
the impact of changing formats on players and how to support them
helping players adapt when moving up formats
why smaller formats still have value, even for older players
rule changes like the removal of throw-ins for smaller games and what they mean in practice
first steps you can take now to implement the changes smoothly
and more...

⁠⁠Transcript on England Football community⁠⁠⁠ - (https://bit.ly/4lifvRx)

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Do you have any coaching questions you’d like answers to? Or perhaps you’re facing a coaching challenge that you’d like help with? Simply head over to our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠England Football Community forum⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (https://community.thefa.com/coaching/f/youth-club-football-forum) and post them there. Or leave them in the comments below. We can then put them to our guests in future episodes to get their advice!

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Editing and show notes by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Claricast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.(https://www.clarioncast.com/)

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By England Football Learning