Grassroots football session planner
Eight turned up, not fourteen. Tonight still works.
Tell it the age group, who came and the space you have, or say it in your own words. You get a session sized to them, with diagrams.
A free session every week for your first two weeks, then one free session and three free drills a month, with no card. Or unlimited with Pro for £4.99 a month.
Keep the ball
U9 · 6 players7 players8 players9 players10 players11 players12 players · 12 min
Set up 1 of these
Set up
Mark two 10 x 10 m squares, 3 m apart, with a cone on each corner. 3 reds on the outside of each square and 1 blue defender in the middle, one ball per square.
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See setup and coaching cues
Keep the ball while someone is trying to take it.
Set up
Mark a 12 x 12 m square with a cone on each corner. 4 reds on the outside of each square and 2 blue defenders in the middle, one ball per square.
Who goes where
- Reds: 4 in red bibs, in the square.
- Blues: 2 in blue bibs, in the square.
- The red who loses it swaps with the blue who won it.
How to play
- The reds pass it round the square to keep it away from the blues.
- When a blue wins it, the red who lost it swaps into the middle.
Coaching points
Say this to start
Keep it away from the blues in the middle. Pass it, then move so you can get it back.
Say while it runs
-
Show me your best first touch.
Praise it when the ball settles in front of them, not under their feet
-
Move as soon as you have passed it.
Praise it when nobody standing still admiring the pass they just made
Ask at the drink Which way did the defender show you?
Five minutes in
- Too easy
Two touches each.
- Too hard
-
Make the square bigger.
Keep the ball while someone is trying to take it.
Set up
Mark a 14 x 14 m square with a cone on each corner. 5 reds on the outside of each square and 2 blue defenders in the middle, one ball per square.
Who goes where
- Reds: 5 in red bibs, in the square.
- Blues: 2 in blue bibs, in the square.
- The red who loses it swaps with the blue who won it.
How to play
- The reds pass it round the square to keep it away from the blues.
- When a blue wins it, the red who lost it swaps into the middle.
Coaching points
Say this to start
Keep it away from the blues in the middle. Pass it, then move so you can get it back.
Say while it runs
-
Show me your best first touch.
Praise it when the ball settles in front of them, not under their feet
-
Move as soon as you have passed it.
Praise it when nobody standing still admiring the pass they just made
Ask at the drink Which way did the defender show you?
Five minutes in
- Too easy
Two touches each.
- Too hard
-
Make the square bigger.
Keep the ball while someone is trying to take it.
Set up
Mark two 10 x 10 m squares, 3 m apart, with a cone on each corner. 3 reds on the outside of each square and 1 blue defender in the middle, one ball per square.
Who goes where
- Reds: 3 in red bibs, in the square.
- Blues: 1 in blue bibs, in the square.
- The red who loses it swaps with the blue who won it.
How to play
- The reds pass it round the square to keep it away from the blues.
- When a blue wins it, the red who lost it swaps into the middle.
Coaching points
Say this to start
Keep it away from the blues in the middle. Pass it, then move so you can get it back.
Say while it runs
-
Show me your best first touch.
Praise it when the ball settles in front of them, not under their feet
-
Move as soon as you have passed it.
Praise it when nobody standing still admiring the pass they just made
Ask at the drink Which way did the defender show you?
Five minutes in
- Too easy
Two touches each.
- Too hard
-
Make the square bigger.
Keep the ball while someone is trying to take it.
Set up
Mark a 16 x 16 m square with a cone on each corner. 6 reds on the outside of each square and 3 blue defenders in the middle, one ball per square.
Who goes where
- Reds: 6 in red bibs, in the square.
- Blues: 3 in blue bibs, in the square.
- The red who loses it swaps with the blue who won it.
How to play
- The reds pass it round the square to keep it away from the blues.
- When a blue wins it, the red who lost it swaps into the middle.
Coaching points
Say this to start
Keep it away from the blues in the middle. Pass it, then move so you can get it back.
Say while it runs
-
Show me your best first touch.
Praise it when the ball settles in front of them, not under their feet
-
Move as soon as you have passed it.
Praise it when nobody standing still admiring the pass they just made
Ask at the drink Which way did the defender show you?
Five minutes in
- Too easy
Two touches each.
- Too hard
-
Make the square bigger.
Keep the ball while someone is trying to take it.
Set up
Mark two 12 x 12 m squares, 3 m apart, with a cone on each corner. 4 reds on the outside of each square and 1 blue defender in the middle, one ball per square.
Who goes where
- Reds: 4 in red bibs, in the square.
- Blues: 1 in blue bibs, in the square.
- The red who loses it swaps with the blue who won it.
How to play
- The reds pass it round the square to keep it away from the blues.
- When a blue wins it, the red who lost it swaps into the middle.
Coaching points
Say this to start
Keep it away from the blues in the middle. Pass it, then move so you can get it back.
Say while it runs
-
Show me your best first touch.
Praise it when the ball settles in front of them, not under their feet
-
Move as soon as you have passed it.
Praise it when nobody standing still admiring the pass they just made
Ask at the drink Which way did the defender show you?
Five minutes in
- Too easy
Two touches each.
- Too hard
-
Make the square bigger.
Keep the ball while someone is trying to take it.
Set up
Mark a 20 x 20 m square with a cone on each corner. 8 reds on the outside of each square and 3 blue defenders in the middle, one ball per square.
Who goes where
- Reds: 8 in red bibs, in the square.
- Blues: 3 in blue bibs, in the square.
- The red who loses it swaps with the blue who won it.
How to play
- The reds pass it round the square to keep it away from the blues.
- When a blue wins it, the red who lost it swaps into the middle.
Coaching points
Say this to start
Keep it away from the blues in the middle. Pass it, then move so you can get it back.
Say while it runs
-
Show me your best first touch.
Praise it when the ball settles in front of them, not under their feet
-
Move as soon as you have passed it.
Praise it when nobody standing still admiring the pass they just made
Ask at the drink Which way did the defender show you?
Five minutes in
- Too easy
Two touches each.
- Too hard
-
Make the square bigger.
Keep the ball while someone is trying to take it.
Set up
Mark two 12 x 12 m squares, 3 m apart, with a cone on each corner. 4 reds on the outside of each square and 2 blue defenders in the middle, one ball per square.
Who goes where
- Reds: 4 in red bibs, in the square.
- Blues: 2 in blue bibs, in the square.
- The red who loses it swaps with the blue who won it.
How to play
- The reds pass it round the square to keep it away from the blues.
- When a blue wins it, the red who lost it swaps into the middle.
Coaching points
Say this to start
Keep it away from the blues in the middle. Pass it, then move so you can get it back.
Say while it runs
-
Show me your best first touch.
Praise it when the ball settles in front of them, not under their feet
-
Move as soon as you have passed it.
Praise it when nobody standing still admiring the pass they just made
Ask at the drink Which way did the defender show you?
Five minutes in
- Too easy
Two touches each.
- Too hard
-
Make the square bigger.
Choose the aim, then add tonight's group.
-
Choose what players should learn
Passing, communication or finishing. Or tell it about tonight in a sentence, the way you would tell another coach.
-
Add the group in front of you
Age group, numbers, coaches, time, space and equipment. The plan has to fit that group.
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Run it from your phone
Open the session beside the pitch. Replace an activity, change who turned up, or rebuild.
Free team sheet
Saturday, sorted.
Everyone gets a fair go, the parents get a link, and you can change it on the grass.
- Save your squad once. Each week, tick who is coming.
- Your teams, or split for you. Everyone plays every game, and it tells you how many pitches to set out.
- Fair minutes, keepers in turn. It lists who comes on and off each period, and copes when someone pulls out.
No account needed. Free, always.
- Period 1 On Ava, Ben, Cal, Dev, Eli Ava goes in goal
- Period 2 On Fin, Gus, Isla Off Cal, Dev, Eli Fin goes in goal
- Period 3 On Cal, Dev, Eli Off Isla, Ava, Ben Cal goes in goal
- Period 4 On Isla, Ava, Ben Off Eli, Fin, Gus Isla goes in goal
One to three players
1-to-1s, and your own child in the garden.
Say what each player needs, or pick one aim like passing. You play in, and the plan tells you how hard to try.
- Built around the player. A weaker left foot, looking up before the ball arrives, braver in the tackle. In your words.
- You are in the drill. Feeder, keeper or defender, from walking pace to a real contest as they grow into it.
- Pro remembers them. Save the players you coach every week, and their notes are there next time.
Core practice · 8 min
Steal it at the gate
You: attacker, half pace
For player 1: winning it back feels safe before it feels real.
For the session you actually have.
- It fits mixed ability, short numbers, and a half-pitch with cones. See what we check.
- Diagrams redraw from your numbers, so words and pictures stay aligned.
- No child profiles: at most a first name and one note you write. Plans belong to the coach.
Heading, format and ratio rules follow FA guidance for the exact age. No FA or UEFA affiliation, and not a qualification. What we check and what we don't claim.
A session planner sized to tonight's numbers.
Bibs On sizes a plan to the group in front of you, with diagrams that match the words.
| Need | Bibs On | A chatbot | A drill library |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fits who actually turned up | Yes: counts redraw the diagram | Provide the current numbers and review the result | A template for an ideal squad |
| Diagrams that match the words | Drawn from the same plan as the words | Image generation is available; review the diagram | A picture of their session |
| FA age checks | Heading, format, ratios for the year | Whatever it happens to include | Age-banded content; not tonight's check |
| Run it beside the pitch | Phone-first, one activity at a time | A paragraph in a chat | Print or watch, then adapt |
Will this work for a volunteer coach?
- What is Bibs On?
- A session planner for grassroots football, U5 to U16. Tonight's aim and the group in front of you go in; a runnable plan comes out, with diagrams that match the words and checks against FA guidance for that year.
- Who is Bibs On for?
- Volunteer grassroots coaches in the UK, usually a parent or assistant who plans one or two sessions a week. It is built for ordinary numbers, a half-pitch, and limited time before training.
- Can I plan a 1-to-1 session, or train my own child?
- Yes, on every plan. Choose one to three players and say what each one needs, like a weaker left foot or being braver in the tackle, or pick one aim such as passing for all of them. You play in: each activity says whether you feed, keep goal or defend, and how hard to try. With Pro you can save the players you coach every week, with their notes.
- What ages does Bibs On cover?
- U5 to U16 at launch. Heading limits, small-sided format ceilings and adult-to-child ratio reminders follow FA guidance for the exact year group. The product does not claim FA or UEFA affiliation or approval.
- How much does Bibs On cost?
- Free gives you a free session every week for your first two weeks after signup, then 1 new session and 3 drills a month; the monthly drill allowance applies throughout. Sign up with an email address; no card. Pro is £4.99 a month or £39.99 a year for unlimited planning, PDF export and saved players for 1-to-1 coaching. Clubs pay once a season for their coaches' seats, so coaches never put in a card.
Plan tonight's session.
Tell it who turned up and get a plan you can run. A free session every week for your first two weeks, no card.
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