HOW TO HIRE · LESSONS & TUTORING · CHECKED OCTOBER 2026
How to hire a football coach in the UK
The checks, the questions and the paperwork.
No register lists football coaches. Here is the vetting to ask for, the qualification and insurance to check, and the terms to agree.
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THE 60-SECOND VERSION
Hiring a football coach in five steps
- Say what the sessions are forBall skills, confidence, goalkeeping or a trial — and the player's age. A football coach plans each differently.
- See the check before the first football sessionEnhanced DBS, PVG or AccessNI depending on where you live. A parent cannot apply for it; a football coach can show it in a minute.
- Ask who they coach nowAges, levels and how many regular clients — and the coaching award a football coach holds. Being good at football is not the same as coaching it.
- Try one session before a blockA first football session should end with a clear idea of where you are and what comes next. If it does not, try another football coach.
- Agree the terms in writingWhat happens when a pitch is waterlogged, pitch hire, and the block refund rule — in writing before the first payment. A message on Locufy counts.
BEFORE YOU BOOK
Check before you book
No register applies
None of the four UK nations licenses or registers football coaches; anyone may coach football on a park pitch or in a hired hall. A coaching award is something to ask about and verify with the body that gave it.
Ask which body awarded the football coach's qualification, and check with that body.
Vetting for lessons with a child
Regulated activity in England and Wales starts when someone teaches or instructs a child on more than three days in a 30-day spell, or overnight; a football coach teaching at a weekly session passes that easily, so the enhanced DBS check with the children's barred list is the one to ask for. Since 1 September 2026, being supervised by someone else no longer takes a football coach out of that rule. Scotland's system is the PVG scheme — mygov.scot lists tutors and instructors engaged by a parent among the roles to check — and Northern Ireland's is an enhanced AccessNI check with the children's barred list, which a self-employed football coach gets through an Umbrella Body.
Ask a football coach to show you the certificate before the first football session, and write down its date — there is no official expiry. PVG proof in Scotland; the AccessNI certificate from their nidirect account in Northern Ireland. gov.uk →
Coaching qualification
A coaching qualification is not a licence, and no statutory register lists football coaches, so the coach's own certificate and the body that awarded it are the evidence. A goalkeeping or youth award matters if that is what you are booking.
Ask the football coach for the award, the year and the awarding association, and check it with that association.
Safety cover: first aid and insurance
A self-employed football coach has no legal duty under the 1981 first-aid Regulations to give first aid to clients; HSE strongly recommends planning for it anyway. Public liability insurance pays if someone is hurt on a park pitch or in a hired hall; it is a norm, not a legal requirement.
Ask who insures the football coach, until when, and when they last renewed their first-aid certificate. hse.gov.uk →
VAT
HMRC treats this coaching as exempt only when a football coach gives it personally as a sole trader or partner in a subject ordinarily taught in schools; coaching sold by a limited company or by its employed coaches is standard-rated. A tutor working alone under the £90,000 registration threshold does not charge VAT and has no VAT number to give.
Ask whether the football coach invoices you personally or through an academy company; a sole trader under £90,000 adds no VAT. gov.uk →
A good answer: A straight yes. A football coach who works with children on a park pitch or in a hired hall expects to be asked.
A good answer: Mostly ball work and small games, with short demonstrations — not long queues or laps. For under-nines, fun first.
A good answer: A named pitch, park or hall, who pays the hire, and what happens if it is waterlogged.
A good answer: A first-aid kit on the touchline, a current first-aid certificate, and a call to you straight away. Public liability insurance named.
A good answer: Yes. A football coach working with children should be happy to be watched.
A good answer: Specific feedback every few weeks — weaker foot, first touch, decision-making — not just "doing great".
A good answer: Something specific — for example 24 or 48 hours' notice — and the same rule applied to the football coach's own cancellations.
Booking by the hour
- The rate per hour or per session, and whether evenings or weekend mornings cost more
- The minimum booking — a one-hour session or a block — and whether a session cut short by weather is charged in full
- What each side brings: balls, cones and goals from the coach; boots, shin pads and water from the player; who pays pitch hire
- The focus agreed before the first hour: first touch, finishing, goalkeeping, a trial
- ID checked and the rating, vetting for a child, first aid, and public liability insurance
Walk away if
- They brush off the DBS, PVG or AccessNI question for football sessions with your child
- No insurance, or a football coach who cannot name the insurer
- They offer injury treatment as a physiotherapist but are not on the HCPC Register
- Guaranteed academy trials or scouts "in the stands"
- A large upfront payment beyond a block of sessions, with nothing in writing
What a football coach costs: £20–£40 per session
Football coaches charge per session, often as a block; one-to-one costs more than a small group, and pitch hire may be extra. Football Coaching price guide →
Guide prices compiled by the Locufy team from published Irish and UK provider price lists and 2026/27 cost guides. Updated 2026.
KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR? NOW FIND ONE
Football coaches near you, with the badges that matter shown
ID checked, trader status and one score from every review — on the card, before you message anyone. Nearest first. No account needed to look.
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- Warm-upTen minutes of movement with the ball; no static stretching before kick-off for young players.
- TechniqueOne skill a session — first touch, passing, striking, or for keepers handling and footwork — shown and practised.
- GamesSmall-sided games where the skill gets used under pressure; more touches of the ball than any full match gives.
- Cool-down and feedbackA few minutes to settle, and a word with the player — and with you — on what went well.
- Between sessionsSomething to practise in the garden or park, and a check at the next session that it was.
- Small-sided games
- Matches with fewer players and a small pitch, so each child touches the ball more.
- Grassroots
- Community and youth football below the professional academies.
- Academy trial
- A tryout at a professional club's youth academy; no coach can promise one.
- Weaker foot
- The foot a player does not favour; most coaches spend time on it.
- Goalkeeper coaching
- Specialist sessions on handling, diving, distribution and positioning.
- Block booking
- Several sessions paid in advance, usually at a lower price per session.
AFTER
When the job is done
Hiring a football coach: questions people ask
No law makes every football coach hold one. But teaching a child at a weekly session becomes regulated activity in England and Wales once it passes three days in 30, and a barred person must not do it — so ask for the enhanced DBS check with the children's barred list, PVG membership in Scotland, or an enhanced AccessNI check in Northern Ireland.
Not one of the four UK nations keeps a register of people who teach football. Ask for the coaching award and the body that awarded it, and check with that body.
£20–£40 a session, with £30 typical; small-group sessions cost less per child. There is more detail in the football coaching price guide, and the search above lists football coaches in your area.
Not from a football coach working as a sole trader or partner: that coaching is exempt. Coaching sold by an academy company or by its employed coaches is standard-rated, and a business over £90,000 must add VAT.
One-to-one gives the most touches and attention; a small group of friends sharing a coach costs less each and adds game practice.
No law requires a self-employed football coach to provide first aid for the players, but HSE strongly recommends planning for it. Ask whether they hold a current first-aid certificate.
MORE GUIDES
More hiring guides in lessons & tutoring
Football coaches near you
Sources — checked October 2026
- gov.uk (DBS) — regulated activity with children
- gov.uk — change to the definition of regulated activity with children from 1 September 2026
- mygov.scot — who needs PVG scheme membership (personal employers)
- nidirect — AccessNI checks for the self-employed and personal employees
- HSE — first aid FAQs (first aid for the public)
- HSE — get insurance for your business
- HCPC — check the Register
- gov.uk — Sport supplies that are VAT exempt (VAT Notice 701/45)
- Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 28 — contracts excluded from cancellation
- Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 49 — reasonable care and skill
- Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 30 — cancellation period
- Citizens Advice — deciding whether to make a small claim (England and Wales)
- Scottish Courts and Tribunals — guide to simple procedure
- nidirect — small claims process (Northern Ireland)
- Education and vocational training (VAT Notice 701/30) — 6.1 The treatment of private tuition
- GOV.UK — VAT rates
- GOV.UK — Register for VAT: when to register