East of Scotland Soccer Development Association

Date

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SYFA Supplementary & Playing Rules

Clubs are reminded that they must follow the SYFA Supplementary & Playing Rules (S&PR) as amended in 2026 - https://scottishyouthfa.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/SYFA-Supplementary-Playing-Rules-2026-2027.pdf
In particular clubs must follow the SFA Player Journey as detailed on https://www.scottishfa.co.uk/en/play-football/children-youth-football/player-journey

The above are all national rules and must be followed by all clubs playing small sided football in Scotland. There are no ESSDA specific rules.

In particular, clubs are reminded that kick ins, and corner kicks must be short sided footed passes - the aim is to discourage heading of the football by young players.

All players & coaches must be properly registered on SFA Comet at status CONFIRMED ACTIVE. Only then are they insured to take part in any match. Playing in a format at odds with the SFA Player Journey can similarly make your game unauthorised and invalidate your insurance.

ESSDA Matches

If there is a problem with the scheduling of ESSDA fixtures, please let me know. I will try to take on board any suggestion when I schedule next season's matches.

If an ESSDA match is cancelled for whatever reason, you must get a permit for any revised game - see permission page

Please note:

•  All players and all officials at every ESSDA match must be properly registered on SFA Comet. Everyone must be at status CONFIRMED/ACTIVE
•  Every team must be accompanied by two registered adults, both of whom must be at status CONFIRMED/ACTIVE
•  Using unregistered adults, even under supervision, is not OK
•  One of the adults must be a registered and qualified first aider, unless the opposition first aider has agreed to provide cover for both teams.

Lastly - please behave at all matches. This is children's football. There is no need for bad language. There is no need for overtly aggressive language. Let them play

#Let them play#

Season 2026 Second Half - continued

The remaining fixtures for the 2026 season are now displayable on the website, see fixtures page.  As in previous seasons, only the next three fixtures will be displayed in full. Further fixtures will show as either home or away games only, until closer to the date.

There are no games scheduled on the weekend of 13th September 2026

Season 2026 Second Half

Fixtures are now available to view - weeks 1, 2 and 3  see fixtures page. 
Further weeks will be published in a couple of days after any problems are fixed. This is not an opportunity to switch league - please do not ask.

I am sorry to all teams who have a "spare team" fixture. It's random and someone has to miss out in week 1. Sorry.
If there are any mistakes of mine, please let me know and I will try to fix as soon as I can, it may not be immediate.
If you are in the wrong league, I will try to move you when I can, but it may not be immediately.

There are no games on 14th September 2026 due to school holidays.

Teams not SYFA registered are marked **NO GAME** at the request of SYFA. This will be removed as soon as SYFA clear your team to play. I have contacted SYFA and hopefully players/officials at ENTERED/REGISTERED will be approved to ACTIVE/REGISTERED soon. Only coaches, officials and players who are ACTIVE/REGISTERED can play in SYFA/ESSDA matches.

Season 2026 Second Half

Fixtures for the 7v7 and 9v9 matches will be published tomorrow night 9th August 2026.
I will only publish weeks 1, 2 & 3 at first as last season. This is to flush out possible errors. It is NOT an opportunity to make changes. I have done all the fixtures and I am not expecting any errors, so i will release the other fixtures in a couple of days.

All clubs are reminded that we have signed up to the SFA Player Journey. These are national rules and must be followed to the letter - we have no leeway for change. Clubs who choose not to play to these rules will be reported to Hampden and may be fined/suspended. In particular, teams who play the wrong format of football will face the full force of SYFA Disciplinary Policy. Playing the wrong format makes your game unauthorised and will jeopardise your insurance.

•  At every match, both teams must have two registered officials at the game. both of whom must be at status REGISTERED/ACTIVE in the catalogue - one of whom must be a first aider
•  If your first aider is not available, you may ask the opposition first aider if they are happy to look after both teams. If they say no, then the game does not go ahead. You cannot assume the answer will be yes. Even if the opposition first aider agrees to provide cover, you must still have at least two registered officials at the match.
•  An unregistered official is not allowed to take any role other than as a supporter, even if they are under supervision of a registered official
•  Only players at REGISTERED/ACTIVE in the team catalogue are eligible to play in SYFA/ESSDA matches. There are no "trialists" in small sided matches

Everyone should be playing to the SFA Player Journey - see the SFA website for details - SFA Player Journey

For full text versions of the SFA Player Journey playing rules, see

•  Four-a-side Rules
•  Five-a-side Rules
•  Seven-a-side Rules
•  Nine-a-side Rules

eg The retreating distance at corner kicks in 7v7 and 9v9 matches is 6m

Lastly, it is not too late to prepare for kick-off next weekend. Pump up those footballs re-stock your first aid kit and check out your goal posts and nets before it is too late.

Grassroots Pathway Courses

Scottish FA Coach Education have released additional course dates - now available on SFA Comet - see https://www.scottishfacomet.co.uk/mycomet

ESSDA Season 2026

All existing teams from Season 2026 First Half will automatically roll forward to Second Half. If you want to swap division or drop out, please send me an email.
Any clubs who want to put in a brand new team need to complete an ESSDA application form - https://www.essda.co.uk/application.asp

The last day for any changes will be 2nd August 2026

So far I have the following teams in my schedule for 7v7 and 9v9:-

Check out your club at the Registration Page.

Permission

Teams require permission for any/every match. Scheduled fixtures are assumed to have been given permission.

To play in any approved festival in Scotland, England or Europe - please complete an SYFA Permit form and return the completed form to me.
See https://scottishyouthfa.co.uk/festivals-and-tournaments/
The permit fee must be paid in advance of the request, and proof of payment (a screenshot of the banking app) should accompany the permit form. The payment is made to SYFA at Hampden. Applications without appropriate proof of payment will be rejected until proof of payment is provided..

•   Permission to play in a one off friendly fixture against another ESSDA team should be requested from https://www.essda.co.uk/permission.asp Only the home team need apply.
•   Permission to play in a one off friendly match against another SYFA team should be requested from https://www.essda.co.uk/permission.asp The opposition will need to request permission from their local association too.
•   Permission to play against SFA CAS team should be requested from Scottish Youth FA <syfa@scottish-football.com>, but please copy ESSDA in on the request.

Playing without permission is a serious offence and could jeopardise your insurance. Please follow the SFA Player Journey in all friendly matches. Playing the wrong format of football (eg 11v11 instead of 9v9, or 9v9 instead of 7v7) is again a serious offence.

ESSDA Season 2026 Second Half

ESSDA teams who played in the 2026 First Half will automatically roll forward to play in the Second Half. Existing teams do not need to reapply to ESSDA or SYFA at this time.  If you want to swap league, please drop me a note and I will make this happen. Thank you

•   The 2015s (11s) will move to play 9v9 for the rest of 2026
•   The 2016s (10s) and 2017s(9s) will play Soccer 7s (7v7s)
•   The 2018s (8s) will play 5v5 and the 2019s (7s) will play 4v4

All teams must follow the SFA Player Journey. Teams playing the wrong format or modifying the rules will be playing unauthorised matches and will be reported to SYFA where they may be fined and/or suspended. All players and officials involved in any match must be properly registered on SFA Comet at status ACTIVE/CONFIRMED.
All teams should familiarise themselves with the SFA Player Journey rules for their match. Do not make up your own playing rules.

The timetable for the new season is:-

•   Sunday 2nd August 2026 -  Last day to notify me about any changes to your team
•   Sunday 9th August 2026 - The fixture schedule for all 7v7 and 9v9 games will be published on this website
•   Sunday 16th August 2026 - The start date of 7v7 and 9v9 fixtures
•   Sunday 29th November 2026 - The last day of the ESSDA season.

At least two registered officials must be present at every match, for each team. One of the two officials must be a registered qualified first aider.
If a first aider is not available, the opposition first aider can be asked to provide first aid cover for both teams. If they say no, then the game must not go ahead.  If a team does not have two registered officials present - the game must not go ahead.  It is not OK for an unregistered parent to act as an official at any match.

Players must only play in one ESSDA match on any match day. Exception is only when there is a shortage of players, and this might allow the game to proceed, but any such players should not be allowed to dominate a game. eg playing Pele players in a Zidane match to ensure a win is completely unacceptable.
Players must not play at multiple age groups even to allow the game to proceed. Those player cannot be registered on SFA Comet to the second age group and therefore would not be registered/insured to play.

The above match day rules are SYFA rules and common throughout all SYFA associations/leagues.

SYFA AGM

The SYFA Annual General Meeting was postponed last week as the meeting did not reach a quorum.  The meeting has been rescheduled for Sunday 26th June 2026 at 6pm.  Please attend if you can. Every club is entitled to one vote for each registered SYFA ID.

SFA Comet

Please make sure that your SFA Comet catalogue for every age group contains at least the minimum number of officials:-

•    A Team Manager
•    At least one SFA 1.2 qualified children's coach
•    At least one qualified first aider
  and
•    There must be at least two adults in the officials list - one person may not hold all the mandatory roles
•     The minimum adult to child ratio is 1::10

It is not sufficient for the coach to hold a first aid qualification to count as the first aider. If someone is acting in multiple capacities, they must be added to the team catalogue with multiple roles. eg Team Coach & First Aider or Team Manager & Team Coach etc.

If your team does not meet the minimum criteria, nobody in the catalogue will be approved and moved to ACTIVE / CONFIRMED.

On MyComet, to be registered, your club must show with a non zero number of players and officials and a status of CONFIRMED.  The number of players must exceed your team allocation. For example: With four teams playing 9v9, you must have at least 4 x 9 = 36 players.

The above three clubs are all showing correctly and would be properly registered.

Arranging Fixtures

When arranging fixtures, please use the Fixtures page to get the up to date contact details for the opposition.
Please try to use the primary contact if possible. Only if that does not work, try the secondary contact.
Please do not use the contact details for anyone else at the club, even if you know them personally. Only use the listed contacts.

Formal Complaints

Anyone who wants to make a formal complaint about any aspect of ESSDA or ESSDA matches must follow the SYFA Complaint Management System. This can be viewed at http://www.scottishyouthfa.co.uk/index.php/members-corner/complaints-management-system

Complaints must be made in writing to Hampden using the forms available on SYFA website.

The Complaint Process consists of several steps:

Stage 1) Discussion with the party the complaint is about
Stage 2) Telephone or email enquiry to SYFA
Stage 3)  Lodging a formal complaint with SYFA
Final Stage) Complaint referred to a senior person within SYFA

Feedback on ESSDA Matches can be made using the ESSDA Monitoring Form. or directly to Darren as the Disciplinary Secretary using Contact Us page

Scouts at ESSDA matches

Please see below communication from the SFA Children’s Wellbeing Department:-

We have received reports that an individual(s) may be approaching clubs impersonating as a scout. We are currently looking into this; however, we would like to take this opportunity to remind clubs of best practice:

•  Scouts must not have direct and unsupervised contact with children or young people.
•  Clubs/associations must take steps to ensure that the identities of their Scouts are published, for example on a website, to ensure that identities can be verified at all times
•  Clubs/associations must issue an ID card to all Scouts, which contains their name, photograph and role as a Scout for the club. The ID card should only be valid for one season and must be renewed on an annual basis.
•  Scouts must not attend club training and/or skill development sessions unless they have prior agreement with the relevant club representative.
•  Scouts must contact the club at least 72 hours in advance of the game to request attendance and provide information of the game they wish to attend.
•  Scouts must not approach parents, carers or others known to the child or young person personally, in connection with their child’s involvement in football without firstly doing the following: -
  • The express permission of the Head of Recruitment or equivalent club/association official who has responsibility for player recruitment within the scout’s club or association; and –
  • The express permission from the club where the child or young person is already playing.

If you, or any of your staff/volunteers are approached by a scout please ensure that you:

•  See a valid ID card and check it has been issued within the past year
•  Verify their identity, contact details and interest in the player(s) with the club they are representing to ensure they are genuine.

If you doubt the authenticity of anyone acting as a scout, or the above details do not check out you should report the matter to the police. We would also ask that you inform the Scottish FA Wellbeing and Protection team on Childrenswellbeing@scottishfa.co.uk
Can you please ensure that you share this with your heads of academies, coaching staff, and anyone else you feel is appropriate at your club.
In addition, we would also ask that you take time to highlight to children and young people, parents and carers:

•  The correct procedures for Scouts
•  What children and young people and parents and carers should do if they are approached directly by a Scout
•  A reminder of the Child Wellbeing and Protection Officer contact details

Update from ESSDA Disciplinary Secretary

Please read the full update from Darren McGinnis (ESSDA Disciplinary Secretary) on the Referee Page.
Referees for ESSDA 9v9 games are optional, but where clubs opt to use a referee, please follow the new process agreed between ESSDA and Edinburgh & District Referees.

See the the Referee Page for

• 9v9 update - In 2024 First Half we had unprecedented volume of disciplinary incidents at 9v9 games. This has to stop!!
• Booking a Referee - details on how to book a referee, dates and timelines https://www.edinburghanddistrictreferees.co.uk/appointments/ agreed by ESSDA and Edinburgh Referees.
• Team Lines - 9v9 games with a referee. Both teams must give Team Lines to the referee. See how  to produce team-lines using the new SFA Comet system
• Red cards - read about new disciplinary process for players and officials who receive a red card from an SFA Referee

All 2013 year group teams playing 9v9s in 2024 Second Half must familiarise themselves with the process above and detailed on Referee Page

Social Media & Club Websites

The SYFA small sided games rules on the SYFA website (see https://www.scottishyouthfa.co.uk) prohibit the publication of results on websites and social media.

      Results
      It is unacceptable for a league and/or club to post results from development matches on to any website or publish in any newsletter or newspaper.

Please ensure nobody connected to your club publishes the results of any of your development football games.
All small sided football games are development football. All ESSDA games are development football.

ESSDA News Archive

To see old ESSDA news, go to the ESSDA News Archive Page