East of Scotland Soccer Development Association

ESSDA Season 2026

I have received just over half of the expected ESSDA applications for the 2026 Season. Applications are open until 14th February 2026 - don't be late or you might miss out.

All teams must be SYFA registered for 2026 to play friendlies. Please remember you must request permission for all friendly fixtures. Please use permission page where I can give permission on behalf of SYFA for fixtures against SYFA or ESSDA teams.  Permission cannot be given if you are not properly SYFA registered.

To play in ESSDA fixtures you must be SYFA registered. Fixtures will not be given for teams who are not registered. Please check your registration now. Don't wait until the start of the season to find out you need a PVG Scheme Membership or your first aid qualification has expired, or you need to complete some online training. 
Get everyone ACTIVE/CONFIRMED now!

To be registered, your club must be at status CONFIRMED in the ESSDA competition on SFA Comet. This means you have paid the SYFA registration fee. This in itself is not sufficient to be SYFA registered.
All your officials, coaches and players must be at status ACTIVE/CONFIRMED to be registered. Again, ENTERED/CONFIRMED is not sufficient.  The SYFA are extremely busy at this time checking everybody's registration, so there may be a delay in getting your team checked. There is nothing I can do - the checking and approving is an SYFA function at Hampden. Get you team checked early so that you are sure you are ready to play.
CONFIRMED means somebody has been added to SFA Comet, whereas ACTIVE means they have had their qualifications checked and they satisfy all the requirements for their role. I have no part to play in this process - please contact SYFA if you are having issues.

Player Approaches & Training with a Second Team

The rules about approaches from other clubs and training with a second club, are all governed by the SYFA Supplementary & Playing Rules (S&PR). The S&PRs can be found on the Scottish FA Support website https://support.scottishfa.co.uk/portal/kb?btn=61&id=263

Please note Rule 44:

44 If a player wishes to train with another SYFA member they must have the written permission of the SYFA member for which the player is registered. A copy of the permission must be presented to the club that the player wishes to train with and be produced if requested. It will be an offence for a team to allow a player registered with another team to train with them without such written permission. A registered player cannot play as a trialist for any other SYFA member team.

And also note Rule 45:

45 A – Player Approaches
If a team wishes to approach a player registered with another team they must put their request in writing to the Team Manager of the club the player is currently registered before contacting the player or parent. The team that holds the registration must inform the player and their parents/ carers within seven days to see if they wish to take the enquiry further. If they do not comply with this timescale, the approaching team may contact the parent/ carer directly.
The following is not permitted:
i) Approaches to players or parents/ carer first (unless outwith seven-day timescale)

ii) Approaches to clubs/ teams and players/ parents/ carers simultaneously.

iii) Approaches by proxy.

iv) Verbal approaches

Teams suspected of going against these rules will be reported to SYFA.

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

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 REGISTERED.

The SYFA are extremely busy checking everyone's qualifications, so there is a big backlog. By doing everything to get your team approved first time, you are helping everyone.

Happy New Year 2026

ESSDA applications for 2026 are now open. Applications are due by 15th February 2026 with the season start on 1st March 2026

•   Year Groups 9, 10, 11 and 12 - go to Applications 7v7 and 9v9 - 2014s, 2015s, 2016s & 2017s
•   Year groups 8 and 7 - go to Applications 4v4 and 5v5 - 2018s & 2019s

Please remember that all age groups, except existing 2014s must also register with SYFA for 2026 using SFA Comet. Check your registration on  ESSDA registration page.

SYFA Registration

All year groups (except existing 2014s) must register with SYFA for the 2026 season using SFA Comet. Following registration, please make sure that all you coaches, officials, first aiders and players are also added to the correct ESSDA competition.
Every year group must have a team manager, at least one SFA 1.2 qualified coach and at least one qualified first aider. One person may not hold all three positions.
All players must be registered too. eg All players who play in the 2015 year group, including any underage player born in 2016 who plays in the 2015 squad, must be registered to the 2015 catalogue. These underage players are then not eligible to play in the 2016 year group.
Players may not be catalogued to more than one year group.

ESSDA registration will open on 1st January 2026 for all year groups, including 2014s. Every team must register with ESSDA.

Level 1 Coaching Courses - Available Now

Online Delivery :  January - March 2026

  ⚽ Introduction to Coaching (1.1)
  ⚽ Children's Coaching Certificate (1.2)
  ⚽ Children's Coaching Award (1.3)
  ⚽ Youth & Adult Coaching Certificate (1.2)
  ⚽ Youth & Adult Coaching Award (1.3)

Minimum Criteria:
    Mental Health in Scottish Football (Pre 1.1, 1.2 & 1.3)
    Children's Wellbeing in Scottish Football (Pre 1.1, 1.2 & 1.3)
    Understanding Children's Rights in Scottish Football (Pre 1.2)
    Communicating Effectively with Children and Young People (Pre 1.3)

Course resources & Session Slides available within the 'Resources' tab once you are confirmed

IMPORTANT NOTE: Selecting 'Pay Later' at the checkout DOES NOT confirm your place on a course.
Only once you have paid in full will your place be confirmed.

Course transfers are unavailable. If you cancel your place on the course 5 or more days before it's start date, you are entitled to a full refund.
Pre-course emails & post-course emails are no longer being sent. Please refer to the course 'resources' tab via COMET to access the zoom links for your course.

Book now - https://www.scottishfacomet.co.uk/                    #ScottishFACoachEd

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.

SFA Comet Registrations

All teams must have a valid SYFA registration, showing on SFA Comet. Any team without a valid SFA Comet record will have their ESSDA fixtures marked as ***NO GAME*** until they are properly registered.
To be properly registered on SFA Comet -

• The status must be CONFIRMED, meaning the SYFA registration has been paid
• All players must be at status ACTIVE, and there must be sufficient players to play your fixtures - eg 3 teams of 7v7 means 21 players
• The maximum number of registered underage players is FIVE
• The Team Manager must be at status ACTIVE
• There must be at least one ACTIVE team coach with SFA 1.2 qualification
• There must be at least one ACTIVE qualified first aider

Team lines at 9 aside

We have received feedback from some teams that they are having issues printing the Comet team lines. We have made the decision to allow teams to use a manual version if they have issues with the comet version.  Please use this template ESSDA 9 aside Team Lines

Please remember that team lines at 9 asides are an ESSDA requirement and must be produced for all matches. This is to ensure all players are correctly registered and are required to support referees in the event of any disciplinary issues. Referee's may refuse to facilitate a fixture if team lines are not presented.

Please only hand a copy to the Referee, there is no requirement to give a copy to the opposition team.

SFA Player Journey

All matches should follow the SFA Player Journey. The revised 2025 Player Journey can be found on the SFA website https://www.scottishfa.co.uk/football-development/participation/childrens-youth-football/player-journey/

ESSDA Communications & SPOND

To ensure that your club is included in the new communication, we would like at least one person from each year group at every club to sign up to SPOND, our chosen communication application. You can add SPOND on your smart phone or desktop by visiting https://www.spond.com/ or by downloading from your APP Store.

To register you need to go to https://club.spond.com/landing/signup/eastofscotlandso/form/085633693F3347728510C693D81BD3DE and select your year group from the drop down list as you go through the registration form. To register with multiple year groups, register for one group and add a comment at the end of the form in the comments box, and you will be added to the other groups.

Match Protocol  - Change of Match Protocol

The SYFA have decided to immediately introduce an after-match policy of NO team line up handshakes.

At present teams are lining up at the end of a match, both players and officials, to shake hands but much to our concern this practice has led to an increasing number of unacceptable reported incidents.

So, in future the end of match line up practice must CEASE

Individuals may shake hands if they so wish.

Teams may also line up at the start of the game facing the home team supporters and cross over shaking hands, all fully observed by the match referee, League officials and watching spectators

International Clearance

Players born outside Scotland and over 10 years old, may require International Clearance to be registered on SFA Comet.
Please see the International Clearance section on the SYFA page for details of the International Clearance process.

Insurance.

Teams playing friendlies and/or festivals without permission are not insured. Playing while not insured is a serious child protection issue.

Only players listed in your team catalogue as ACTIVE on SFA Comet are insured to play.
eg  In a 2017s match, only players listed in the 2017s catalogue as ACTIVE are insured. 
Any players born in 2018 who are playing in the 2017s match must be listed in the 2017s catalogue as ACTIVE.

This means that clubs are not insured to play a team of 2018s in a 2017s match.

The above rules apply to every ESSDA year group.  eg 2014s playing in a 2013s match must be catalogued to the 2014s squad.

ESSDA Communications & SPOND

At the 2024 AGM, it was agreed that we try a new form of communication between ESSDA and our member clubs. The chosen application is SPOND, which is already in use by many ESSDA Clubs. You can add SPOND on your smart phone or desktop by visiting https://www.spond.com/ or by downloading from your APP Store.

To ensure that your club is included in the new communication, we would like at least one person from each year group at every club to sign up.

(**CORRECTED LINK**)
To register you need to go to https://club.spond.com/landing/signup/eastofscotlandso/form/085633693F3347728510C693D81BD3DE and select your year group from the drop down list as you go through the registration form. To register with multiple year groups, register for one group and add a comment at the end of the form in the comments box, and you will be added to the other groups.

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