Sunderland Primary School’s Football Association (SPSFA) first began playing district football in 1948-49. After years and years and thousands of hours of hard work, the association’s ‘Sunderland Boys’ squad has been established as an institution on Wearside. Despite challenges faced from professional football academies and local youth football teams, Sunderland Boys continues to flourish and offers Sunderland children an experience which they will cherish for life with team mates that will remain friends for life.

The FA has announced a Future Fit reform of youth football to begin in season 2026-27 which, amongst a number of ill thought out, short sighted changes, will see district football at under 11 change from the current 9 a side format to 7 a side. These changes, if they are allowed to come into place, will see the death of inter-association district football at the under 11 age group. 

I am currently secretary of SPSFA having held the role of chairman for the previous 16 years. I have contacted colleagues the length and breadth of the country and not one association secretary or district coach/manager from the 43 who have replied feel that a change from the current format to 7 a side is necessary and many, like myself, fear that district football will not survive these changes. There is genuine anger that, despite the FA continually stressing that stakeholders had taken part in consultations about these reforms, the FA have not asked for the views of any school association and it appears that school football representatives have been totally excluded from these talks.

A conversion to 7 a side is going to deprive more children the opportunity to play district football. Financial implications, the need to buy new goal posts, a lack of coaches/volunteers to run the hundreds of new sides that would need to be formed further down the age groups to coach 3 and 5 a side teams are also issues that don’t seem to have been thought through. With 7 a side football already saturating local leagues and children already having opportunities to play this format at club level, children and parents see the 9 a side football played at district level as a different challenge and one that further helps develop their abilities as footballers. District football won’t survive a change to 7 a side as children can go anywhere to play that format. 

If allowed to be brought into school football, these reforms are going to destroy district football at under 11 which certainly won’t survive in the North East. The current format doesn’t need to be changed as it works very impressively and has done for many years.

Join me in calling on the FA to scrap proposed plans to change inter association 9 a side football at under 11 to a 7 a side format and to allow the current format to continue. Please sign this petition to protect the future of district football, to ensure that the voices of school associations up and down the country are heard and to protect the passion, unity and future of our game.