Managing a football team: everything a team manager needs to know

Saturday morning, 8:15am: the referee cancels, two players haven't checked in, and the match form is still sitting on the kitchen table at home. This is the moment that reveals whether your admin was in order the week before. A team manager's tasks are rarely dramatic, but their sum decides whether Saturday morning goes smoothly or not.

Administrative tasks

• Registering and deregistering players with the football association.
• Keeping track of player passes and insurance.
• Filling in and submitting match forms.
• Tracking yellow and red cards for suspensions.
• Maintaining contact with the opponent about match details.

Logistical tasks

Who drives where for away games? Is equipment available? Who arranges the referee for home games? As team manager, you are the central point. Make sure you have a system for tracking this logistics — a shared list or app makes this easier than keeping everything in your head.

Communication

The team manager is the link between players, coach, and board. Ensure a clear communication structure. Which information goes through the group chat, what do you communicate by email? Keep announcements short and clear. Use a fixed format for match notifications: day, time, location, attendance instructions.

Tracking attendance

As team manager, you want to know well before the match how many players are coming. Use a digital app where players can register their own attendance. Attach a reminder and set a deadline. That way, you're never surprised when you head to the field early Saturday morning.

One Saturday that actually went smoothly

At a fourth-division Sunday-league team, the team manager worked from a fixed Friday-evening checklist: attendance confirmed (deadline Thursday 8pm), referee confirmed through the association, match form pre-filled with the final lineup, and a message to the group with time, location, and meeting point. This took him about 25 minutes on Friday evening. The season before, without a fixed checklist, the team had to play with only ten men three separate times because a cancellation hadn't come through in time. With the checklist in place, that never happened again.

A good team manager is the silent engine of the team. Without you, the machine doesn't run — with you, it runs smoothly and professionally.