The FAW 50% Playing Time Rule: A Practical System for Welsh Grassroots Coaches (2026/27)

If you coach junior football in Wales, you have already had this conversation. It is half time, your squad of 14 is huddled under an umbrella in Bangor, you are trying to remember who came on at minute 12 and who has been on the bench since the start, and somewhere in the back of your mind a quiet voice is reminding you that the FAW expects every child to play at least half of today's football.

Welsh grassroots is structurally different from English grassroots, and playing time is the most obvious place it bites. In England the FA recommends at least half a game per player as best practice and leaves it to each league to make that a rule. The FAW writes it into its regulations for every age group, from U6 festivals to U17 junior football: every player in the match-day squad, every match day, no less than half. The English version of this post explains the difference.

This post is a practical system for actually doing it on the day, plus the bit of the 2026/27 regulations you will want to be able to quote when a parent or a league rep asks. None of this is legal advice, check the FAW handbook if you are unsure, but it is the working approach I use. Refreshed in September 2026 for the 2026/27 regulations.

What the FAW rule actually says

The FAW publishes two documents that matter: the Small-Sided Football Regulations 2026/27 for U6 to U13, and the Junior Football Regulations 2026/27 for U14 to U17. The playing-time regulation is in both, with a worked example each time.

Small-sided football, regulation 4.3: "All players in the squad should participate in a minimum of 50% of the total playing time during a match day. For example, at under 8 where there is a total maximum playing duration of 50 minutes, all players should participate in at least 25 minutes (50%) of the total game time available."

Junior football, section 6: "All players in the match day squad should have a minimum of 50% playing time when participating in matches. For example, at an under 14 match where the total playing duration is 70 minutes, all players within the squad should play a minimum of 35 minutes each."

Three other regulations sit alongside it and are worth knowing:

• Positions, including goalkeeper. "All squad members to benefit from the experience of playing in all positions, including goalkeeper for the under 8 to under 11 age groups." Across the season, not per match.
• Nobody waits on the bench. From U6 to U9 no substitute should wait more than five minutes before getting on; at U10 and U11, no more than ten. That is the regulation putting a number on the rolling-subs rhythm in the system below.
• Squad size. A team should not carry more than double its playing numbers: ten at 5v5, fourteen at 7v7, eighteen at 9v9.

The word the regulations use is "should", and it sits inside the competition regulations with a worked example rather than in a coaching guidance note, which is why Area Associations and leagues treat it as the standard. It applies per match day, at every age group. For comparison, the English FA's guidance asks for "equal playing time where possible, with a best practice recommendation of at least 50% per player for each game", and English leagues decide for themselves whether to make it a rule. The FAW chose the harder line on purpose.

The 2026/27 formats, ball sizes and match lengths

Two things a Welsh coach needs on one page this season. The small-sided ladder runs 4v4 at U6 and U7, 5v5 at U8 and U9, 7v7 at U10 and U11 and 9v9 at U12 and U13, with junior football at 11v11 from U14. And the ball sizes are not the same as England's new Future Fit pathway: in Wales U10 and U11 play with a size 4, where England now keeps a size 3.

The "most play in a day" column is the number the 50% rule works from: at a U10 festival with 60 minutes of football, every player in the squad should get 30. There is no offside from U6 to U11, and a retreat line applies in every small-sided age group. Two other regulations are worth a line each. Power Play (regulation 15, optional, U6 to U11): a team four goals down may add an extra player, so 5v5 becomes 5v6, and takes one off again when the gap drops below four; at six goals down a second extra player is allowed. The mercy rule, new for 2026/27 in U12 to U17 competition football: when one team is eight goals ahead the match is declared over, and the home team ends the match timer on COMET.

Why it's harder than it sounds

"Just play everyone for half the day" sounds trivial until you sit down with a squad of 14 and 60 minutes of football. Some practical realities:

1. You cannot half-and-half it. At exactly double your on-pitch number, a straight half-time swap gives everyone 50% and no room at all for a knock, a late arrival or a child who needs to come off. With 7 on the pitch and 14 in the squad, rolling subs across the day are the only way to build in slack.
2. Goalkeepers count. A 20-minute keeper shift is not equivalent to a 20-minute outfield shift, but it still counts as playing time. You need a plan for keeper rotation that does not accidentally leave someone with all their minutes in goal.
3. Squad size changes weekly. Some weeks you have 11, some you have 14. More bench players means more rotation pressure and more chance of forgetting who is behind.
4. The match clock keeps moving. While you are trying to do the maths, the game is still happening.

This is exactly the problem that catches good Welsh coaches out. Not because they do not care, but because the cognitive load on a wet match day is real.

The matchday system

Here is the system I use. It works on paper. It works much better with an app.

Before kick-off: write down the floor and the ceiling

Take the day's total playing time from the table above and halve it. That is the floor every player needs to hit. Subtract the floor from the total and you have the ceiling, the most a player who starts should play before they must rest.

For a U10 festival with 60 minutes of football and 14 players: floor 30 minutes, ceiling 30 minutes. With 12 players the floor is still 30 and the ceiling stretches. Write the two numbers on a piece of card and put it in your pocket.

During the match: rolling subs every 5 to 10 minutes

The FAW allows rolling substitutes and re-entry in every small-sided age group, and the regulations put a number on the rhythm: no substitute should wait more than five minutes at U6 to U9, or ten minutes at U10 and U11. So work to that. Once you are past the opening few minutes, a sub every five to ten minutes. The child coming on is whichever bench player has the fewest minutes so far. The child coming off is whichever pitch player has the most.

This sounds like a lot. It is not. You are swapping one player every few minutes, and the maths is trivial if you keep a running tally.

Goalkeepers: separate currency

For U8 to U11 the FAW also expects every squad member to experience every position, including goalkeeper, across the season. Do not try to make that happen on a single match day; that is how you accidentally give one child 30 minutes in goal and nothing outfield.

Instead, plan keeper shifts across the season. Pick two match days per term per child for the keeper rotation and tell the parents in advance so nobody is surprised. On the day, the keeper shift counts towards that child's 50% floor.

After the match: log the minutes

After the final game, before you forget, write down how long each child played. You will use it for two reasons: to check you actually hit the 50% floor for everyone, and to track the U8 to U11 position rotation across the season.

A notebook is fine. A spreadsheet is better. An app does it for you.

How Squadd helps

Squadd's fair-play helpers are built around exactly this 50% line, and they are on by default for every team.

• Live per-player minutes. The app counts every player's minutes in real time as the game is recorded, so you always know who is behind. On a festival day it keeps a running total across every game, which is the number the FAW regulation actually measures, and the lineup planner's Match day setting balances the next game against it.
• Playing-time warning. A warning appears next to any player projected to finish below 50%. It switches on once 40% of the game has gone, early enough to fix and late enough not to nag. This is the bit that prevents the "I forgot she was on the bench all game" disaster.
• One-tap fair-play swap. Tap the swap button and Squadd takes off the on-pitch player with the most minutes and brings on the bench player with the fewest. It never picks the goalkeeper and only considers the match-day squad. The substitution is logged as a match event.
• Sub-window reminders, a half-time board and full-time flags. Reminders as each planned rotation window approaches, a board at half time showing who is owed minutes, and a flag at full time for anyone who finished short, so you know who to prioritise next match.

Around that, the Welsh-specific bits:

• Set your team's association to FAW and Squadd pre-fills the FAW game length and daily cap for your age group when you create a fixture or festival, so you do not have to remember the table above.
• COMET reminders on the morning of every league game for the team sheet, and after full time for the home side to enter the result.
• A Power Play reminder in the live match for U6 to U11: when you are four goals down the app suggests bringing on the extra player, per regulation 15, and records it as an event.
• Availability with automatic 24-hour reminders, squad publishing so parents see "in" or "out" without a group chat, and every substitution recorded, so you have the minutes log the regulations assume you keep.

The lineup planner also does the season-long version for you: on its default Season setting the players with the fewest minutes this season go on the pitch first, so the child who missed last week naturally gets more this week.

Honest disclosure: Squadd records who kept goal in each match but does not yet plan the U8 to U11 keeper rotation across the season for you. That one is on the roadmap, and a simple list in your phone notes still does the job. The 50% rule itself, in the match and across the day, is exactly what the app is for.

The parent conversation

Even with a transparent system, you will occasionally get pushback from a parent. The FAW rule is your best ally:

"The FAW's regulations say every player in the squad gets at least half of the day's football. So your son is going to come off sometimes, the same as every other child, to make sure everyone hits that minimum. Happy to show you the minutes log if you would like to see how it is working out across the season."

This is much harder to argue with than "I felt this was fair." The rule is not yours. It is the FAW's.

What the FAW doesn't require

To save you stress, the FAW rule is not:

• Strict equal time. You do not have to give everyone exactly 30 minutes, just at least 30.
• Equal positions per match. The position-rotation expectation is across the season, not per game.
• A written justification for any deviation. The 50% floor is the audit standard.

If you are hitting the 50% floor for every squad member, you have met the rule. Anything above that is coaching judgement.

Questions coaches ask

Is the FAW 50% rule per match or per season?

Per match day. The small-sided regulations say every player in the squad should get at least 50% of the total playing time during a match day, and the junior regulations say the same per match. The all-positions expectation for U8 to U11 is the one that runs across the season.

Does the FAW 50% rule apply at U14 and above?

Yes. The Junior Football Regulations 2026/27 carry it for U14 to U17, with the worked example of 35 minutes in a 70-minute U14 match.

What are the FAW small-sided formats for 2026/27?

4v4 with no keepers at U6 and U7, 5v5 at U8 and U9, 7v7 at U10 and U11, 9v9 at U12 and U13, then 11v11 from U14. The ball is a size 3 to U9, a size 4 from U10 to U13 and a size 5 from U14, which is different from England, where U10 and U11 stay on a size 3.

What is the FAW Power Play rule?

An optional regulation for U6 to U11 festivals. A team losing by four goals may add an extra player, and must take one off again when the gap drops below four. At six goals down a second extra player is allowed. It exists to keep unbalanced games worth playing for both sides.

TL;DR

• The FAW's rule is per match day, at every age group. At least 50% of the day's playing time for every player in the squad, from U6 festivals to U17.
• U8 to U11 also have to experience every position, including keeper, across the season.
• Also in the 2026/27 regulations: no substitute waits more than five minutes at U6 to U9 or ten at U10 and U11; the new mercy rule ends U12 to U17 matches at eight goals; ball sizes differ from England at U10 and U11.
• The simplest in-match system: rolling subs every five to ten minutes, fewest-minutes player on, most-minutes player off, keeper shifts planned across the season.
• Log minutes after every match day so you can prove it if asked.

Squadd's fair-play helpers handle the live minutes and the sub suggestions automatically, which matters more in Wales than anywhere else because the 50% rule leaves no room to wing it. The four-week free trial covers a full month of fixtures.