Adding Players to Your Squad

Overview

Your squad is the foundation of everything in Squadd — availability, lineups, match reports, and stats all depend on having players set up correctly. This article covers how coaches add players, update their details, and manage the parent-guardian links that let parents access their child's information.

Before You Start

You need to be signed in as a Coach or Team Admin to add players directly. Parents add their children via a separate self-service flow — see Linking Parents to Players below.

Adding a Player

1. Tap Squad in the bottom navigation bar
2. Tap the + button (top-right of the squad list)
3. Fill in the player details:

4. Tap Save — the player appears immediately on your squad list

📸 [Screenshot: Add Player form with position chip selector]

Player photos

Tap the photo circle on the form to open your photo library. Squadd lets you crop the image to a 1:1 square before uploading. Photos appear on the squad list, in lineup views, and in the match report.

Photos are stored privately — parents can see their own child's photo but not others'.

Editing a Player

1. Find the player on the Squad list and tap their row. Coaches open the player card; a parent opens their own child's stats page.
2. Tap Edit on the player card (parents: Edit details at the bottom of the stats page)
3. Update any field and tap Save

You can also press and hold a player's row for quick actions: edit, mark unavailable, their Wrapped, sticker book and (for coaches) the player card.

Coaches can edit all fields including name, shirt number, and positions. Parents can only edit their child's photo, date of birth, and preferred role — name and shirt number are coach-controlled.

Positions Explained

Squadd uses five position bands:

Primary position is used in lineup generation and season stats. Secondary position is shown on the squad list and can influence rotation matching when Detailed Positions is enabled.

Wide or central (coaches only) tells the rotation which kind of player this is inside their position. A winger and a centre midfielder are both midfielders, so with Respect positions on, a wide player is swapped for a wide player and a central player for a central one, and the suggested lineup puts wide players on the touchline slots. Leave it blank and the player can cover either. See Detailed Position Roles.

Preferred Role (e.g. "Right Wing") is a free-text label for display only — it has no effect on how Squadd builds lineups or rotations. Use Wide or central for that.

Shirt Numbers

Shirt number tracking is controlled by the Shirt numbers module on your team. If you can see a shirt number field when adding a player, Shirt numbers is enabled. If the field doesn't appear, go to Settings → Team modules → Customise features to enable it.

Shirt numbers are optional even when Shirt numbers is on — leave the field blank for players who don't have an assigned number.

Removing or Deleting a Player

Press and hold a player's name on the Squad list for two options:

• Remove from squad hides them and keeps their record, so their stats stay in your season totals. Use it when a player leaves.
• Delete permanently deletes their record and everything tied to it. Use it when a parent asks for their child's details to be deleted. It can't be undone.

Removing or Deleting a Player explains exactly what each one does.

Linking Parents to Players

Parents need to be linked to a player as a guardian before they can see that player's fixtures, submit availability, or view stats. There are three ways to create this link.

Method 1 — Coach links a guardian directly (recommended)

Use this when a parent is already a member of your team in Squadd.

1. Find the player on the Squad list and tap ✏️ Edit
2. Scroll to the Guardians section
3. Tap + Add guardian
4. Select the parent from the list of team members
5. Tap Confirm — the link is created immediately

📸 [Screenshot: Edit Player screen showing Guardians section with Add guardian button]

Method 2 — Parent requests a link

Parents can request to be linked to an existing player themselves.

1. The parent opens the Squad list
2. They find their child and tap the person+ icon on that player's row
3. They confirm the request — it is flagged for your review
4. You will see a pending count badge on the Squad list header
5. Tap Link Requests to review
6. For each request you can:
   • Link to player — creates the guardian link (most common)
   • Create new player — if the match is incorrect and a separate player record is needed
   • Reject — dismisses the request

Method 3 — Parent adds their child via "Add My Child"

If a player is not yet in your squad, a parent can add them themselves through their own account.

1. The parent taps Squad → Add My Child
2. They enter the child's name and details
3. Squadd checks for an existing player with the same name:
   • No match found: A new player is created and the parent is auto-linked as guardian
   • Match found (possible duplicate): A link request is created for you to review — you then decide whether to merge with the existing player or keep them separate

📎 What happens to the photo and date of birth the parent entered? If you tap Link to player, they fill in anything the existing player record is missing. A photo or date of birth you already entered is never overwritten, and anything left over is discarded.

💡 Best practice: Add players yourself first, then invite parents. When parents join and find their child already in the squad, they can request a link (Method 2) which avoids any duplicate player risk.

The Squad List at a Glance

Each player row on the squad list shows:

• Photo (or initials avatar if no photo)
• Name and optionally their shirt number badge
• Position labels (primary · secondary)
• Preferred role text (if set)
• Linked guardians — displayed as names below the positions
• Unavailability notice — red pill if the player is currently marked unavailable
• Your child indicator — a green "You" badge if you are a linked guardian

📸 [Screenshot: Squad list showing several players with positions, shirt numbers, and guardian names]

Team Sides

If your team has Team Sides enabled (e.g. for clubs that run A and B sides), each player can have a default side assigned. Coaches see side assignment chips on each player row and can change them directly from the squad list.

See Team Sides for full details.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I import players from a spreadsheet or previous season?
Not currently. Players must be added individually. For large squads, you can add them quickly by entering just the name and primary position — other details can be filled in later.

Can two guardians be linked to the same player?
Yes — a player can have multiple guardians (e.g. both parents). Each guardian has independent access to that player's data.

Can I change a player's position mid-season?
Yes — edit the player at any time and update the primary or secondary position. Season stats are not retroactively recalculated for matches already played.

A parent can't find their child on the squad list — what do I check?
Make sure the parent is a member of your Squadd team first (they need to have joined via an invite link). Then confirm the player is active on your squad. If both are true, they can use the person+ button or contact you to link them directly.

I accidentally removed a player — can I undo it?
Not through the app. Contact support@squadd.co.uk and we can reactivate the player for you.

What is "Preferred Role" used for?
It's a display-only label visible to coaches and parents on the squad list and player profile. It has no effect on lineup generation, rotation, or stats. Use it for fine-grained notes like "Right Back", "Defensive Mid", or "False Nine".

Related Articles

• Inviting Members to Your Team
• Team Sides
• Setting Availability for a Fixture
• Selecting Your Lineup
• Understanding Player Stats