How to organise a 5-a-side charity football tournament

1. Choose a location for your football fundraiser

You can’t play without a pitch, so first have a think about your location:

• Get in touch with your local sports club, which should have an AstroTurf pitch. This will be the best option because AstroTurf pitches are usually smaller and designed specifically for 5-a-side games.
• If there isn't an AstroTurf pitch near you, then hopefully there’s a local football pitch. You won’t want to use the full length of the pitch because that will involve a lot of running. Consider getting some cones to halve the pitch and make goals on either side rather than at the ends.
• School or university grounds often have football pitches where you can do the same thing. You can use cones to adapt the size of your pitch.
• Some venues may allow you to hire their space for a reduced rate - or for free - if they know it’s for a charity match.

2. Promote your charity football tournament

• Promote your tournament on social media. This is one of the quickest ways to get people involved. Local Facebook community groups are a good place to start. Encourage everyone who’s taking part in your match to spread the word on their social media channels too.
• Get in touch with your local press, including your local newspaper and radio station. Your local BHF Fundraising Manager can help you write a press release.
• Put posters up on town notice boards with contact details and instructions for how people, and already established teams, can sign up.
• If there are no community notice boards in your area, try supermarkets. They often have notice boards which will be seen by loads more people.
• Create some leaflets and posters and hand them out to local businesses (for example, cafes, restaurants, hair salons and leisure centres). Make sure you include some brief details about BHF and link to our website.

3. Organise your 5-a-side teams

You'll need to organise teams. Consider:

• How many teams are you going to have? Ask your friends, family, neighbours, and colleagues to get involved. There may also be people who respond to your posters and leaflets, including local teams.
• Assign positions based on who’s good at what. You could ask people what their strengths are beforehand.
• Make your players stand out from that crowd with a BHF team kit. It will also be a nice keepsake for them to remember the day with.

4. Set up the match schedule

Who’s playing who? You’ll need to set up match schedules. For example, Team A plays team B, and Team C plays team D. Then the 2 winners play each other.

5. Get your football tournament sponsored

Next, determine how you will be gathering sponsorship for your football tournament. You could:

• Set up a JustGiving page: this is probably the best way of managing your sponsorship. You can mention your page across all the forms of publicity that you plan to use. Read our top tips for setting up a brilliant JustGiving page.
• Set up a sponsorship form: alternatively, you could collect donations using a sponsorship form, which people can get on the day or ask for in advance. View our BHF sponsorship form template.

6. Plan logistics for the big day

Consider what you'll need to do during your 5-a-side tournament to make it both successful and engaging for your players. Here are some ideas to get started with:

• Take pictures: if you plan to photograph the action, have a think about what camera to use and who will be responsible. On the day, just make sure everyone knows they are being photographed and how the images will be used. Some people might not want to be photographed, and it’s important to respect this.
• Consider refreshments: people, especially the players, are going to get thirsty. Remember to keep everyone happy and hydrated.
• Make use of half time: this is a great opportunity to keep the audience engaged. For example, you could use it to speak publicly about why you are fundraising for BHF and inform people about how they can donate.
• Boost your fundraising: if your tournament will be a big event, consider hosting smaller events alongside it. For instance, you could have an outdoor BBQ or a run a raffle draw to help raise even more money.

7. Share your event success

Once the tournament is over, remember to thank everyone involved, including your local Fundraising Manager if you worked with them.

Post photos of the day on Facebook or JustGiving and share how much money you raised. Finally, remember to pay in the money you raise.

8. Other football fundraising ideas

When it comes to football-themed fundraisers, 5-a-side isn’t your only option! There are lots of other ideas to choose from, or you could invent your own format. Here are some other football fundraising ideas to get you thinking:

• Sponsored penalty shoot-out: challenge people to take on the best goalkeeper you can find. You could ask people to donate for each penalty they attempt.
• Marathon football match: see if you can keep a football moving around the pitch for a set amount of time. If you’re up for a real challenge, you could aim for 24 hours. Just make sure you get enough people on board!
• Football-themed quiz night: this one is for all the football fanatics out there. Ask for donations to join a fun-filled evening of brain-teasing questions either in person or online. Read our guide on how to organise a quiz night.