PayPal and The Football Association team up to tackle the missing millions in grassroots football fees

PayPal has joined forces with The Football Association to enable over a million grassroots players to pay their match fees with their smartphones. 

• Over one million grassroots players can now pay their match fees on their mobiles
• Millions of pounds extra could be collected digitally by grassroots clubs every season
• The FA Matchday App transforms the grassroots game for players and managers
• PayPal’s four-year partnership with The Football Association is designed to help the sport thrive in the digital age

Until now, the grassroots game has largely relied on money changing hands in person, with 80% of clubs taking cash and 38% using old fashioned cheques to collect payment. The sport’s reliance on cash and cheques means many clubs suffer from late or missing payments. 74% of club officials admit they waste time chasing late payments from players and parents, and a third of clubs report that up to 40% of their match fees are not collected. The FA estimates that grassroots clubs subsequently miss out on millions of pounds of uncollected fees every season.

The FA Matchday App will transform how grassroots managers, players, and parents pay their match fees, annual subs, and even fines incurred for receiving a red or yellow card. By digitising payments through The FA Matchday App, The FA and PayPal will simplify the collection and tracking of money for people who manage grassroots football teams. In fact, 71% of club officials have said they would welcome a new online payment system that could help them to collect match fees in a quick, simple and more secure way. The app enables club officials to spend less time chasing and counting cash, and more time invested in running their teams.

Rob Harper, Director of Mobile Payments at PayPal UK, said,

“Technology is enabling us to move away from cash in almost all aspects of life, and the beautiful game is next. Those forgotten fivers to pay for subs soon add up, and become a real headache for managers. Together with The FA, we’ve devised an easy way for players to leave their wallet or chequebook at home, and use their PayPal digital wallet to settle up instead. With over 24 million PayPal account holders in the UK, we are well placed to drive positive and lasting change for the sport.”

The FA Matchday App has also been developed to reduce the time and effort needed to run a grassroots football team. It allows club secretaries, managers and coaches to organise matches and training, select their line-up, and instantly give updates to their team. Players can share their availability, view all future fixtures and keep an eye on the tables and results. 

This announcement comes as The FA signs a new four-year partnership agreement with PayPal. Along with The FA Matchday App, the partnership will see the two organisations collaborate on further initiatives to support grassroots football. Later this year, teams will be able redeem free football training kit and equipment.

Next Steps

For clubs to use this new feature they will be required to create a PayPal account for their club and set up their payment structure for their teams and players.  This will be the job of the Clubs secretary, treasurer or chairperson depending on who has access to the clubs finances. 

Clubs will have a two week period to start setting up their accounts before Matchday is promoted through the Extra Time campaign from the 13th March. This will allow those Matchday ready clubs to create their PayPal accounts and set up their payment structures. 

Various ‘How to Guides’ have been created for clubs to help guide them through the process and PayPal will be assisting with a customer support team. All the guides are available below for you to review and understand which will help if any questions arise.