Sideline Help Open Sideline

Set up your club with the setup wizard

When you create a new club, Sideline opens the setup wizard. It asks one question on each screen, and your club is ready for its first season when you finish.

Until the first five steps are done, only an owner can use Sideline. Other members of the club see a page that says the club is being set up. A second owner can use the wizard too. You can also set up from a workbook (see below).

Before you start

Have your club's page on the FA Club Portal open. The FA Club Portal is where clubs register teams, players and officials. You copy some names from it.

Set up your club

  1. Season. Choose a season that Sideline lists, or make your own. For your own season, Sideline fills in the usual winter season, for example 2026/27, 1 September to 31 May. Change the name and the dates if your season is different. If you set up in the middle of the season, keep these dates. Sideline does not start the season on the day you set up.
  2. League. Type three letters of your league's name and pick the league from the list. If the league is not in the list, add it. Copy the name exactly as the FA Club Portal shows it. If your teams play in more than one league, add each league. Then select Save and continue.
  3. Fees. Add each way a player can pay, for example one payment for the season or monthly subs. A parent picks one of them when they register. To charge a registration fee on top, add it as its own One-off fee and tick This is a registration fee, paid on top of the plan they pick. Parents pay it when they register, whichever plan they pick. You need at least one fee that is not a registration fee. To give brothers and sisters money off, open Give a discount for brothers and sisters (optional).
  4. Teams. Enter your club's name as the FA Club Portal shows it. Then enter each team, using the name from the Team name column, for example U10. Sideline adds your club's name and shows the saved name, for example "Riverside Football Club U10".
  5. Enter teams. Put each team in the season, and check its league and fees.
  6. Sessions. This step is optional. If you run sessions such as Academy or Wildcats, add them here. Skip it to add sessions later.
  7. Policies and terms. This step is optional. Add your terms and conditions and other policies, each as a link to your website or as a PDF. Parents accept them when they register. Skip it to add them later in Settings, Policies and terms.

When you finish, you can use the rest of Sideline.

Set up from a workbook instead

On the first screen, choose Upload our setup workbook.

  1. Download the starter workbook. It has a Season tab, a Teams tab and a Fees tab. The Leagues and Officials tabs are optional.
  2. Fill it in on a computer. On the Season tab, keep the season we filled in, or choose a season from the list. On the Teams tab, give each team a name, an age group and boys, girls or mixed.
  3. Give each team its league. Copy the name exactly as the FA Club Portal shows it. If you leave the league blank, the team gets the league you chose in the wizard, if you chose one league only. Otherwise you choose it in the next steps.
  4. A team with no league cannot have fees or a head coach yet. Leave those cells blank, or add the league.
  5. Upload the workbook and check it. Fix any problems, then load it.

After the load, the wizard opens at the first step that is still missing.

Stop and come back

Sideline saves each answer. You can sign out and come back at any time. When you sign in again, the wizard opens at the first step that is not done.

When a team opens to parents

A team is not open to parents when you enter it. It opens when it has an affiliation number and a head coach who has registered. You do these two things next, in the club console.

Common questions

Why can I not use the rest of Sideline?

A new club must finish the first five steps of the setup wizard first. Only an owner can use Sideline until then. Ask an owner of your club to finish the set-up.

Why must I copy names exactly from the FA Club Portal?

FA Full-Time is where leagues publish fixtures, results and tables. Sideline matches your fixtures on FA Full-Time by the team names and your club's name. If a name is different, the fixtures for that team do not match.

What if I set up the club in the middle of the season?

Keep the dates the wizard shows, for example 1 September to 31 May. Sideline does not start the season on the day you set up.

Can I add more than one fee?

Yes. Choose Add this fee again on the Fees step for each extra fee, for example one payment for the season and monthly subs. A parent picks one of them. A registration fee is a separate one-off fee with This is a registration fee, paid on top of the plan they pick ticked. Parents do not pick it. They pay it when they register, on top of their plan.

Why can parents not register for my team yet?

A team opens to parents when it has an affiliation number and a head coach who has registered. Add what is missing on the team, and the team opens.