9-a-side pitch size

9v9 pitch dimensions

England Football's sizes, length by width, without the run-off round the pitch:

• Recommended: 73 by 46 metres (about 80 by 50 yards, 240 by 151 feet).
• Maximum: the same, 73 by 46 metres.
• Minimum: 64 by 37 metres (about 70 by 40 yards).

Goal size and ball

• Goals: 16 feet wide by 7 feet high (about 4.9 by 2.1 metres).
• Ball: size 4.
• Match length: up to 60 minutes.

Run-off round the pitch

The FA's rules recommend a safety area of at least 3 yards (or 3 metres) round natural grass pitches, free of barriers. With it, the FA's rules put a 9v9 pitch at 86 by 56 yards in all.

Who plays 9v9

In England, from the 2026-27 season, under-12s and under-13s play 9v9 on matchday, as the biggest format for those ages. Under-10s and under-11s play 7v7, and 11v11 starts at under-14s. The 9-a-side rules guide has the rest: offside, heading and rolling subs.

Adult 9-a-side

There's no FA pitch size for adult 9-a-side, so leagues and venues set their own. The youth 9v9 size is a sensible guide: at 73 by 46 metres, each of 18 players gets about 187 square metres, between a big 7-a-side pitch (171 each for 14) and the FA's full-size 11-a-side pitch (about 290 each for 22).

Eighteen players is a lot to sort every week. The team generator splits them fairly and the lineup builder draws the shape.

Pitch sizes for the other formats: 5-a-side, 7-a-side, 9-a-side and 11-a-side, or every size on one page.

Questions