UK Football Trials 2025 - A Complete Guide For Aspiring Stars

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Trial day can be very stressful for any player that’s looking to become a professional footballer. By trial day, you’ve put in your all and trained hard for the challenges that lie ahead. But knowing what you’ll be facing can help calm the nerves, allowing you to be at the top of your game.

In this post, we’ll go over everything that you need to know about football academies and academy trials so you can be prepared to shine in front of professional coaches. As you read on, you’ll also find the remaining football trials of 2025 which you can sign up for.

What To Expect At A Football Trial And What A Football Scout Is Looking For

Registering And Team Meeting

The very first thing that you’ll be doing is registering yourself when you arrive at the training ground. Here, you’ll be showing your registration details and getting yourself a bib to keep for the rest of the session. While this isn’t something that happens always, you might get the chance to meet the coaches before the session starts. If you get the chance to do that, remember that your first impression matters a lot. 

When you first arrive at the academy trial, your attitude matters the most. It’s important that you don’t walk in with any sort of overconfidence or narcissism to your game. Ideally, you want to be courteous while ensuring that you have everything in order. Remember to stay professional. When you come to a trial, there’s often very little room for you to act super casual. It’s best that you approach everything with a bit of seriousness in order to show that you’re not taking things too lightly.

Trial Briefing

Once everyone has arrived and is ready, the coaches at the trial will set up a briefing or small meeting. In this, they’ll be going over everything that you’ll be experiencing in the next few hours, from drills to what they’re expecting from the players present.

It’s important that you pay close attention so you’re not taken aback by something later on. And don’t be afraid of asking questions. When you know exactly what’s coming next, you’ll be able to prepare yourself and concentrate better.

Grouping And Warm Ups

Once the briefing is out the way, the coaches will start warming the players up. Usually, the coaches might start with separating players according to age groups. The purpose of the warm ups isn’t just to get players ready for the drills ahead. It’s also done to give you the chance to shake off any anxiety and get into the head space to perform well.

Fitness Tests

As you’re warming up, the coach will start working on fitness tests. Usually, this involves drills like sprinting and general endurance runs. These fitness drills allow the coaches to get a sense of what your work rate and agility will be like when you’re actually playing a match. 

Remember that once you enter the ground, your trial has already begun. And so, it’s very important that you take every drill with the same level of seriousness as you enter. Use the fitness test as the first chance to show that you’re ready for the challenges ahead and the coaches will find exactly what they’re looking for in you.

Technical Tests

Once the warm ups and fitness drills are out the way, the coaches will move onto your technical ability. This generally involves testing your capabilities in the following:

Ball Control

It goes without saying that your ball control is probably the most important skill, even in an actual football game. How you move with the ball, what your first touch is like and how you handle the ball under pressure is crucial. It shows how well you’ve worked on your decision making and mental fortitude.

Passing

To get a better idea of your decision making, you might be paired up with other players for passing drills. During these, coaches are often looking for how you communicate with your team members and how you approach the simplest task in a game.

While showing off your clever passes is great, remember that coaches aren’t trying to see if you can make every trivial pass work. Instead, they’re trying to find out whether you’re ready to help out your team mates and if you’re making smart choices on the pitch. Keeping things simple is often the best way to go about it.

Positional Training

After the basics, the coaches might move on to something a bit more specialised. Players may be asked to separate into groups according to their positions. It’s like putting players in an attacker vs defender scenario. The attackers get to work on and show off their finishing and dribbling skills while the defenders show off their game IQ and positioning. 

You might even be asked to play in a role that doesn’t necessarily suit your playing style. Don’t make it a big deal and just work with the coaches. Playing the way a coach wants you to showcases your flexibility and cooperation levels.

Tactical Matches

Once all the drills are over, you’ll be moving into the match stage. This is where you’ll have the chance to show off everything that you’ve worked on in the training drills. Players will be evaluated depending on how well they play in a proper match setting. What matters the most here is how you perform within a team and how deep your game IQ goes. 

If you can become the next Erling Haaland and score 4 goals in a match, that’s great. But not everyone’s going to be able to do that. In that case, it’s better to work on adding something to the entire game and making your team better rather than focusing on solo glory.

Post Match Briefings

At the end of a trial, players are huddled together for a debriefing session. This is where coaches will wrap things up by offering their advice and going over things. 

Generally, coaches will not focus on providing tailored comments but instead focus on broader advice. Still, it’s important that you pay close attention to what’s being said because there’s always room for you to learn something.

After the briefing is over, you can go up to the coaches and ask for personal feedback. Usually, coaches will be ready to give you advice and tell you what went well and what didn’t.

UK Football Trials 2025 - Dates And Useful Information

Dates	Ages	Player Role	Location	Venue	Start Time	End Time	Price
22 Dec 2025	8 - 10 Years	Outfield Player	South London	Charlton Athletic Community Trust Training Ground,via Footscray Rugby Club,Footscray Road	10:00	12:00	N/A
22 Dec 2025	11 - 13 Years	Outfield Player	South London	Charlton Athletic Community Trust Training Ground,via Footscray Rugby Club,Footscray Road	10:00	12:00	£99.00
22 Dec 2025	14 - 16 Years	Outfield Player	South London	Charlton Athletic Community Trust Training Ground,via Footscray Rugby Club,Footscray Road	10:00	13:00	N/A
22 Dec 2025	8 - 10 Years	Goalkeeper	South London	Charlton Athletic Community Trust Training Ground,via Footscray Rugby Club,Footscray Road	10:00	12:00	£99.00
22 Dec 2025	11 - 13 Years	Goalkeeper	South London	Charlton Athletic Community Trust Training Ground,via Footscray Rugby Club,Footscray Road	10:00	12:00	£99.00
22 Dec 2025	14 - 16 Years	Goalkeeper	South London	Charlton Athletic Community Trust Training Ground,via Footscray Rugby Club,Footscray Road	10:00	13:00	N/A
22 Dec 2025	11 - 13 Years	Outfield Player	South London	Charlton Athletic Community Trust Training Ground,via Footscray Rugby Club,Footscray Road	14:00	16:00	£99.00
22 Dec 2025	14 - 16 Years	Outfield Player	South London	Charlton Athletic Community Trust Training Ground,via Footscray Rugby Club,Footscray Road	14:00	17:00	£109.00
22 Dec 2025	17 - 24 Years	Outfield Player	South London	Charlton Athletic Community Trust Training Ground,via Footscray Rugby Club,Footscray Road	14:00	17:00	N/A
22 Dec 2025	11 - 13 Years	Goalkeeper	South London	Charlton Athletic Community Trust Training Ground,via Footscray Rugby Club,Footscray Road	14:00	16:00	£99.00
22 Dec 2025	14 - 16 Years	Goalkeeper	South London	Charlton Athletic Community Trust Training Ground,via Footscray Rugby Club,Footscray Road	14:00	17:00	£109.00
22 Dec 2025	17 - 24 Years	Goalkeeper	South London	Charlton Athletic Community Trust Training Ground,via Footscray Rugby Club,Footscray Road	14:00	17:00	£109.00
22 Dec 2025	11 - 13 Years	Outfield Player	Manchester / Liverpool	Gigg Lane, Bury	10:00	12:00	£109.00
22 Dec 2025	14 - 16 Years	Outfield Player	Manchester / Liverpool	Gigg Lane, Bury	10:00	13:00	£119.00
22 Dec 2025	17 - 24 Years	Outfield Player	Manchester / Liverpool	Gigg Lane, Bury	10:00	13:00	£119.00
22 Dec 2025	11 - 13 Years	Goalkeeper	Manchester / Liverpool	Gigg Lane, Bury	10:00	12:00	£109.00
22 Dec 2025	14 - 16 Years	Goalkeeper	Manchester / Liverpool	Gigg Lane, Bury	10:00	13:00	£119.00
22 Dec 2025	17-24 Years	Goalkeeper	Manchester / Liverpool	Gigg Lane, Bury	10:00	13:00	£119.00
22 Dec 2025	11 - 13 Years	Outfield Player	Manchester / Liverpool	Gigg Lane, Bury	14:00	16:00	£109.00
22 Dec 2025	14 - 16 Years	Outfield Player	Manchester / Liverpool	Gigg Lane, Bury	14:00	17:00	£119.00
22 Dec 2025	17 - 24 Years	Outfield Player	Manchester / Liverpool	Gigg Lane, Bury	14:00	17:00	£119.00
22 Dec 2025	11 - 13 Years	Goalkeeper	Manchester / Liverpool	Gigg Lane, Bury	14:00	16:00	£109.00
22 Dec 2025	14 - 16 Years	Goalkeeper	Manchester / Liverpool	Gigg Lane, Bury	14:00	17:00	N/A
22 Dec 2025	17 - 24 Years	Goalkeeper	Manchester / Liverpool	Gigg Lane, Bury	14:00	17:00	£119.00
23 Dec 2025	11 - 13 Years	Outfield Player	West London	Middlesex FA, Rectory Park, Ruislip Road, Northolt, Ealing.	10:00	12:00	N/A
23 Dec 2025	14 - 16 Years	Outfield Player	West London	Middlesex FA, Rectory Park, Ruislip Road, Northolt, Ealing.	10:00	13:00	N/A
23 Dec 2025	17 - 24 Years	Outfield Player	West London	Middlesex FA, Rectory Park, Ruislip Road, Northolt, Ealing.	10:00	13:00	£109.00
23 Dec 2025	11 - 13 Years	Goalkeeper	West London	Middlesex FA, Rectory Park, Ruislip Road, Northolt, Ealing.	10:00	12:00	£99.00
23 Dec 2025	14 - 16 Years	Goalkeeper	West London	Middlesex FA, Rectory Park, Ruislip Road, Northolt, Ealing.	10:00	13:00	N/A
23 Dec 2025	17 - 24 Years	Goalkeeper	West London	Middlesex FA, Rectory Park, Ruislip Road, Northolt, Ealing.	10:00	13:00	£109.00
23 Dec 2025	11 - 13 Years	Outfield Player	West London	Middlesex FA, Rectory Park, Ruislip Road, Northolt, Ealing.	14:00	16:00	£99.00
23 Dec 2025	14 - 16 Years	Outfield Player	West London	Middlesex FA, Rectory Park, Ruislip Road, Northolt, Ealing.	14:00	17:00	£109.00
23 Dec 2025	17 - 24 Years	Outfield Player	West London	Middlesex FA, Rectory Park, Ruislip Road, Northolt, Ealing.	14:00	17:00	£109.00
23 Dec 2025	11 - 13 Years	Goalkeeper	West London	Middlesex FA, Rectory Park, Ruislip Road, Northolt, Ealing.	14:00	16:00	£99.00
23 Dec 2025	14 - 16 Years	Goalkeeper	West London	Middlesex FA, Rectory Park, Ruislip Road, Northolt, Ealing.	14:00	17:00	£109.00
23 Dec 2025	17 - 24 Years	Goalkeeper	West London	Middlesex FA, Rectory Park, Ruislip Road, Northolt, Ealing.	14:00	17:00	£109.00
23 Dec 2025	8 - 10 Years	Outfield Player	West Midlands	Tamworth FC, The Lamb Ground, Kettlebrook Road, Tamworth, Staffordshire	9:30	11:30	£109.00
23 Dec 2025	11 - 13 Years	Outfield Player	West Midlands	Tamworth FC, The Lamb Ground, Kettlebrook Road, Tamworth, Staffordshire	9:30	11:30	£109.00
23 Dec 2025	14 - 16 Years	Outfield Player	West Midlands	Tamworth FC, The Lamb Ground, Kettlebrook Road, Tamworth, Staffordshire	9:30	12:30	£119.00
23 Dec 2025	8 - 10 Years	Goalkeeper	West Midlands	Tamworth FC, The Lamb Ground, Kettlebrook Road, Tamworth, Staffordshire	9:30	11:30	£109.00
23 Dec 2025	11 - 13 Years	Goalkeeper	West Midlands	Tamworth FC, The Lamb Ground, Kettlebrook Road, Tamworth, Staffordshire	9:30	11:30	£109.00
23 Dec 2025	14 - 16 Years	Goalkeeper	West Midlands	Tamworth FC, The Lamb Ground, Kettlebrook Road, Tamworth, Staffordshire	9:30	12:30	N/A
23 Dec 2025	11 - 13 Years	Outfield Player	West Midlands	Tamworth FC, The Lamb Ground, Kettlebrook Road, Tamworth, Staffordshire	13:30	15:30	£109.00
23 Dec 2025	14 - 16 Years	Outfield Player	West Midlands	Tamworth FC, The Lamb Ground, Kettlebrook Road, Tamworth, Staffordshire	13:30	16:30	£119.00
23 Dec 2025	17 - 24 Years	Outfield Player	West Midlands	Tamworth FC, The Lamb Ground, Kettlebrook Road, Tamworth, Staffordshire	13:30	16:30	£119.00
23 Dec 2025	11 - 13 Years	Goalkeeper	West Midlands	Tamworth FC, The Lamb Ground, Kettlebrook Road, Tamworth, Staffordshire	13:30	15:30	£109.00
23 Dec 2025	14 - 16 Years	Goalkeeper	West Midlands	Tamworth FC, The Lamb Ground, Kettlebrook Road, Tamworth, Staffordshire	13:30	16:30	N/A
23 Dec 2025	17 - 24 Years	Goalkeeper	West Midlands	Tamworth FC, The Lamb Ground, Kettlebrook Road, Tamworth, Staffordshire	13:30	16:30	£119.00

How To Prepare For Trial Day

Confirm The Academy Open Trial’s Details

Before anything else, it’s important that you confirm all the trial’s details. Ensure that you know exactly where you have to be and when you have to get there. Stress levels will be high and it’s easy to lose track of something important.

It’s good to keep all your trial details, registration needs, and footballing gear in one area. This ensures that you don’t end up missing something out or wasting time trying to find something. Starting your day off like that can ruin how well your trial goes.

Preparing Yourself, Physically And Mentally

When it’s trial day, it’s normal for your stress levels to be at an all time high. But it’s important that you prepare yourself both mentally and physically.

Don’t skip out on any of your meals and remember to sleep well the night before. The more you take care of yourself, the better you’ll be able to perform and concentrate when it’s time to. By now, you'll have a pretty good idea about what will be expected of you on trial day. To help calm your nerves, you can try and picture how the day is going to go and how you’ll be dealing with each task ahead.

How To Find The Right Football Academy For You

When you’re looking for the right football academy to join, it’s common to have questions about what to look for and whether it’ll be right for you. To make your search process just a little bit easier, here are a few things that can help pick the right academy to join:

Location

One of the first things that you’ll have to look for is where the academy is located. It’s always better to not go for academies that are too far out of your way unless you can figure out a way to solve potential transport issues.

At the same time, the locality of the football academy can help give you a better idea about the standard of coaching that you’ll get. Academies that are located in bigger towns and capital cities have better partnerships and links to professional teams than those located in smaller areas.

Academy Partnerships

When you’re looking to learn from the best of the best, you’ll want to ensure that the academy you choose has contacts or professional partnerships to provide that. Picking an academy that’s affiliated with bigger teams or organizations like UEFA ensures that you have access to the best coaches there are. It also ensures that you have easier access to official trials.

Level Of Coaches

As someone who’s looking to get their break through football academy trials, you’ll want to ensure that the academy you choose allows you to work with well known and capable coaches. When academies have well known coaches, they are often licensed by UEFA, ensuring that you are learning from the best. This also helps you prepare better for UK football trials.

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How AF Global Can Help You Prepare For Your Trials

We understand that finding the right football academy can be a difficult task, but you don’t have to look any further than AF Global. AF Global is an international football development organisation with several partnerships with existing schools and universities. You’d be wrong to think of AF Global as just any footballing academy. It’s more of a footballing faculty that works inside well-known institutions so that students can pursue professional-level football while not compromising on their academic education. AF Global’s team is filled with UEFA-qualified coaches, analysts and specialists who oversee your child’s football performances in order to develop a well-rounded, soon-to-be professional. With an organisation like AF Global, you won’t have to worry about your child receiving anything less than the best training and experience there is.

Frequently Asked Questions

• How Should You Prepare For Your Football Trial?

  On the day of your trial, it’s important that you have everything in order beforehand. This means that you’ve gathered all the registration papers you’ll need and you have gone over the details of the trial at least twice. Ensure that you have a proper breakfast and proper sleep the night before. This helps you stay focused and ready for the trial ahead.

• How Much Does A UK Football Trial Cost?

  The cost of UK football trials generally depends on age groups. Generally, prices can range anywhere from £70 to £119 for a proper football trial.

• What Are Some Things You Should Avoid Doing At An Academy Trial?

  You should never be late to a football trial. Apart from that, it’s important that you stay courteous and follow what coaches have to say. No coach appreciates a bad attitude or wants to coach a player who is hard to play with.

• How Do You Pick The Right Football Academy?

  When you’re searching for an academy to join, you’ll need to look at where the academy is located. This helps decide whether commuting to the training ground is possible and also gives you an idea of the level of coaches that you’ll face. Additionally, look out for the partnerships and coaches that the academy offers. Generally, you want to go for higher level coaches, like those licensed by UEFA, to ensure that you receive the best coaching possible and the easiest access to football trials.

  Preparation is by far the most important factor that will help you shine ahead of other aspiring stars at a football trial. Keeping yourself ready for the big day ensures that you feel comfortable and at your best when it matters the most. 

  But remember that a good trial isn’t just about scoring goals or making that last ditch tackle. It’s about being a team player and showing the scouts that you’ve got something more than just the ability to perform. When you step out onto the pitch for your trial, just be yourself and show a willingness to learn. That’s what gets the scouts to notice you the most.