What Do Football Coaching Badges Mean? A Parent's Guide

Short answer: football coaching badges are qualifications awarded by The FA in England, and from the UEFA C upwards they are recognised across Europe by UEFA. In order, the main steps are EE Playmaker, Introduction to Coaching Football, the UEFA C, the UEFA B, the UEFA A and the UEFA Pro. For a coach leading children's sessions, the UEFA C is the badge that shows formal training in planning and running sessions. Whatever the badge, every coach working with children should also hold an in-date DBS check, a safeguarding course and first aid training. This guide explains what each badge means, how long it takes and what to ask before your child joins a club.

What are the football coaching badges in England?

The FA runs its coaching courses through England Football Learning. Each step builds on the one before, and a coach needs the earlier qualification to apply for the next.

Course details from England Football Learning and county FA listings, checked in October 2026. The names are changing: some FA pages say "Licence" and others "Diploma" for the same course.

What does a UEFA C licence mean?

The UEFA C is the first UEFA-recognised badge in England. It replaced The FA Level 2 in Coaching Football, so a coach who says they hold "Level 2" has reached the same step on the older system. To start the course, a coach must be at least 16 and hold the Introduction to Coaching Football (or the old Level 1), plus valid first aid and safeguarding qualifications.

The UEFA C runs over 16 to 20 weeks and mixes face-to-face sessions with online learning. The spacing is deliberate: coaches try ideas with their own players between sessions and bring what happened back to the course. The FA's 2025/26 list price was £650, with part-funded and fully funded places for grassroots coaches, so a coach with a UEFA C has usually put months of work into it.

For a parent, the badge means the coach has been trained to plan a session around what children need to learn, rather than setting out cones and running drills. It doesn't guarantee a good coach. It does tell you they have done the work.

What are the UEFA B, A and Pro licences?

These are the badges of the professional game. The UEFA B needs a UEFA C, at least 12 months' coaching since then, and a team playing in a season-long competition. It takes nine to twelve months. The UEFA A runs for 12 months around residential blocks at St George's Park, and the UEFA Pro takes 18 months. The Pro is the licence managers in the top divisions hold.

A seven-year-old rarely needs a B, A or Pro coach. At that age, what matters is a coach who knows how young children learn, keeps them moving and makes them want to come back. A UEFA C coach who specialises in children will often suit a young player better than a UEFA B coach whose experience is with adult teams.

What else should a children's football coach have?

A badge covers coaching. Keeping children safe is a separate set of checks, and it matters more. County FA rules for youth teams vary a little, but a lead coach is typically expected to hold:

• An FA DBS check. An Enhanced criminal record check, renewed every three years.
• The FA Safeguarding Children course. Training in spotting and reporting concerns about a child, with a shorter refresher when it expires.
• Introduction to First Aid in Football. The FA's first aid course for coaches, also renewed every three years.

These requirements come from county FA guidance, such as Hertfordshire FA's 2024/25 safeguarding requirements. Your own county FA publishes the rules for the current season.

A club should also have a named safeguarding lead and a written policy you can read. Our guide to choosing a safe football club lists eight questions to ask and what good answers sound like.

How can I check a coach's qualifications?

Ask. A good club tells you which badges its coaches hold without hesitating, and many list them on their website. Every coach registered with The FA has an FA Number (FAN), and their courses are recorded against it, so a club can show you what a coach holds.

Questions worth asking:

• Which coaching badge does the lead coach hold? Expect a specific answer, such as "UEFA C", not "lots of experience".
• Are all coaches DBS-checked, including assistants? The answer should be yes for anyone who works with children.
• Who is the safeguarding lead? There should be a name.
• What experience does the coach have with my child's age group? Coaching four-year-olds and coaching fifteen-year-olds are different jobs.

Do coaching badges make a good coach?

Not on their own. A badge shows training. It doesn't show how a coach speaks to a nervous six-year-old, or whether children leave the session smiling. The best way to judge is to see a session.

Signs to look for:

• Every child has a ball or is in a game for most of the hour.
• The coach learns names quickly and uses them.
• Feedback is short, specific and mostly positive.
• The session has one clear theme, not a list of unrelated drills.

Our guide to football training for kids shows how a good hour should run and the red flags to watch for.

Which badge should my child's coach have?

This is our view, not an FA rule:

• Ages 4–7: at least the Introduction to Coaching Football, ideally a UEFA C, plus DBS, safeguarding and first aid. Experience with very young children counts for a lot.
• Ages 8–12: a UEFA C for the lead coach. Technique and game understanding grow fastest at this age, and planned coaching shows.
• Ages 13–17: a UEFA C at least. Teenagers aiming for academy trials may also gain from a coach with a UEFA B or academy experience.

Not sure which group your child is in? See football age groups for 2026–27. If you're weighing a professional academy against a club, read academy vs club football.

What qualifications do Konevych FDC coaches hold?

Both our head coaches, Andrii Konevych and Fredrik Frost, hold the UEFA C licence and studied at St Mary's University. Both have coached at a Chelsea FC Development Centre. Every coach holds an Enhanced DBS check, we have a designated safeguarding lead, and there is a first aid kit at every session. You can read our safeguarding policy and meet the team on our coaches page.

The easiest way to judge any coach is to see them work. Your child's first session with us is free: book a free trial at Goals Tolworth and see for yourself.

Further reading: kids football in Tolworth.