Globally leagues will be moving away from paper based teamsheets and cash payments to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Many countries are introducing new processes to deal with this for example in England.

On the 18th July the FA announced that the UK Government had approved their return to play plan for outdoor grassroots football.

In this announcement the FA also included guidance for the National League System which you can find here.

Two pieces of advice for Match Officials caught our eye in particular:

Teamsheets: Physical team sheets should not be shared between the officials or opposition where possible. This can be sent electronically via photo or e-mail if required.

Match official payment: Where possible, arrangements will be made for the payment to be paid electronically, but should be communicated in advance to the match officials.

Off of the back of this guidance we are announcing two new features that the team are currently hard at work building, with a planned release date of early September:

Feature 1: Request Teamsheets

Once you’ve created a match on REFSIX you’ll soon be able to Request a Teamsheet from both clubs. Simply click on the Request Teamsheet option on the Match page and input the manager’s e-mail address. They will then be e-mailed a link to a blank teamsheet for the upcoming match. Here they can add their starting players, players on the bench, their associated kit number and any team officials they have on the bench.

Once they have completed the teamsheet it is then sent back to you and automatically added to your match. Not only will this save the you from inputting the teamsheet yourself but it also reduces the risk of any transmission from swapping paper copies of teamsheets.

Feature 2: Request Payment

Similarly to the Request Teamsheets button, you’ll soon also see a Request Payments option on the Match screen. You’ll be able to input the match fee (fee + expenses) for the game as well as the e-mail of the paying club alongside your Paypal.me link. This will then send a link to the paying club with details of the match, the requested fee and a link to pay you via Paypal. With the majority of clubs using Paypal now for their player subs (through the Matchday app), Paypal is a great way to collect your match fee without having to give out bank account details.

We hope to bring both features to all REFSIX users in early September. If you have any feedback or want us to present these features to a league you operate on please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at contact@refsix.com