64 SMALL-SIDED SOCCER GAMES

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64 Small-Sided Soccer Games to help develop players

Small-sided games give players more time on the ball to develop their essential core skills and, importantly, keep them from getting bored.

I have compiled what I consider to be the most useful games for you to use in my 64 Small-Sided Football Games manual.

Every game is tried, tested and proven with beginners and top youth players in professional academies. You can re-use your favourites, while keeping your kids engaged and learning throughout the season.

Some games focus on improving players' passing under pressure, while others aim at increasing their tactical awareness - their "football vision" - so they learn to see opportunities on the pitch sooner.

Players will begin to take more responsibility, make decisions faster and get used to relishing 1v1 scenarios.

By using smaller pitches you can run several games at once, perhaps focussing on different skills at the same time, so all of your players will be playing all of the time.

No kid will find themselves left out

64 Small-Sided Soccer Games will improve your players' core skills through the sheer number of touches each game requires, and give your team the confidence and ability to win more games.

And they will help you eliminate the boredom factor at training sessions for good.

Each game includes easy-to-follow rules and three illustrations so there's no need for a referee - you can just let them get on with it - and be confident players are getting the most out of each game.

About Michael Beale

Michael wrote 64 Small Sided Soccer Games while he was a Chelsea FC Academy Coach where he worked closely with kids and young adults, developing talented players into the stars of the future.

A professional footballer with English Premiership club Charlton Athletic and FC Twente of the Eredivisie in the Netherlands. Mike also played for a number of English Representative teams and US colleges.

Mike's career as a coach (and the benefits of these games) speaks for itself. From the Chelsea academy, Michael moved to Liverpool FC where he coached the U23s, from there he went to Sao Paolo in Brazil before returning for a brief spell back at Liverpool. From here Michael joined Rangers as First Team Coach before moving with Head Coach, Steven Gerrard, to Aston Villa three years later.

Michael stepped into first team management at Queens Park Rangers before returning to Glasgow Rangers, where he is now Head Coach.

Why small-sided games work

The inspiration for small-sided games lies in street football where small groups play intense, skilful, competitive-yet-fun football - often for hours on end without losing interest. The sort of thing you see in the streets of Argentina and Brazil... and we all know how talented their teams are!

Small-sided games are now used at leading soccer clubs and youth academies across the globe to teach players the techniques and skills they need to succeed. They are also endorsed by governing bodies worldwide.

 
And here's what they say...

US Youth Soccer:

"Players cannot hide or get lost in the small-sided environment. It helps improve competitiveness and aggressiveness. It’s a FUN environment that focuses on the PLAYER!"

Tom Goodman, National Director of Coaching Education, US Youth Soccer

English FA:

"Let's have more small-sided games so that they have more ball time. Let's allow them to have fun, take away the importance of winning and stop the young players being afraid of making mistakes. Concentrate on first touch and technique, allow that a short pass can often be more of a killer ball than the big hoof up to the centre-forward."

Sir Trevor Brooking, Director of Football Development, The FA

Scottish FA:

"These games are the preferred method of training by professional players and are the most appropriate way of acquiring skills and developing young players."

Football Development Department, The Scottish FA
 

And here's what just a few coaches say about 64 Small-Sided Soccer Games:

"Myself and my assistant have found this book superb, we currently coach under 7s and the simplicity of the diagrams and the list of instructions has made understanding and performing the drills easy and fun with the boys. We have adapted some of the drills to suit our age group, but have still managed to get the overall idea across to the boys.

 

We have been able to find a drill and work a progression into it every week since we purchased it, and have noticed a greater understanding of the game starting to appear, it has now become our best reference point, we would recommend this book to any club, as it can be used from reception through to senior football."

 
Lewis Evans and Nick Gwyther, Whitchurch Sports Junior FC, Bristol, England

"As a coach, the most important thing is not to let the players get bored during training, and there is no chance of this happening with this book.

 

This season our team reached the Finals of the Middlesex County Cup, the Finals of the Harrow Youth League Cup and finished third in the Harrow Youth U11s Premier League.

 

Using this book has added another dimension to our training and would benefit any youth club or coach." 

  
Tom Atkinson, Honorary Secretary for L.N.E.R. Youth FC U11s, Wembley, England
 

"I have used your manual for the Spring season for my U10/11 girls team here in Alexandria, Virginia in the Lee-Mt. Vernon Soccer League.

 

The girls definitely improved their skills as there was less standing around and they enjoyed the games more than the standard line drills. Also, mixing up the type of games and doing other exercises helped keep their interest."

 

Rick Genuario, Lee-Mt. Vernon Soccer Club, Virginia, USA

"I have just finished my first year coaching an U12 girls team (South Cave JFC) in the East Riding Girls Football League.

 

The drills helped me enormously and through a combination of these drills and tonnes of dedication and hard work from the girls, the team went from a run-of-the-mill, average, mid-table side to a pretty formidable, well organised outfit that was strong across the whole of the park. The team secured the local league title with a perfect unbeaten record (Played 16 Won 16), scoring 127 goals all season but even more remarkably we only conceded 4 goals in return.

 

It has been a hugely successful season for the girls but if (at the beginning of the season) you had suggested to the players and parents that they were going to do so well, you'd have been certified!"

 

Tony Grunnill, South Cave JFC U12 Girls, East Riding, England says:
 

64 ways to improve your team!

There are solutions to all your team's woes in 64 Small-Sided Soccer Games:

Not scoring enough goals?
Need your defence to work more as a unit?
Passing not sharp enough?

Don't worry - there is a tailor-made session to suit your players that is easy to set up and follow.

And bored kids at your training sessions will be a thing of the past.