Vol. 1, Issue 5 - Pre-Season Admin
A slightly delayed newsletter this week. Now that the season is over, it is time to focus on preparing for 2021-2022. This issue focuses on registering with the FA and BFC correctly and accurately.
With the off-season underway, the EURO 2020 championship on the telly, and the sun shining once again, it is time for our members, new and old, to do a little housekeeping ahead of the new season.
Every one of our members must be registered with the FA. Next season we will move across to using the FA Match Day app and the FA Full-Time admin systems. ALL of our members and parents/carers must have a FAN number linked to their child. It is up to you to log in and fully update all of your details. Without completing these details correctly, you will not take part in league football or training. Firstly it is an insurance requirement. Secondly, it is a welfare requirement. And lastly, it is an administrative requirement.
The following is everything that you need to get yourself set up. All members, youth and adult, require this. If you have duplicate FAN numbers, please contact the FA directly and request that the data be merged and corrected. Unfortunately, we cannot do this for you!
JOINING BARHAM FC VIA WGS
The easiest way to make sure that you correctly join the club is to use this link.
Please be careful not to create a duplicate FAN when using this link. Although it still says that it is Barham Youth, please continue. The club name will change once the FA affiliation window opens in July.
REGISTER WITH THE FA - FAN NUMBER
Here is how to get a FAN number.
An FA Number (FAN) is a unique identification number that holds all your details and qualifications on the FA administration system. You will use your FA Number to log in to book courses online, log into the FA Whole Game System, register as a player for leagues that use the FA Whole Game System, and register as officers/coaches of clubs and leagues.
Getting a FAN Number is simple.
Visit the FA registration webpage by clicking on this link.
It is best if you use a mobile telephone number for your contact phone number – if you are the manager/coach of a team, your league may well send you text messages to report/record scores in matches. However, if you use a landline telephone number, the league will not send you text messages.
Fill out the form with the required information and press submit details.
Your FA FAN number is generated by the system and emailed to your entered email address. Make sure your email address is correct; otherwise, the system will not be able to send your FAN Number to you.
You should keep a record of your FAN as well as the related email address and telephone number. These details are often also asked for as an additional security measure when using your FAN Number.
To update your contact details, if they change after getting your FAN Number, click on this Retrieve Information link and enter your new information.
DUPLICATE FAN NUMBERS
There may be times when a new FAN is created by you or for you even though you already have an existing FAN.
If you think that this has happened to you and resulted in you having more than one FAN, please contact MyAccount@TheFA.com. Within your email, please include the following information so that any duplicate accounts can be merged, ensuring all qualifications are recorded under one FAN record:
Name
FANs that you aware that you hold
Date of birth
Correct email address
Full current postal address
Any old email and postal addresses that may be linked to old FANs
If you no longer have access to the email address used when you originally signed up for your FAN number, please follow the instructions below to help you gain access again.
If you know the password linked to your FAN, please visit https://myaccount.thefa.com, where you will be able to change your email address.
To do this, click on 'Sign in using FAN', where you will be re-directed to log in with your FAN and password. Once logged in, you will be able to change your email address. If you do not know your FAN, click on 'I don't know my FAN'.
You will then be asked to enter the required details, after which you will be shown part of the email address that you have registered, which you can then use to log in. If you do not know your password, click on Forgotten password? You will be sent an email to reset the password.
If you do not have access to that email address and cannot remember the password, please DO NOT create a new FAN. Instead, contact the My Account team (select PFF - My Account as the group).
THE FA MATCHDAY APP
The FA’s official Matchday app has been developed specifically to automate everything around your football life, and we are now using this excellent service.
Who’s in the team? Who are the opponents? Where’s the game? When’s kick-off? Is anyone currently suspended? With Matchday, all the answers are instantly available at your fingertips.
And it’s all in a safe and secure environment, backed by The FA. It also has up-to-date, comprehensive information on players, clubs, fixtures and leagues.
It’s often said that time is our most precious commodity. So the main aim of Matchday is to save you time, so you can confidently enjoy the game you love, knowing your football life is sorted. Oh, and we forgot to tell you – it’s free!
With Matchday, all the answers are instantly available at your fingertips. And there are lots more benefits:
Make yourself available and know immediately you’re picked;
View all future fixtures;
Stay across all past stats;
Keep an eye on the tables, fixtures, results and scorers;
To download the Matchday app, head to your app store and search 'Matchday'.
Players/Parents - Checking If You Can Sign In
You can always check if you can log in to Matchday by attempting to log in to myaccount.thefa.com. Enter in your email and password and click sign in.
The app will then take you to your My Account page, which gives you lots of information about your FA data, including your name, DOB and all the teams you have given consent to.
For Parents/Guardians:
you will be able to see all of your linked children on the My Account page, as well as all of the consent you've given to thee club. If you cannot see your child/ren on this page you need to ask the club to link you and that child together.
If you can sign in to My Account, then, as long as we have added you to a team correctly and you see the club in the consent section, you will sign into Matchday with the same login details.
Players/Parents - Unable to Sign In
You may try to sign in to the Matchday app or myaccount.thefa.com and receive this error message:
As explained, please do visit grassrootstechnology.thefa.com or the myaccount.thefa.com page and click 'Sign in Using FAN'.
This will then take you through a process that will claim your FAN and email and make it unique to no longer duplicate accounts that share your email. A full breakdown of this process is here.
You can even access the 'Sign In Using FAN' flow directly from the app. Just select the corresponding option, and it'll take you through the same flow as you can access from nearly every FA login.
Please note, we will not be using the PayPal payments function.
So, as you can see, there’s a lot to get your teeth into. As always, we are available to answer your questions regarding any of the issues raised in this week’s newsletter. Next week we will have news about FA affiliation and details about all of the leagues that we are entering teams into for the upcoming season. Lastly, bookings are being taken for our summer fun days, so make sure that you put those dates in your diary.
Yours in sports.
BFC