amator.appEleven-a-side is association football as the Laws of the Game define it. The Laws are written by The IFAB, run to seventeen, and are meant to be the same on every field "from the FIFA World Cup final to the smallest village". The current edition is 2026/27, in force from 1 July 2026. This page gives the numbers and the rules an amateur player actually meets, then says what national associations are allowed to change for grassroots football and what Sunday teams change in practice.
What 11v11 is and where it is played
Full-size pitches, natural grass or artificial turf, 7.32 m goals, a referee and ideally two assistants. In Poland amateur 11v11 lives in the lowest district leagues run by the regional associations (B-klasa, A-klasa) and in friendlies between company, village and old-boys teams on club or municipal pitches. The barrier to entry is not the rules but the headcount: twenty-two players, substitutes, a referee and a pitch large enough.
Pitch and goal
The field of play is a rectangle: touchline 90–120 m, goal line 45–90 m (international matches 100–110 × 64–75 m). The goal area extends 5.5 m from each post and 5.5 m into the field; the penalty area 16.5 m from each post and 16.5 m into the field. The penalty mark is 11 m from the midpoint between the posts, with an arc of 9.15 m radius drawn outside the area. The centre circle has a 9.15 m radius and each corner a 1 m arc.
Goals are 7.32 m between the inside of the posts and 2.44 m from the ground to the underside of the crossbar. They must be white; posts and crossbar may be no wider than 12 cm, like the lines.
Ball
Size 5: 68–70 cm in circumference, 410–450 g at the start of the match, inflated to 0.6–1.1 atmosphere. Balls in competitions run by FIFA or the confederations must carry a FIFA Quality mark; at amateur level any size-5 ball that holds its shape and pressure is legal.
Team size and substitutions
Eleven players a side, one of whom is the goalkeeper. A match may not start or continue if either team has fewer than seven. In official competitions up to five substitutes may be used, from a list of three to fifteen named; where five are allowed, each team has three substitution opportunities plus half-time. In other matches the teams may agree a higher number before kick-off; if nothing is agreed, six.
A substituted player takes no further part, unless the competition uses return substitutions, which the Laws permit only in youth, veterans, disability and grassroots football with the national association's agreement. From 2026/27 a player being substituted must leave the field within ten seconds of the signal.
Duration and clock
Two equal halves of 45 minutes, which may be reduced only by agreement between the referee and both teams before the match and within competition rules. The half-time interval may not exceed 15 minutes. The clock runs; the referee adds time lost to substitutions, injuries, cards, time-wasting and drinks breaks, which should not exceed a minute.
Key rules
Offside
A player is in an offside position when any part of the head, body or feet is in the opponents' half, excluding the halfway line, and nearer to the opponents' goal line than both the ball and the second-last opponent. Hands and arms do not count. Being there is not an offence; the player is penalised only on becoming involved in active play, by playing the ball, interfering with an opponent or gaining an advantage from a rebound. There is no offside from a goal kick, a throw-in or a corner kick. The restart is an indirect free kick where the offence occurred.
Throw-ins, goal kicks and corners
Throw-in: facing the field, part of each foot on or behind the touchline, both hands, from behind and over the head, from where the ball went out; opponents at least 2 m away; no goal directly. Goal kick: from anywhere in the goal area, opponents outside the penalty area until the ball is kicked and clearly moves; a goal may be scored directly, against the opponents only. Corner: ball in the corner arc, opponents 9.15 m away, goal directly allowed.
New in 2026/27: when a team deliberately delays a throw-in or goal kick, the referee whistles and counts down five seconds; if the ball is not in play by the end, the throw-in goes to the opponents and the goal kick becomes a corner for them.
Free kicks
Direct free kicks for the contact offences — charging, jumping at, kicking, pushing, striking, tackling, tripping — when careless, reckless or with excessive force, and for handball, holding, impeding with contact, spitting and throwing objects. Indirect free kicks for dangerous play, impeding without contact, dissent and the goalkeeper offences below. Opponents stand at least 9.15 m from the ball; where three or more defenders form a wall, attackers stay at least 1 m from it. An indirect free kick kicked straight into the goal is a goal kick, not a goal.
The goalkeeper
Inside the penalty area the goalkeeper may hold the ball for eight seconds; the referee counts the last five on raised fingers, and holding longer gives a corner kick to the opponents. An indirect free kick follows if the goalkeeper handles a deliberate kick from a team-mate, a team-mate's throw-in, or the ball they have just released before another player has touched it.
Penalty kicks
A direct free kick offence inside the penalty area is a penalty from 11 m. The goalkeeper must have at least part of one foot on, in line with or behind the goal line when the ball is kicked; everyone except the kicker and goalkeeper stays outside the area, behind the mark and at least 9.15 m from it.
Cards
Yellow for unsporting behaviour, dissent, persistent infringement, delaying a restart, failing to respect the distance, and entering or leaving without permission. Red for serious foul play, violent conduct, spitting, denying a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity by handball or by a foul (inside the penalty area a genuine attempt to play the ball reduces it to a yellow), offensive language and a second yellow. From 2026/27 there is no yellow card for denying a goal-scoring opportunity when the advantage is played and a goal is scored.
Amateur practice
The IFAB lets national associations modify, for youth, veterans, disability and grassroots football: the size of the field, the ball, the width and height of the goals, the length of the halves, the number of players, return substitutions and sin bins. Each association decides which of its competitions count as grassroots.
Amateur practice: a friendly between two amateur teams keeps the full Laws but bends four things by agreement: shorter halves of 35–40 minutes when the pitch is booked for ninety, rolling substitutions, a bench wider than six, and no assistant referees, so offside is the referee's call from the middle and close calls go to the defence. Fewer than eleven a side is not 11v11; call it 9v9 or 10v10 and agree where offside starts.
Shin guards are compulsory in every version, covered by the socks; the Laws make the player responsible for their size.
Organising an 11v11 game
Twenty-two is the floor and it is a hard one: eleven is the only format where one missing player changes the game for both teams. Collect sixteen to eighteen names per side, confirm forty-eight hours out and keep a reserve list for the day. Book a full-size pitch for two hours, because ninety minutes of play, a warm-up and a change of ends do not fit in one, and check that the goals have nets and the lines are marked.
Appoint a referee. For a friendly, a licensed referee from the district association costs a modest fee and is worth it from the first offside decision; without one, agree that the organiser's whistle is final and that offside is called generously. Bring bibs for one side, at least two balls, flags for two volunteers on the lines if you have them, and a first-aid kit.
Split established teams as they are. For a pick-up 11v11, sort by self-declared position, give each side two central defenders and a goalkeeper, then balance the rest by level. The format, level and price on a game created on amator.app, with a roster and a wait list, take the headcount off the organiser's phone. The hardest part of 11v11 is still the twenty-two.