amator.appSix, seven and eight a side are the formats of the artificial turf pitch: enough players for proper positions, few enough that everyone touches the ball. Nobody governs them as adult formats. The references that exist are youth and recreational. In Poland the PZPN unification of youth training (from season 2023/24) sets the Orlik category at 7v7 on a standard pitch or 6v6 on an Orlik-type pitch; in England The FA's small-sided laws run up to 7-a-side. Both are used below as anchors; everything else is labelled as amateur practice.
Where 6v6, 7v7 and 8v8 fit
In Poland the pitch that defines these formats is the Orlik. The "Moje Boisko – Orlik 2012" programme built municipal complexes of a 30 × 62 m artificial-turf football pitch (a 26 × 56 m playing area inside the fence), a 19.1 × 32.1 m multi-purpose court, changing rooms and floodlights, open to the public and free of charge, with an animator on site. PZPN counted more than 2,500 of them in 2013 and built its youth formats around them. For adults an Orlik is a natural 6v6 and a tight 7v7.
Seven-a-side on a purpose-sized pitch of 55–60 × 35–40 m is the PZPN Orlik-category standard and, in metric terms, The FA's 7-a-side pitch as well. Eight-a-side has no federation format at all: it is what happens when a group books half of a full-size pitch and plays across it, or has sixteen players and a 9v9 youth pitch.
Pitch and goal
| Format | Pitch, length × width | Goal | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6v6 | 25–50 × 16–35 m (FA, 5/6-a-side); 56 × 26 m on an Orlik playing area | 3–5 × 1.2–2 m; 5 × 2 m on an Orlik | FA small-sided laws; PZPN (6v6 on an Orlik-type pitch) |
| 7v7 | 55–60 × 35–40 m (PZPN Orlik category); 50–60 × 30–40 m (FA) | 5 × 2 m | PZPN unification; FA small-sided laws |
| 8v8 | half of a full-size pitch played across, roughly 55–75 × 35–50 m, or a 9v9 youth pitch of 70–75 × 45–50 m | 5 × 2 m, or the full-size 7.32 × 2.44 m goals already standing | none; PZPN 9v9 (Młodzik) is the nearest youth format |
The PZPN youth rules give the Orlik category a 15 × 9 m penalty area and a 9 m penalty mark; The FA uses a 6 m semicircle and a 6 m mark for all its small-sided formats. Lines may be marked with cones at youth level, and adult games on a half-pitch routinely use cones for the ends.
Amateur practice: on a half-pitch the penalty area is whatever two cones and goodwill make it. Mark it before the game, or agree that there is none and that a foul anywhere is a free kick.
Ball
Adults play with a size 5 ball. PZPN's youth categories up to Orlik use size 4, which is worth knowing if you borrow balls from a club. On artificial turf a slightly softer ball is kinder to the first touch; there is no rule either way.
Team size and substitutions
Six, seven or eight players a side, one of whom is the goalkeeper. Substitutions are rolling in every reference: The FA allows three substitutes and unlimited changes with returns; PZPN uses return substitutions in all youth categories up to 11v11 and recommends that every player gets at least half the playing time. The FA treats a 7-a-side match as invalid if a team is permanently reduced by more than three players.
Amateur practice: two to four subs per team is the comfortable range. Make changes at a stoppage or when the ball is on the far side, through the same place on the touchline, and tell the other team when you change goalkeeper.
Duration and clock
PZPN runs its 7v7 and 6v6 youth games as tournaments with at least 60 minutes of total playing time per team; its 9v9 league plays 2 × 40. The FA's small-sided halves are more than 5 and up to 25 minutes with a 5-minute break. The clock runs; there is no timekeeper.
Amateur practice: an hour's booking is the match: 2 × 25 or 2 × 30 with a short break, ending five minutes before the slot. Ninety-minute bookings are 2 × 40. The referee, if there is one, adds time; if there is none, the phone on the bench ends the half.
Rules that differ from 11v11
Offside
No offside in PZPN's Orlik and younger categories, no offside in The FA's small-sided game. Offside returns at PZPN's 9v9 (Młodzik) level and in 11v11.
Amateur practice: 6v6 and 7v7 are played without offside almost everywhere. 8v8 on a half-pitch is split: some leagues play offside from the penalty-area line, most play none. If you play it without assistant referees, expect to argue; if you do not, expect somebody standing next to the goalkeeper.
Ball over the touchline
PZPN restarts with a normal throw-in from the Orlik category upwards and with a kick-in only in its two youngest categories; The FA restarts every small-sided format with a kick-in, opponents 3 m away, no goal directly.
Amateur practice: 8v8 throws; 6v6 and 7v7 go either way. Pick one and say it at kick-off.
Restarts and distances
PZPN's Orlik category: a goal cannot be scored directly from the kick-off; a free kick can score only from the opponents' half; the wall stands 5 m away; the goal kick may be passed short or carried out of the area. The FA keeps opponents 3 m from the ball at every restart. Both allow the goalkeeper to throw or kick the goal clearance from anywhere in the area with opponents outside it.
The goalkeeper
The back-pass rule applies in every reference: a deliberate kick from a team-mate may not be picked up, and the restart is an indirect free kick. The FA adds a four-second limit on holding the ball; PZPN's youth table says nothing extra, so the laws of the game apply, where the limit is eight seconds and the sanction a corner kick.
Fouls, cards and the slide
The FA makes a sliding tackle a direct free kick in itself and uses two-minute blue-card sin bins; PZPN's Orlik category uses two-minute temporary dismissals and, for a third offence, exclusion for the rest of the match, with the team staying at full strength. Penalties are taken from 9 m in PZPN's Orlik category (7 m for Żak, 11 m from 9v9 with full-size goals) and from 6 m in The FA's laws.
Amateur practice: no slide tackles is the default on artificial turf. Penalties go from a cone 8–9 m out when there is no mark. Without a referee, a yellow is a word and a red is going home.
Organising a 6, 7 or 8-a-side game
Book the pitch first and let it decide the format: an Orlik slot is 12–14 players, a half-pitch 16–18. Reserve an hour for 6v6 and 7v7 and ninety minutes for 8v8 if the venue sells it. A municipal Orlik is free and open to the public under the programme, with an animator on site, and each municipality sets its own booking rules; commercial turf is paid by the hour and split by head.
Bring bibs in two colours, two balls, a pump and cones for the ends if the pitch is a half. Pick teams by position first, two goalkeepers or two volunteers for a half each, then balance the rest by level, not by friendship. Alternate picking is fine for a one-off; for a weekly game, keep the sides for the season and rebalance when one wins four in a row.
A referee is worth it from 7v7 upwards, because there is offside to decide and more players to watch. Without one, the organiser referees from play and the fouled player calls the foul. Settle the three house rules — slides, touchline restarts, offside — before the first game. The format, price and level on a game on amator.app do most of that explaining before anyone arrives, and the wait list fills the pitch when two players drop out on the day.