Grassroots Football Trials Summer Season After Weather Disruptions
Grassroots football is exploring a summer playing schedule following the postponement of 21,800 matches over the past four years due to wet winter weather conditions.
Currently, the grassroots football season in Wales runs from September to May. However, the Football Association of Wales (FAW) is piloting a new schedule under Project Chwarae – Project Play – which will run from March to November, incorporating a break in August.
Teams participating in the trial believe the change could encourage more children to play football. Conversely, some clubs that declined to join the trial have expressed concerns about potential financial losses and scheduling conflicts with other summer sports.
The FAW reported that 30% of matches this season have already been postponed due to weather. Some clubs have scarcely played on grass pitches since November, following an unusually wet winter across Wales.
The South Wales Women and Girls' League is among four pilot areas where junior teams will trial the summer season in 2026 as part of the FAW’s initiative.
"I think it's a good idea, because in the summer it's hotter and it won't be raining, so people won't be getting colder,"said Harper, aged 8, who plays for Cogan under-9s in the Vale of Glamorgan.
Her teammates Eadie and Grace share her enthusiasm for playing in warmer weather, although not all players agree.
"I probably prefer playing in the winter,"said eight-year-old Alba.
"I like playing in the rain and it's really fun."
Their coach, Aidy Blake, explained that waterlogged pitches were not the primary reason for joining the trial, as most of their games are held on artificial 3G surfaces.
Instead, the team hopes that more favourable weather conditions will boost enthusiasm for women’s and girls’ football.
"You can imagine in the depths of winter when it's freezing cold, lots of rain, and we've got girls standing out there, it's not enjoyable,"Blake said.
"I can see sometimes that maybe this isn't the right environment in that time of year.
And I think we're going to get more positive feedback from the girls going forwards, playing in the summer months."
What is Project Chwarae?
Clubs and leagues participating in the summer football trials will have their season run from March to November, with an anticipated four-week mid-season break in August.
The FAW is also offering an alternative trial option for 2026/27, which would include an eight-week winter break. This would shift the season to start earlier in August and conclude in June or July.
The pilot schemes are expected to initially focus on non-competitive junior football, with potential future inclusion of older junior leagues and adult teams.
"The statistics on cancellations are really magnified when you talk about November through to February, last year almost 48% of fixtures were cancelled in those months,"said Ben Field, head of grassroots football at the FAW.
"We're testing a couple of pilots here because until we try something, we won't know the outcomes.
It's all been through expressions of interest, so this is not mandatory and we're not enforcing this upon any league across the country."
Although summer football is uncommon in the UK, the FAW is looking to learn from the Republic of Ireland, which is transitioning its entire football calendar to a summer season.
"All options are on the table for the future,"Field added.
"We'll have to review the outcomes of those pilots… before ultimately taking that back to the FAW and its board, to maybe make some decisions longer term."
Cricket, Holidays and Festivals
Some clubs, including Raglan FC in Monmouthshire, chose not to participate in the trial.
Raglan FC has a complex of grass pitches with better drainage than most, yet club chair Amie Dembicki said they still lost many games due to poor weather.
However, the club’s lucrative summer football festivals are a significant source of income, and the risk of disrupting these events is a major concern.
"Our main income is our tournaments, and they bring in thousands that would keep us afloat throughout the year,"Dembicki said.
"We also do our pitch maintenance during summer, which you wouldn't be able to do in the winter because there's no way you'd get the tractors on here to have it spiked."
Summer football also presents logistical challenges for parents and players, according to club secretary Jamie Finlay.
"We didn't realise how many people played cricket, how many people did different things like netball and other sports that take over the summer and, of course, people thinking about their summer holidays,"he explained.
"We were given an opportunity to come back to the FAW and give our suggestions, and for us it was more access to 3G pitches, that would be a better option for us."
Ben Field noted that the FAW has invested significantly in artificial pitches through the Cymru Football Foundation but acknowledged a substantial gap remains between available funding and current demand.
"What we're doing is trying to cater for the demand of the game as it currently stands,"he said.
"The game is growing, so the investment into new 3G facilities helps us to deliver against that, but it's not going to be sufficient to help throughout the entirety of the winter season."
