It's time to start preparing for the 2021-22 Season 

Although the current season has been extended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it won't be long before Clubs need to start making plans for 2021-22. 

With that in mind we've put together some information that will be useful in completing your club's affiliation to Hertfordshire FA for 2021-22, so that you can be ready for when applications open on 1st June 2021 on the Whole Game System.

To help protect grassroots football from the ongoing financial impact of COVID-19, we are pleased to confirm we will be providing all Clubs with free Affiliation and County Cup entry for the upcoming season, along with a discount on Public Liability Insurance.

However, even though there will be no cost for affiliation again this year, all Clubs will still need to affiliate in order to play football.

New Clubs

Any new Clubs will first need to email contactus@hertfordshirefa.com so that we can set up your Club on the Whole Game System for you to start the affiliation process. 

You will need to provide us the name of your Club, along with details (name, date of birth, address, phone number and email) of the Club Secretary, Chairman and Treasurer. Youth Clubs will also need to provide details of a Club Welfare Officer.

We will then provide further details on how to get started.

Getting Prepared

Before starting the affiliation process all clubs should:

• Ensure all invoices from last season are paid
• Ensure all player suspensions from last season have been assigned fixtures (unless the suspension is carrying over to next season)

In addition youth clubs also need to:

• Check all Coaches are listed on Whole Game System and have an in-date DBS (DBS renewal is much quicker via WGS so we recommend using this service)
• Check all mandatory officials (Secretary, Chairman, Treasurer and Club Welfare Officer) are remaining in place and have completed the Safeguarding for Committee Members Course (and that it hasn't expired)
• Check that the Club Welfare Officer also has the other mandatory qualifications (Safeguarding Children Course, Welfare Officers Course) as well as an in-date DBS

If Clubs are aware that there will be a change in Club Welfare Officer, please ensure that the incoming CWO is upskilled in time. If you have any queries regarding new CWOs please contact Samantha Carey on 01462 650215 or email safeguarding@hertfordshirefa.com.

Please be aware that The FA only accepts its own DBS and Safeguarding courses as they are football specific.

Completing Your Affiliation

The affiliation process should be completed via the Whole Game System by entering your email or FAN along with your password. If you can’t remember your password or do not have a password set up, please follow on the “Have you forgotten your password” link to recover it.

If you are still having any trouble logging into WGS, please follow this guidance.

For existing clubs the affiliation forms will already be populated in the system and you will be able to login and simply edit details that have changed from the season before. When using Whole Game System your application does not have to be completed in one go. You can always save your progress and come back to it at a later time, which can be particularly useful if you are a large club.

Clubs must have completed and submitted the affiliation on Whole Game System before 31st July in order to enter a County Cup Competition, and before 31st August to avoid additional charges (see details of fees below). This includes uploading proof of Personal Accident Insurance. Without this being uploaded you will not receive an invoice to complete the process and will be asked to upload this and resubmit the forms online.

Tips:

• Make sure you add managers to the relevant teams
• Ensure any FAN records have full details – mobile numbers and email addresses for Full Time and SMS contacts are vital
• Please ensure your ground details are correct

Adding Extra Teams

Once a Club affiliation has been submitted on WGS, changes cannot be made. If Clubs have additional teams to add to their affiliation once its been submitted or completed, please download the Extra Team Affiliation Form and return this to contactus@hertfordshirefa.com.

Further Guidance 

For more detail on how to complete the club affiliation process in Whole Game System, please visit The FA Grassroots Technology Portal where you will find complete step by step guidance including descriptions and screenshots to help you through every stage of the process. 

Please find below further documentation below to help guide you through the affiliation process:

• Affiliation Fees 2021-22
• NGIS Public Liability Insurance Brochure
• NGIS Personal Accident Insurance Brochure

Once we have reviewed the affiliation and generated the invoice, you will need to pay the invoice within 14 days - you will then be affiliated to Hertfordshire FA for the 2021/22 season.

**Please note your affiliation will not be completed until your invoice is paid and you have provided proof of Personal Accident Insurance**

County Cup Entry

County Cup entry is voluntary for the 2021-22 season. Teams will not be required to enter our competitions and we will provide free entry for all those choosing to do so. There will be a maximum of 3 teams per club at each age group for Youth competitions.

A reduced programme of County Cup competitions will be run for this season only, with only the following taking place:

• Senior Challenge Cup
• Senior Centenary trophy
• Saturday Junior Cup
• Sunday senior Cup
• Sunday Junior Cup
• Women’s Cup
• Boys U14 Challenge Cup
• Boys U15 Challenge Cup
• Boys U16 Challenge Cup
• Boys U18 Challenge Cup
• Girls U14 Challenge Cup
• Girls U15 Challenge Cup
• Girls U16 Challenge Cup

All entries must be submitted by 31st July 2021.

** The Competitions Committee reserves the right to amend the programme of the competitions as necessary due to the ongoing impact of COVID-19, which may include limiting the number of teams from the same Club entering each competition.

Insurance

All Clubs are required to have Public Liability Insurance Cover and Personal Accident Insurance.

In terms of Public Liability Insurance, there is the option to choose an extra level of protection with Countycover Plus, which includes additional cover for 'Player to Player' incidents. In terms of Personal Accident Insurance the minimum requirement is for 'Basic' cover, however you can choose additional cover as required to meet the needs of your players.  

The brochures linked above include information to help you decide which options are most appropriate for your club. Further details can be found here.

**Please note your affiliation will not be completed until your invoice is paid and you have provided proof of Personal Accident Insurance**

Getting in Touch

If you have any queries about affiliation for the upcoming season or how to use Whole Game System please email contactus@hertfordshirefa.com and we'll be happy to help.