You can apply for a seasonal football pitch from June or July.
Invites are sent by email to:
- existing teams
- teams who have previously expressed an interest and who have asked to be on our mailing list
If you have not expressed an interest before you can find new season dates and prices in section 4 Seasonal Fees and Venues pdf Terms and Conditions for use of football facilities(213 KB) .
Existing teams have priority and once the invite has gone out, they have 2 weeks to apply. After that, we'll start to look at any new applications.
When booking for the 2025 to 2026 season, you'll find the seasonal sports booking link on our football page .
See parks football pitch availability Go to https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vNSNrLzK7oyMEmyEDDeUAkiFWEVtzvBzuY7DLNQ9t8c/edit?gid=0#gid=0 (opens new window) for availability of pitches.
At the beginning of the season, the team overview sheet will be blank but this does not mean that the venue will be available. We'll give priority to our existing teams.
The application form gives you the option of 3 venues in order of preference. If your 1st choice is not available as an existing team is using it, we'll look at your 2nd or 3rd choice. If these are also not available we'll offer you alternative venues.
You may need to share a venue with another team, depending on the interest that we have in the venue.
We have 10 working days to process an application. If you need to pay a deposit for equipment or changing, we'll only process your application and allocate a venue when we've received your deposit.
When we've received deposits and processed your application, we'll send out a letter of confirmation.
You will not be allowed to start your football season with us if we do not receive your proof of public liability insurance and your fixtures.
Our football season starts on the first Saturday in September and ends on the last Sunday in April.
Hire options
The options for hiring a seasonal pitch are:
- full facilities which includes pitch, changing and goal nets and corner flags
- pitch and changing
- pitch and equipment
- pitch only
Number of matches
The number of matches you're allowed per season depend on whether you're an adult or youth team, and the size of the pitch.
The number of matches allowed are for:
- an adult football team 12 home games
- a youth football team playing on an 11v11 pitch 10 home games
- a youth football team playing on a 9v9 pitch 8 home games
- a youth football team playing on a 7v7 pitch 8 home games
- a youth football team playing on a 5v5 pitch 6 home games
Equipment
You do not automatically get the use of equipment and changing facilities at the venue of your choice. Equipment is goal nets, corner posts and flags. You can choose to have these added on the seasonal sports booking form.
Teams who want to use their own equipment must check first to make sure the goal nets will fit our posts. Email sports.lettings@bristol.gov.uk with details of your equipment measurements so that we can check.
There is a £100 deposit per team for the use of our equipment. This is fully refundable at the end of the season unless the equipment is damaged or lost.
You may also need to pay a deposit of £50 for a key to the changing rooms as this is where the equipment is usually stored.
If you wish to hire the venue again the next season, you can opt to keep your deposit on hold.
If you are interested in hiring for the next season, there will be an increase in the price, usually by the RPI rate.
Payment and costs
Payment is either by:
- direct debit
- full invoice in October
You can select your preferred payment method on the application form.
Costs are shown in section 4 Seasonal Fees and Venues in our pdf Terms and Conditions for use of football facilities(213 KB) .
You can use the football pitches from the first weekend in September until the last Sunday in April on:
- Saturday morning
- Saturday afternoon
- Sunday morning
- Sunday afternoon
We do allow evening matches on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday in April and September only, at certain venues. Details can be found in our pdf Terms and Conditions for use of football facilities(213 KB) .
If you go over your allocated pitch use, we'll charge for extra games. Details of extra costs are in our pdf Terms and Conditions for use of football facilities(213 KB) .
Double fixtures are not allowed unless permission is given.
We do not allow training or friendlies on our pitches.
You cannot play 2 games on the pitch on one day, for example one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. Playing 2 games on one day may damage the pitch especially during bad weather.
Facilities at the park such as car parking and public toilets can be found on our parks and estate page under the particular venue:
Details of which sites have changing rooms and how many pitches are at each venue are in Section 4 Seasonal Fees and Venues of our pdf Terms and Conditions for use of football facilities(213 KB) .
You must provide proof that you have £5,000,000 public liability insurance to be able to play.
If we have not received proof of your public liability insurance before the start of the football season you will not be able to play on your pitch.
Proof of your public liability insurance must be in a document showing:
- your team's name
- the dates that you're covered to and from
- proof of payment
We will not accept whole policy documents.
You must provide fixtures by the date specified on your confirmation letter. If we have not got your fixtures before the start of the football season this may result in the loss of your fixture dates.
Changes to fixtures must be received no later than 11am on the Thursday before the weekend match is due.
You can change your fixtures throughout the season by using the seasonal sports booking form on our football page.
We do not hire out football pitches on a one-off basis.
For information on all weather and indoor football pitches that can be booked on a casual basis, see our football page.
If you want to organise a charity football event, see hold an event in a park, open space or street.
See our pdf Terms and Conditions for use of football facilities(213 KB) for rules and regulations including the red and yellow card system which explains rules that you need to abide by to prevent getting a fine or ban.