How to set up GoCardless for football clubs

Whether you're running a busy youth setup or managing an all-ages community football club, making sure your payments system is running smoothly and reliably is essential. 

Setting up your GoCardless account for membership payments is a straightforward process that allows you to collect player subs securely and efficiently through Direct Debit - giving your committee more time to focus on growth and less time on admin.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the full setup process to get your club's account ready to go. There are seven steps in total:

1. Choose a plan

2. Tell us about your club or academy

3. Add contact details

4. Add your branding

5. Connect your club bank account

6. Add billing details (if using extra features)

7. Complete your verification

1. Choose a plan that fits your football club

We offer three main plans - Standard, Advanced, and Pro - each with different features and pricing to suit varying club sizes. You’ll start by choosing the plan that works best for your committee's needs.

Once selected, you can check your plan and change it at any time by going to your GoCardless dashboard and clicking 'Settings' > 'Plan and add-ons'.

Custom pricing

If you’ve spoken with a member of the our sales team or your County FA representative and already have a custom contract, simply tick the box at the bottom of the sign-up page to confirm this. This will allow you to move ahead with setting up your account under those agreed terms.

2. Tell us about your football club

Next, provide a few details about your club or academy. This helps us meet official UK financial regulatory requirements and understand how your organisation operates.

You’ll be asked to:

• Choose your organisation type (e.g., sole trader, limited company, registered charity, or Community Amateur Sports Club - CASC)

• Select your industry and service category (sports/leisure)

• Describe what your club does (e.g., “We provide grassroots football coaching and league matches for children and adults, from youth teams to competitive senior squads.”)

For incorporated football clubs:

You’ll need to provide the official names and dates of birth of all registered directors.

For registered charities and CASCs:

You’ll be asked for official trustee information and your charity/CASC registration number, if applicable. CASC- and charity-registered clubs are eligible for a 25% discount on transaction fees through GoCardless.

Note: When entering administrator or trustee details, please use home addresses rather than the location of your home pitches or clubhouse.

3. Add contact information

Here’s where you’ll enter contact details for different parts of your matchday and backend operations:

• Support contact: This will appear on digital payment forms and email notifications sent out to parents and players, so make sure it’s routed to the right club secretary or team manager.

• Billing contact: For internal committee use. GoCardless will send payout summaries and transaction fee-related information here (usually your club treasurer).

• Developer contact (if applicable): Only needed if you're evaluating integration setups like GoCardless vs Pitchero, GoCardless vs Spond, GoCardless vs Teamer, or another specialist club management platform.

4. Add your football club’s branding

You can make your digital payment experience feel professional and familiar to members by customising it to match your team's identity.

You can:

• Upload your club crest/logo (max size: 300px x 40px).

• Choose your club colours to perfectly match your website, home kit, or training gear.

• Preview the payment form and notification emails exactly as parents will see them.

By default, customers will see "GOCARDLESS" on their bank statements, but you can customise this to avoid confusion:

• Add a 16-character reference (e.g., “AMARANTH FC SUBS” or “HAMMERS MATCH FEES”).

• You can also upgrade your plan to have your exact club name show up directly on bank statements.

5. Connect your club bank account

This is the primary account where all of your monthly player subs and signing-on fees will land. Make sure this account:

• Belongs officially to your football club or community sports trust.

• Accepts the same currency you’re billing in (GBP).

6. Add billing details (if using add-on features)

If you’re using additional custom features (like fully branded payment pages or direct API software integrations) or have a custom plan, you’ll need to set up a Direct Debit mandate for your monthly GoCardless software fees. This lets GoCardless collect payment for your chosen plan automatically.

7. Complete verification

The last step is verifying your account to unlock full payment collection features. On your dashboard, you’ll see a clear checklist showing your verification status:

• Blue = Missing information.

• Yellow = Pending document review.

• Green = Completed security checks.

If anything is missing or needs a second look, GoCardless will email your administrator. Once everything’s verified, your committee is completely ready to start collecting automated subs.

Paul Swift, Treasurer and Coach, Amaranth FC

Ready to kick off?

Setting up your GoCardless account is just the beginning of streamlining your off-pitch operations. With an automated membership system, fewer missed subs, and dramatically reduced admin for your club treasurer, your committee can stay entirely focused on the value-add elements that’ll make the most difference to the club on and off the pitch.

As a proud supporter of 18 County FAs and over 1,500 clubs across England, we’re committed to changing the payments landscape of grassroots football for the better.

You can try GoCardless fee-free for 90 days and get set up today.