What To Expect
What To Expect On Trial Day
We understand that you'll probably be nervous, but please try not to worry! The emphasis at our events is relaxing into the trial so that you can perform to the best of your ability. Typical schedule for the trial: - Greeted at the venue by Pro11 staff, who will register your attendance and issue you with a individually numbered bib. Please arrive around 10 -15 minutes before your designated start time. - Group briefing to parents and players on what to expect on the day by one of our coaching team, then separated into age appropriate groups. - Warm ups, then around 45/50 minutes of age appropriate drills at an academy level with lots of encouragement from our friendly coaches. Then around 45/50 minutes of a small sided match. - Parent/Player debrief and notification of any club interest, plus the opportunity to get individual feedback from our coaches. During the event there are regular water / comfort breaks, but you'll be on the pitch for around 2 hours, and the whole event lasts around 3 hours. After the event, please keep in touch with us in regards to your progress, or contact us with any questions or feedback - we're always happy to hear from you. For anything further, please see our FAQs below.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
WHICH TRIAL LOCATION SHOULD I ATTEND? You should always attend the trial nearest to where you live. This is very important, as the scouts that attend our trials are from clubs that are located, or have development centres, within 90 minutes travelling distance of the event location. This is so that we can comply with FA rules in regards to how far players can travel to train with a professional club. If you are outside this distance, it is unlikely that a scout would be able to progress you, even if they like you as a player. However, you are still welcome to attend for experience, and to get feedback on your game. I LIVE OUTSIDE THE UK - CAN I STILL ATTEND A PRO11 TRIAL? All the clubs that we work with require players to be resident in the UK with a UK or EU passport, or have a VISA with indefinite leave to remain in the UK. If you live outside the UK but are visiting the country, you can still book onto a trial, but please be aware that this would be for experience ONLY, and that you would not be able to be scouted by any of the clubs in attendance as you are not resident in the UK. However, we will soon be announcing our international event which will be taking place in June 2025, please follow @pro11trials on Facebook or Instagram for announcements. WHAT TRIAL LOCATIONS ARE THERE? We are always looking in to new locations, but currently we host trials in the following areas: North West (Manchester) Merseyside (Liverpool) Yorkshire (Leeds) North East/North Yorkshire (Durham) East Midlands/South Yorkshire (Derby) Midlands (Birmingham) East Anglia/North Essex (Cambridge) Greater London/M4 Corridor (Harrow & Northolt) South East London / Essex / Kent (Brentwood) Each venue covers clubs and players from up to 90 minutes travelling distance. Further details for all our currently used venues can be viewed under the Directions to Pro11 Venues tab. WHAT IS THE CRITERIA FOR ATTENDING A PRO11 TRIAL? At Pro11 we believe that every player should have the opportunity to be viewed by scouts. We therefore offer open trials which means there is no pre-screening process. If you have attended an academy or development centre previously, or played at County level, that's great. But also if you’ve only played grassroots / JPL level football but your coaches think you need to play at a higher level, or you are constantly player of the match, or win most goals / most assists for the season, then our open trials will be suitable for you! In terms of age, most of our trials accommodate players from age 7 to age 16 (u8-u16). We also host Open Age trials for players aged u16-u21, in the North West & Greater London. For details of all current available events please view the calendar by clicking the 'Go To Calendar' button below. I AM A GOALKEEPER, IS A PRO11 TRIAL SUITABLE FOR ME? Yes! At our trials, Goalkeepers train in a separate group with a GK specific coach, undertaking a set of drills at an academy level. They then play in goals with their age group for the matches section of the event. We have attendance from GK specific scouts and the majority of scouts who attend are able to spot talent for both outfield and GK positions. WHICH PRO CLUBS DO YOU HAVE AT YOUR EVENTS? This varies from event to event. Clubs will be from within approx. 90 minutes radius of the location and represent all tiers of football, from the Premiership through to non-League with academies from cat1 to cat4. We usually average between 6 and 12 clubs in attendance at our events. At our Open Age trials, the scouts will be from a mixture of professional clubs, non league, and clubs which offer full time football/education routes. There will also usually be agents in attendance. At the end of each trial, parents and players are advised during the debrief exactly which clubs have attended and which players they are interested in.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
IS THE TRIAL OPEN TO FEMALE PLAYERS? Yes! Pro11 Trials are equally open to both male and female players. We do find however that the female players are still in the minority of trialists attending so they do have to play in mixed groups (up to u18, as per FA guidance). Also, there are far fewer scouts specifically for the women's game. However, the scouts that are in attendance are often able to refer players in to the girls' teams for their clubs, as can our coaches, and we have had several female players offered training trials and signed to ETCs and RTCs with pro clubs via this route. WHAT IS THE PRICE OF A PRO11 TRIAL? Open Trials Outfield North & Midlands - £70 Open Trials GKs North & Midlands - £70 Open Trials Outfield South- £84 Open Trials GKS South - £84 Open Age Trials Outfield (players aged u16-u21) - £84. Open Age Trials GKs (players aged u16-u21) - £84 Exit Trials - £84 per player. If you have been on a Pro11 Trial previously, we do offer a loyalty discount code, so please contact us for this before re-booking. We also offer a sibling discount, so if you are booking for more than one child on the same event at the same time, please contact us for a discount code. If you are a coach or agent, and have a number of players you would like to bring to a trial, we are happy to consider discounts for multiple bookings, so please contact us. We also reserve 10% of our places for players who cannot afford to pay the above prices. If you would like to apply for our Hardship Scheme, please see further information on our Hardship Scheme , which is under the 'Contact Us & Info' tab. WHAT ARE THE CHANCES I WILL BE SCOUTED AT ONE OF YOUR EVENTS? At Pro11, we wish that all players could be given the opportunities they deserve. However the fact is that football is extremely competitive, with lots of talented players and not enough space in academies for them all. We can't therefore guarantee the outcome of attending our trials is that you will be scouted. But we can make sure that you will have the opportunity to be seen by scouts and get a fairly quick result on whether there is interest for you. Overall, we average 1 in 3 players being identified at our trials by the clubs in attendance, over all playing ages and locations. IF I GET SCOUTED, WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT? You will normally find out on the day of the event if there has been interest from any of the clubs in attendance. We usually inform parents and players on the day of the event, and then follow up with an email containing specific details. Usually we will connect the player and their parent/guardian to the scout directly, so they can be advised what are the next steps. In regards to this, each club's process is different. Some clubs will want to come and watch the player further in their own grassroots matches, some clubs will invite the player directly into the club for a training trial or showcase match. If you are successful in being identified by a club at one of our events, we will advise you specifically what will happen next in an email following your trial. If you haven’t had any progress after being scouted after around 2-3 weeks of the trial, please contact us and we will do our best to chase things up for you. WHAT IF I DON'T GET SCOUTED? Our aim at Pro11 is that everyone who attends one of our trials comes away with something positive. Football is extremely competitive and we recognise that unfortunately not everyone who attends our events will get interest from a pro club. So we do our best to make our events a fun and friendly learning experience. We want every player to enjoy themselves, take on board the coaching on offer, learn some new skills and overall enjoy their day with us. The trials can also be useful for assessing where a player is in terms of ability against other players, and as practice for attending future trials. Customers also find our coaches' feedback at the end of the event extremely useful for their football development. If you are not scouted when you attend one of our events, that does not necessarily mean you are not good enough. It can simply be that it just wasn’t your day, or that on the day there was not a scout in your area that had space in the academy in your age group. We would encourage all players who are keen to get into a career in football to keep playing, keep improving, and keep trying!
Venues for Trials
Our trials are held at various locations throughout the UK, and we are adding new venues all the time. Please check all our calendar by clicking on the button below for all active trial dates and venues. Clicking on dates in green will reveal information about the venue and ages for any particular date. All trials are held on full size, FA Approved pitches 3G / 4G pitches.