How does recruitment work at Fulham Football Academy?
The Academy has a network of scouts dedicated to the Club on a local, national and international basis. They regularly watch games and identify players from Under-7s to Under-18s. When a scout highlights a prospective player to the Recruitment Department, it is then taken through an expansive process to see whether there is potential for the recommendation to proceed.
Does the club run open trials, and how do I get a trial?
We hold open trials, these are age specific and on a sporadic basis. All information will be distributed online and within the area of selection. We are continually observing players at their local clubs or schools before inviting them for a training period.
If you wish to forward a playing CV to the academy, please include a fixture list with kick-off times and venues for your team.
In addition to the fixture information, we will need to know about your football background, including information such as; date of birth, playing position, clubs previously played for and any representative achievements.
Please supply any letters of reference and/or recommendation which will help support an application. We are only able to trial players who hold an EU passport, or who have ‘leave to remain’ documentation.

How do I know if a scout has been to watch me?
Our scouts are generally not in FFC apparel so you may be unaware of the presence of a scout. We feel that this avoids affecting the player’s game to ensure that no additional unnecessary pressure is placed upon the players. You will only know if we have been at the game when we make contact via your current club – we will always approach your coach or manager before making contact with a player’s parents.
What are we looking for?
We understand that players come in all different varieties with a mixture of strengths and weaknesses. We take into account a player’s technical, tactical, physical, psychological and social attributes, as well as looking at relative age effect and maturation rates. We also have to compare with our current player cohort in the Academy to assess whether a target player has the potential to be better than the players we already have registered. Character is a very big facet in terms of what the Academy recruitment department look for. This will be observed before, throughout and after the fixture in which the scout has attended.
I keep contacting clubs, but never seem to get invited in. What can I do to get scouted?
Football is a competitive profession in which to ‘make it’ and there is a huge amount of players that wish to be seen.
Some people are noticed early on, and others develop later, so keep working hard, and keep emailing clubs at a variety of levels.
The higher the level you are currently playing at, the more likely you are to be noticed, and so even if you don’t get a trial at Fulham Football Club, look to move up the leagues at whatever level you can. Don’t lose heart, and however far you get, do it for the enjoyment of the game – professional recognition is an obvious bonus, but a love of the game will give you satisfaction whatever the outcome!
Please email your information to academyrecruitment@fulhamfc.com. Please remember we get hundreds of trial applications each week, so are not able to respond to emails.