Indoor soccer field and five-a-side pitch sizes: what a centre builds, and how many fit in your building

Five-a-side in the UK and Ireland: what the FA's guide allows

Most pitches you will rent out sit well inside one range. The FA's guide to small-sided football, April 2005, gives it. It is the FA guide we read, dated April 2005. The newer FA Handbook (2025-26, section 38) sizes pitches by age group, not for adult rental.

Format	Length × width	Run-off, minimum / recommended
Five and six-a-side, minimum	25.0 × 16.5 m	2.0 m / 3.0 m
Five and six-a-side, maximum	50.0 × 35.0 m	2.0 m / 3.0 m
Seven-a-side	50 × 30 m to 60 × 40 m	2.0 m / 3.0 m

Source: The FA, 2005 guide, Table 1. The guide says the pitch should be rectangular, with a length to width ratio of 2:1 where possible. Lines are 8 cm wide. The centre circle has a 3 m radius and the penalty area is a 6 m semi-circle, whatever the pitch size. When boards or walls form the boundary, touchlines and goal lines need not be marked.

The Handbook's table is the other number you will see quoted. For 5 v 5 (mini-soccer, under 7 and 8) it recommends a pitch of at most 40 × 30 yards, or 46 × 36 yards with the run-off. In metres, our conversion, that is 36.6 × 27.4 m, and 42.1 × 32.9 m with run-off. Goals are 12 × 6 ft. It is a youth recommendation, not a rule for adults.

Ireland. We found no FAI specification for five-a-side pitches. Treat the FA numbers as a reference, not an Irish standard.

What centres actually build

Playfinder, the pitch booking platform, says recreational five-a-side in the UK and Ireland runs from 25 to 42 m long and 15 to 25 m wide. It gives three common sizes: about 30 × 20 m for outdoor cages, 25 × 16 m for compact indoor courts and around 36 × 24 m. Its page is dated 27 July 2026. Its 25 × 16 m is most likely a rounding of the FA minimum of 25 × 16.5 m.

A UK surfacing contractor, Soft Surfaces, gives 25.91 × 16.76 m as the minimum for a five-a-side court on a multi-use games area (MUGA, 85 × 55 ft). It adds that there are "no strict guidelines" and that the size can be tailored to the project. That is a vendor view.

Boards, nets and fencing

• Boards. The FA says small-sided pitches are normally enclosed and rebound boards should be at least 1.2 m high. A suspended net above the boards is common.
• Walls. They must be impact resistant and smooth, with no protrusions, including structural columns and beams, into the pitch. Doors should be avoided, and must open outwards if there is no alternative.
• Board life. The FA says timber panels crack and delaminate in the longer term, so replacing boards belongs in the life-cycle budget. Dense 358-gauge weld-mesh panels seem to cut the noise and avoid that wear.
• Noise. The FA notes that the repeated sound of balls on the boards can become a contentious issue at planning.

Playfinder and Soft Surfaces describe the choice only as boards or netting, with no heights. If you are comparing quotes, ask for the board height in millimetres, the net height above it and who owns the noise question.

Goals

The FA recommends 3.66 × 1.83 m (12 × 6 ft). Where an indoor ceiling is low, it says 4.88 × 1.22 m goals are often used by seniors, and 3.66 × 1.22 m or 2.44 × 1.22 m by juniors. Playfinder says goals are commonly about 3 m wide and 1.2 to 1.8 m high.

Indoor soccer in the US: the field, the wall, the goals

The US game is a different shape. It is played inside a perimeter wall that is part of the playing surface, and the ball rarely goes out. The US Soccer Federation's indoor playing rules, as hosted by the Ohio High School Athletic Association, give the limits below. The PDF is the 2005-06 edition (its file properties say so) and has a column for professional play and one with modifications for amateur and youth play. The limits are the professional column. Nothing we read makes them binding on a facility that rents fields by the hour.

Element	Feet	Metres (our conversion)
Length	175 to 210 ft	53.3 to 64.0 m
Width	75 to 100 ft	22.9 to 30.5 m
Recommended field	200 × 85 ft	61.0 × 25.9 m
Goal, inside width × height	14 × 8 ft	4.27 × 2.44 m
Goal net depth, minimum	5 ft	1.52 m
Penalty area	Lines 8 ft outside each post, 20 ft long, 15 ft arc	2.44 m, 6.10 m, 4.57 m
Centre circle radius	15 ft	4.57 m

The rules also draw yellow lines across the field 50 ft from each goal line and a touchline 3 ft inside the wall. They allow four to six players a side on the field, goalkeeper included, and seven for veteran, coed or youth games. So six a side is within the rules. The rules admit that "there exists a wide disparity of field layouts and markings", usually set by the facility. They are a reference.

What a rental facility publishes. The Seacoast United Indoor Arena in Hampton, New Hampshire, lists 69,000 sq ft of floor space and four turf fields. Fields A and B are 160 × 90 ft, C is 125 × 90 ft and D is 90 × 70 ft. None of the four reaches US Soccer's 175 ft minimum length. We found no survey of what US rental facilities build, so we cannot say how typical that is.

Builders' pages give other numbers, and they disagree with each other. Allied Steel Buildings puts the regulation field at 185 ft long and 75 ft wide plus space for benches, and later a standard of 180 × 75 ft. It also gives 200 × 85 ft for a large clear-span field. Shelter Structures recommends about 61 × 26 m (200 × 85 ft) and attributes 185 × 75 ft to the US Indoor Soccer Association. We could not check that attribution. Treat both as claims. Allied prices an 84 × 185 ft field. That sits inside US Soccer's range, and it is a design choice, not a rule.

Pitch size, pitches per building and what they earn

The size decides how many pitches the building holds, and the pitch count decides how many hours you can sell at once. Nothing else in this article moves your revenue as much, and no public source we found measures it for five-a-side. These are the pieces that exist.

• Price per hour by size. Hampton's published rates are $200 an hour for a 160 × 90 ft field, $175 for 125 × 90 ft and $150 for 90 × 70 ft (tax not stated). The smallest field is 44% of the largest in area (6,300 against 14,400 sq ft, our arithmetic) and 75% of its price. Per square foot, the small field earns about 1.7 times as much an hour when it is booked. Whether it is booked as often is not in any source we found.
• Leagues. The FA's small-sided laws, revised March 2018, cover 5, 6 and 7-a-side. They say the laws differ from venue to venue with the facility and are recommended, not mandatory. The FA's 2005 guide gives five and six-a-side the same pitch range, so a cage built for five also takes a six-a-side league. Seven-a-side starts at 50 × 30 m (1,500 m²), which is 2.5 times a 30 × 20 m cage (600 m², our arithmetic).
• Convertible pitches. A 50 × 30 m seven-a-side pitch cut across the middle gives two pitches of 30 × 25 m once turned. That sits inside the five and six-a-side range, though not at 2:1 (our arithmetic). We found no price for divider nets and no data on hiring a pitch both ways.
• How small is too small. The FA's 2005 minimum is 25 × 16.5 m, and Playfinder lists 25 × 16 m among the compact indoor sizes centres build. The FA's 2013 3G design guide goes further for new commercial small-sided pitches. It recommends a minimum of 37 × 27 m, with 3 m of free run-off. It says it would oppose commercial five-a-side on playing fields below its recommended sizes. That guide is written for outdoor 3G. We found no source on what adult hirers or leagues accept indoors, so ask your own regulars before you cut below Playfinder's 30 × 20 m.

The footprint of one pitch

The size tables stop at the touchline. A lease is for the building, so the footprint is what counts, and an open pitch and a boarded cage give different answers.

• Open pitch. It needs run-off on all four sides: 2 m minimum, 3 m recommended, surfaced like the pitch. For a new ground the FA says to provide at least 3 m. Ideally there are 6 yards (5.5 m) between neighbouring pitches when spectators stand there. That figure is written for outdoor natural grass pitches.
• Boarded cage. The board is the boundary, so the run-off is not marked. You still need the board's thickness, and a gap to the next cage that lets a person, a trolley and a gate pass. No source gives that gap.
• Goals. The FA says free-standing goals can be stored in side recesses in its futsal and combined-hall designs. It gives no storage allowance. Plan the store before you plan the pitches.

With the FA's run-off, the footprint of three sizes centres build is:

Pitch	With 2 m run-off	With 3 m run-off
25 × 16.5 m (FA minimum)	29 × 20.5 m, 595 m²	31 × 22.5 m, 698 m²
30 × 20 m (Playfinder, outdoor cage)	34 × 24 m, 816 m²	36 × 26 m, 936 m²
36 × 24 m (Playfinder, about)	40 × 28 m, 1,120 m²	42 × 30 m, 1,260 m²

Footprints are our arithmetic on the sizes above. The pitch is 413 m² at the FA minimum, 600 m² at 30 × 20 m and 864 m² at 36 × 24 m. Once the run-off is in, the FA minimum pitch takes 44% more floor with 2 m and 69% more with 3 m. The 30 × 20 m pitch takes 36% and 56% more, the 36 × 24 m pitch 30% and 46%.

How many pitches fit in your building

Take an invented warehouse, 72 × 48 m (3,456 m²), clear of columns. For this first count all of it is pitch, which no real centre can do. We use the footprints above, not shared run-offs, and the best of the two ways round. Then we enclose the pitches in cages that share their walls.

Pitch	Open, 2 m run-off	Open, 3 m run-off	Boarded cages sharing walls
25 × 16.5 m	4 pitches	4 pitches	4 pitches
30 × 20 m	4 pitches	2 pitches	4 pitches
36 × 24 m	2 pitches	2 pitches	4 pitches, with no room for the walls

Boarded cages are the usual commercial format, since the FA says small-sided pitches are normally enclosed. The wall replaces the run-off and a wall between two cages serves both. The last column counts wall thickness as zero, because no source gives it. At 30 × 20 m, two rows of two cages use 60 × 40 m and leave 12 m and 8 m of the shell for walls, gates and walkways. At 36 × 24 m, 2 × 36 is 72 and 2 × 24 is 48. The fourth cage fits only if the walls take nothing, so read it as three.

The drop from four pitches to two at 30 × 20 m belongs to this example. It comes from a 48 m width that holds two 24 m footprints but not two 26 m ones, and from pitches that share nothing. Another shell would drop at another size. Do not read it as a rule about run-off. The rule is to count cages and their shared walls when the pitches are enclosed, and open footprints when they are not.

The warehouse is not all pitch. In the invented shell, four 30 × 20 m cages are 2,400 m², 69% of the floor. The other 1,056 m² (31%) has to hold reception, bar, changing rooms, toilets, circulation, plant, storage and fire exits. The Hampton venue is a real case. Its four fields add up to about 46,350 sq ft (14,400 + 14,400 + 11,250 + 6,300, our arithmetic). That is 67% of its 69,000 sq ft. Two buildings are not a standard, and no public source gives a share. Allied Steel Buildings lists what a US facility has to fit around the fields: spectator area, locker rooms, a commentary box, public bathrooms, meeting rooms and training equipment.

Planning, parking and permits

• England. Indoor sport, recreation or fitness is Use Class E(d) on the Planning Portal's list. That page covers England only.
• Parking. We found no public parking ratio per pitch, in the UK or the US. Councils and US zoning codes set it by use and floor area. Ask for the standard for indoor sport before you count pitches. It can cap the number as firmly as the shell does.
• Noise and floodlights. The FA's 2005 guide says ball noise on boards is often contentious at planning. Ask the council for its conditions on floodlight hours before you sign.
• US. Zoning, occupancy classification and ADA access are decided by the local building department. We found no public per-field figure for any of them, so put those three questions to the department.

In feet, a US field of 200 × 85 ft is 17,000 sq ft (1,579 m²). Allied Steel Buildings says a steel shell of 100 ft by 100 to 200 ft gives enough column-free space for most indoor soccer fields. It adds that most experts recommend at least two fields for cost-efficiency. Two 200 × 85 ft fields side by side need 170 ft of width. A 200 ft wide, 210 ft long shell leaves 30 ft across for walls, benches and walkways (our arithmetic).

What it costs to build

UK. The only itemised figure we found is Playfinder's, dated 21 September 2018, for a 3G five-a-side pitch of about 500 m² that appears to be outdoors. VAT is not stated.

Item	Playfinder 2018
3G turf, about £50 per m² (4G: £35,000 for the pitch)	£25,000
Goals (aluminium)	£600
Rebound boards and netting	£7,000
Six floodlights, installed	£2,800
Total	£35,400

The list has no line for groundworks, drainage, base or shock pad, so it is a floor, not a quote. It is eight years old and appears to be outdoors, so it does not price an indoor centre. We found no UK or Irish figure for the slab, an indoor fit-out or a whole centre per pitch.

US. Allied Steel Buildings, a vendor, gives $19 to $28 per sq ft for the building ($380,000 to $560,000 for 20,000 sq ft). A poured concrete foundation is $3.85 to $7 per sq ft. Equipping an 84 × 185 ft field with boards, turf and netting is $120,000 to $180,000. Those are a vendor's claims, with no tax basis stated. They are the only public indoor figures we could source, and they are US figures.

Height, turf, shock pad and lighting

Height. The FA says the ceiling of an indoor football hall should be at least 6.1 m. US builders (Allied Steel Buildings and Shelter Structures) give a minimum of 20 ft (6.1 m) for turf sports. Those pages come from vendors, so ask the people who will insure the building. The measure is to the lowest thing in the hall, a beam, a duct or a light, not to the roof. The FA's lower goals for low ceilings (1.22 m high) are a way round it, but they change the game and the hire.

Surface and standards. The FA lists the surfaces used for small-sided play: indoors, sports hall floors, long pile artificial grass, sand-filled artificial grass and polymeric surfaces. For sand-filled turf it asks for a pile height above 23 mm. Soft Surfaces says football pitches tend to use 40 mm third-generation grass, often fitted over a shock pad. The test standard is the question to put in writing. The FA's 2005 guide tests against BS 7044 and says European standards would replace it. Its 2013 3G guide says smaller pitches should be built to the FIFA Quality standard and tested to BS EN 15330-1. Its testing notes use three test positions for pitches under 3,000 m². For competitive play on the FA's register, the FA Handbook says an accredited test house certifies the pitch every three years. Soft Surfaces names FIFA 2*, FIFA 1* and IATS as the higher accreditations, which cost more.

Shock pad. It depends on the system. The FA's 2005 guide puts sand-filled turf over a pad typically about 15 mm thick, rubber crumb with a resin binder, in rolls or poured in place. Its 2013 guide notes that most pitches built through the national framework had 60 mm monofilament turf on an engineered macadam base with no pad. Ask the supplier which system the quote is, and which standard it is tested to. We found no price for a pad.

Life, infill and upkeep. The FA's 2013 guide puts an artificial grass pitch at about 7 to 10 years, depending on type, quality, use and maintenance. The Scottish FA's 2016 stadia guide covers full-size pitches at FIFA Quality Pro level. It gives 10 years at 12 hours of use a week, 7 to 8 years at 35 and under 7 at 60. For upkeep the FA Handbook recommends 1 hour of maintenance for every 10 hours of use. The FA's 2005 guide asks for brushing and topping up infill at least weekly, about an hour a session. The 2013 guide adds that infill may need replacing in a rejuvenation. We found no figure for small cages, and no infill price.

Lighting. Sport England's classes are in the FA's 2005 guide, as maintained average luminance with a uniformity (min/ave) of 0.7 indoors.

Setting	Level	Maintained average
Indoors, class 1	International and national	750 lux
Indoors, class 2	Regional and club	500 lux
Indoors, class 3	Training, recreation, schools	300 lux
Outdoors	Five, six and seven-a-side	above 120 lux, uniformity above 0.6

A dedicated small-sided hall is normally designed to class 2 or 3. Outdoors, the FA says a lower level for recreation should not drop below 75 lux. If badminton, table tennis or fencing share the hall, the FA says the lighting should be class 1 or 2. We found no US lux standard for indoor soccer.

What we could not find

• An FAI or Irish specification for five-a-side pitch sizes, and any Irish build cost.
• A UK or Irish figure for an indoor slab, fit-out or whole-centre cost per pitch, and any shock pad or infill price.
• A public parking ratio per pitch, in the UK or the US, and any US figure for zoning, occupancy or ADA access.
• Fill rates or revenue by pitch size, a price for divider nets, and a survey of what US rental facilities build.
• A public walkway width, goal-storage allowance or share of the floor for reception and changing rooms.
• A board height in the US rules we read, or in the builders' pages. The FA's 1.2 m is the only number.
• Sport England's current design note on small-sided pitches. The FA's 2005 guide is the document we could read.

Sizes, rules and prices on this page were read on 29 October 2026. The sources are the FA (2005 small-sided guide, 2013 3G guide and testing notes, Handbook), the Scottish FA and US Soccer's 2005-06 indoor rules. They also include the Planning Portal, Playfinder, Seacoast United and three vendor pages (Soft Surfaces, Allied Steel Buildings, Shelter Structures).

The Poteau team