RESOURCES

What is NZ Football Whole of Football 2.0?

New Zealand Football has unveiled Whole of Football 2.0, evolving the way football and futsal are delivered to the more than 176,000 players who take part in Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest team participation sport.

To support the introduction, McDonald’s, community football’s biggest supporter in Aotearoa New Zealand, will contribute close to $500,000 worth of new goals to clubs across the country, enabling more players to take part in the game.​​​​​​​

Why are we updating the Whole of Football Framework?

Following a three-year period of analysis, Whole of Football 2.0 has been introduced to further evolve how the game is delivered. 

Among the changes are updated game formats and structures designed to foster a lifelong love of football and prioritise skill development from an early age. 

Research shows that playing smaller formats of the game for longer significantly increases involvement in the game and touches on the ball for players which accelerates skill development, and better prepares participants for the transition to 11 vs 11 football a year later at the U14 age group. 

New Zealand Football’s own research, based on piloting the framework, shows that by going through the new Whole of Football 2.0 player pathway, players on average will accumulate over 3,800 more touches of the ball with goalkeepers more involved in the game, accumulating over 1,300 more goalkeeper actions. 

When are the changes coming into effect?

NZF and federations acknowledge that changes to the WOF guidance will impact clubs and mean adjustments to how clubs deliver junior football across the country. We know that these adjustments take time and have attempted to provide a long lead in time to implement the changes.

Implementation timelines will follow the following principles:

• Regionally led implementation
• Begin implementation as early as 2025
• Finish implementation by 2027

The majority of federations are implementing changes for the 2026 and 2027 football season.

Please contact your local federation for information about regional implementation timelines.

Retreating Line

We are at an important time in the development of young players and Mini Football (7v7, 9v9) are the “Golden Years’ of learning. NZ Football have introduced the Retreating Line to provide more opportunity for more players to be involved and enjoy the game.

The NZ Football Retreating Line Document has been developed to help all clubs, coaches, club based referees, parents and players, who are participating in football games utilising the Retreating Line. 

NZ Football Learn

NZF Learn is an online learning platform that will be the home for Coach and Referee Education for football in Aotearoa New Zealand.

It provides online modules for coaches and referees that can be completed from the comfort of your own home, allowing you to learn about key concepts before bringing the learning to life on the field or court.​​​​​​​

Click the button on the right to find out more!

Coachmate

Make coaching football fun and easy for the whole team. Improve your coaching skills with practice games and plans made by pro’s, get everyone in sync with team management, and learn how to set your team up to thrive.

Click the button on the right to find out more!

NZ Football Performance and Prevention

NZ’s dedicated football education and resource hub, designed to help you get the most out of yourself, and your players.

Click the button on the right to find out more!

Referee Courses

Being a football referee comes with various benefits

Click the button on the right to find out more about referee courses!