Football equipment list – 5 training accessories

-June 24, 2019

If you come from a humble upbringing, you probably didn’t even have a ball as a kid. You would simply pick up whatever object looked like a ball and kick it around. Often barefoot. However, you must have the right accessories when you start competing, either in amateur or professional leagues. This football equipment list focuses on the essential gear that any team must have.

Balls

It sounds obvious, but good training footballs should be your priority if you have a limited budget for your team.

FIFA ball regulations leave room for minor variations in ball size, weight, air pressure and materials. Although the differences between FIFA approved balls are minimal, they do impact the game. You want to train with balls of the same brand and type that those used in the league your team plays.

Ideally, you want one ball available per player in your squad. This will enable each player to work on drills designed to improve each player’s skills. However, this is not always possible. If your budget is tight, you should have at the very least two footballs. Having two footballs will enable the team to work on possession drills, game situations and even play an actual game between team members. If you lose or burst one of the balls during training, having a second ball will enable your team to continue your training session.

A happy medium for an 11 aside team is to have two balls of the same type used in your league and a minimum of 4 to 6 slightly cheaper balls. Even in amateur leagues, your team should have at least the 11 leading players turning up for training. Then, having six balls will enable your team to work on drills that require working in pairs.

Cones

When we were kids, we would make up a football pitch and the goals with our jumpers, rocks or whatever we had on hand. Cones are a step-up from this and are cheap accessories. They are versatile and can mark playing areas, set up sprinting courses, training routines or a pitch for a small-sided game. Cones are sold in a variety of packs and sizes.

At the very minimum, you should have four cones. This number of cones will enable you to build a square box where your team can execute many drills. The size and shape of the cones are irrelevant. However, you get more for your money if you buy bulk disc cones. These cones are tough, resistant to stepping and falling, and automatically deform after being pressed to avoid injury to the user.

Disc cones often come in packs of 20 to 50 cones of different colours. These cones are made of eye-catching colours to be easily spotted on rainy days or when the sun is too bright. Some packs are sold with a mesh carrying bag or a holder.

Vests

In pick-up games, when the weather is hot, it is common for one team plays shirts off. Not a pretty sight when you are older and out of shape, though. If you are serious about training, you must have sets of football vests of different colours. Vests are a convenient way of distinguishing players while on the training field.

The vests you buy should be designed to last and be extremely lightweight and quick drying. You want vests made of a nylon mesh specially designed for sports. This type of fabric means your players will not get overheated in scorching summer weather or have to remove layers to ensure a perfect fit in the winter. Avoid jerseys with open sides as the straps that join the front with the back of the vest are often ripped off.

Vests come in a variety of colours and sizes. You should buy a pack of a size that is easily interchanged among your players. I recommend you favour big sizes over small sizes. Loose-fitting is not a problem for training. On the other hand, if all your jerseys are small, your players may not be able to wear them at all.

If your budget is tight, buy at least six jerseys. This number will allow you to play a small game or run drills with your starting lineup. Six players will wear vests, the goalkeeper and the remaining players won’t. You will need to make sure that the players not wearing vests are wearing clothes of colours that don’t clash with the training vests. However, most vest packs available online are sold by the dozen.

Portable goals

It is very common to use cones to mark goals. You can even use a pair of jumpers, rocks or whatever you have nearby. However, not having actual goals is often a source of discussion between teams. You also have to retrieve the ball from behind the goal constantly. This football equipment list wouldn’t be complete without goals in it.

While you can buy mountable 7 aside or even 11 aside size goals, you want small and easy to store goals. The goals need to be small enough to be challenging but possible to hit the target from a distance consistently. Many products in the market have folding capabilities to carry and store away conveniently.

Look for goals with a rebounding net that bounces the ball back to you. You can perform the drills as fast as possible with a rebounding net without the ball getting stuck in the net. Some foldable goals also act as a bouncing wall, ideal for individual training.

With two small portable goals and a set of cones, you don’t need an actual football pitch to practice. You can organise a small game or football drill anywhere: a parking lot, the local park, the street, etc. There is no excuse for not training.

Water Bottles

The final item in our football equipment list is water bottles. This may come as a surprise, but water is essential. You must take breaks to hydrate during training, especially in hot weather. You don’t need to buy water bottles for your team, and you can simply ask players to bring water themselves (particularly nowadays). However, many players will forget to bring their own drinks when you do this. Therefore, you want to provide drinks for your team.

Hygiene is also essential, and you don’t want your players to get sick from drinking water. Purchase squeeze bottles with squirt lids that allow players to share bottles without sharing germs. You must wash the bottles after each training. Look for water bottles that are easy to clean and dishwasher safe.

Remember, you must drink water. Make sure you are sipping on water continually throughout your training sessions. In addition, you must ensure that there are several opportunities to take on water during training.

This football equipment list covered the very essentials. However, many accessories will help you improve your training sessions. For more accessories and equipment, visit Amazon’s soccer equipment section.

Pablo Matamoros

I am a software engineer with 25+ years of experience across diverse industries. I've climbed the corporate leader over the years, which has some benefits but means I moved away from my love for tinkering with technology. So, I build the odd website or application to keep learning and stay in touch with technology. FootballTechniques allows me to combine my programming knowledge with my passion for football.

To find out more about my professional experience, visit PabloMatamoros.com