This how your photo should look on the FA player registration system. When registrationing on TeamFeePay for the 2026-27 season and later you will be required to add a photo. Please make sure that is complies with the guidance below.
Follow ALL these instructions:
- Do not use an old photo
- Do not take a picture of a picture
- face the camera
- shoulders face the camera
- all of face in shot
- The face must be clear
- No head coverings
- No glasses
- Player must clearly be wearing clothes (a shirt of some sort).
- Only person in shot
- The league and the fa do not insist in a plain background but Sheen Lions do, find a plain wall or a door.
- Plain means that the background is of a single uniform colour that contrasts with the child.
- Leave plenty of space around the face including the top of the head.
- The photo is going to be cropped square so there needs to be space either side of the head. It is better to have quite a wide shot than to be in too tight.
- Your chid is probably shorter than you, put the camera down to the level of their head, do not take the photo looking down at them.
- Stand back a bit, the wide angle lenses in most phones are not flattering when you put them too close.
Passport Standard But Not Quite
The government guidance for passport photos is here https://www.gov.uk/photos-for-passports
You will notice that these digital photos are zoomed out quite a lot more than the professional photos that you may have had taken in the past. If you try to use one of these professional you will have difficulty. You need a square format for the FA site. A traditional professional passport photo does not crop into a square format. The new requirement for electronic submission is a wider shot and that works.
The picture I used for the example above is below. Your photo needs to be able to be cropped into this square format so leave plenty of room around the head.
