April 2016
Dear Club Secretary
Club Affiliation
For the past four years The FA in partnership with County Football Associations has been developing The Whole
Game System, a new IT based football administration system designed specifically for the grassroots game.
The Whole Game System will allow the many volunteer club administrators and other officials to carry out key
administrative processes Online, saving valuable time and money. Referees are now able to use the system to
register for the coming season and report misconduct from games they have recently refereed.
The Whole Game System can be used by Club Secretaries to affiliate their club for the coming 2016/17 season,
thereby removing the need to work through the paper based process in order to complete affiliation. Feedback
received from Club Secretaries during last year’s affiliation process indicated that they found it more flexible, but at
the same time, there were some teething problems with the initial pilot. We believe that many of these issues
have now been resolved and you should encounter a more customer friendly experience for the 2016/17
affiliation.
To affiliate online, you will need to use your FAN (Football Association Number) and associated password to access
the Whole Game System. If you are unable to recall your FAN my colleagues at the Herefordshire Football
Association office will be able to help you or if you know your FAN but have forgotten your password, you will be
able to reset your password from the Whole Game System logon page. There is a guide to accessing the Whole
Game System in the help section on the FA.com at www.thefa.com/my-football/more/whole-game and the portal
logon page can be found at https://wholegame.thefa.com.
The system has now been set-up in order for you to start the affiliation process. When you enter the Whole Game
System you will need to click on your role as Club Secretary and then follow the “Affiliate 2016-17” tab which will
appear on the left hand side of your screen. You can complete the affiliation process gradually so don’t worry if you
do not have time to complete the process in one sitting, the information will be saved for when you next return.
When you enter your club’s affiliation form online you will find that last season’s information and teams have been
migrated across and updated to how they may appear during the new season (i.e. Under-10s moved up to Under11s etc). You will still need to review the team details carefully to ensure that they are in line with your club’s
actual plans but you will be able to amend this information accordingly.
In addition to affiliating for season 2016/17 you will also be able to enter your teams in the appropriate County
Cup competition. The Whole Game System will recognise which competition is the right one for each of your teams
and calculate any competition entry fees for you.
Once you have worked through the affiliation form, prior to payment is made, you will be asked to submit your
application for review by a member of staff at the HFA. We will review your submission and once we have
confirmed all is in order, your invoice will be produced in your Club portal and you will be notified accordingly.
Online payment is provided through Barclaycard’s Smartpay gateway, a reliable and secure system that is used
extensively across the UK and beyond. If you are unable to pay online, then either a cash or cheque payment can
be made.
A series of training materials have been produced to assist you through the affiliation process. These include a
printed guide, Frequently Asked Questions and a short video detailing the affiliation process. The materials can be
found on the Help page on the Whole Game Portal or from http://www.thefa.com/my-football/more/wholegame/club-affiliation. Additional support can be provided by calling the office on 01432 342179.
The Whole Game System has been designed to make the administrative experience easier for the 400,000
volunteers who work so tirelessly to support the grassroots game and I hope that you will take up the opportunity
to use it to affiliate for season 2015/2016.
Kind regards
Jim Lambert
Chief Executive Herefordshire FA