Is FAI Club Mark mandatory?

It's a recognised quality standard rather than a universal legal requirement, but it's increasingly expected and is often linked to funding eligibility and good standing. Check with your league and the FAI whether it's required in your specific context.

How much does FAI Club Mark cost?

Any fees are set by the FAI, not by clubs or third-party tools. Check the current FAI Club Mark information for up-to-date costs.

How long does the FAI Club Mark process take?

It depends on how much you already have in place. The slow parts are usually external — Garda vetting and coach training — so allow several weeks, and start before your season rather than during it.

Do we need to renew FAI Club Mark?

Accreditations of this kind are typically reviewed periodically rather than being one-and-done. Keeping your records current year-round is the easiest way to stay ready — confirm the renewal cycle with the FAI.

What is the difference between Club Mark Entry, 1 Star and 2 Star?

Entry covers the core governance, safeguarding and financial basics. 1 Star and 2 Star add progressively deeper requirements around coaching, planning and structures. Each tier builds on the one below.

Can PureClub submit our Club Mark application to the FAI?

No, and no tool can. PureClub gets you submission-ready with a checklist, document vault, readiness score and submission pack, but the official application is lodged by your club through FAI Connect and assessed by the FAI.

Guide · Governance

FAI Club Mark: The Complete Guide for Irish Clubs

If you volunteer with a football club in Ireland, you’ve probably heard “we should really get our Club Mark sorted” at a committee meeting — usually followed by a long silence. This guide fixes that, in plain English: what FAI Club Mark is, what each tier requires, the full Entry-level checklist, and how to get through it without losing your evenings to paperwork.

What is FAI Club Mark — and why it matters

FAI Club Mark is the Football Association of Ireland’s quality standard for grassroots clubs. Think of it as a recognised stamp that says your club is well run, safe for children, financially responsible and properly governed. It isn’t about how good your teams are on the pitch — it’s about how well the club is run off it.

For a volunteer-run club, that matters for three concrete reasons:

Funding. Many grants — from local authorities, sports capital programmes and the FAI itself — increasingly expect clubs to demonstrate good governance. Club Mark is a clean, recognised way to prove it.
Insurance and risk. Having your safeguarding, vetting and policies in order protects your members, your children and your committee personally if something ever goes wrong.
Credibility and trust. A club that can show it meets a national standard for child welfare and governance has a real advantage with parents — and it’s easier to recruit volunteers to a club that looks organised.

In short: Club Mark turns “we think we’re a well-run club” into “we can prove we’re a well-run club.”

The three tiers: Entry, 1 Star, 2 Star

Club Mark is structured in progressive levels, so a small one-team club and a large multi-section club can both find an achievable standard.

Entry level is the foundation — the core governance, safeguarding and financial basics every club should have in place. This is where almost every club starts.
1 Star builds on Entry, generally adding deeper requirements around coaching pathways, planning and more formalised structures and policies.
2 Star is the top tier, typically for well-established clubs with mature governance, development plans and a track record of running the standards over time.

Each tier builds on the one below, so the work you do for Entry is the groundwork for 1 Star. You don’t lose progress by starting small — you bank it.

The Entry-level checklist (the one most clubs need)

Entry level generally breaks into four areas. Here’s what you’ll typically need to have in place and be able to evidence.

Governance

A current club constitution (or rules) adopted by the membership.
AGM records — minutes showing the AGM happened, officers were elected and accounts were presented.
Defined committee roles — at minimum a Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer, plus a Children’s Officer.
Evidence the committee meets and keeps minutes of its decisions.

Safeguarding and child protection

A Child Safeguarding Statement and a child-protection policy.
A Club Children’s Officer (and, for larger clubs, a Designated Liaison Person) appointed and named.
Garda vetting for everyone in a relevant role, processed through the appropriate channel.
Relevant safeguarding training completed by coaches and officers.
Codes of conduct for coaches, players and parents.

Coaching qualifications and first aid

Coaches holding the appropriate FAI coaching qualifications for the level they coach.
At least one person with a current, recognised first aid qualification around training and matches.
Records of who holds what, and when each qualification expires.

Financial

A club bank account with more than one signatory.
Annual accounts prepared and presented at the AGM.
Basic financial controls so money is handled transparently.

You can track all of this — vetting, training, policies and accounts — alongside your registrations and memberships and payments, so member and coach records feed straight into your compliance.

Why clubs fail their Club Mark application

Most clubs that stumble don’t fail because they’re badly run — they fail on the paperwork and the evidence:

Gaps in evidence, not practice. You vet your coaches, but can’t quickly produce the records.
Out-of-date documents. A constitution from years ago, or AGM minutes never written up.
Expired qualifications and vetting that nobody noticed lapsing.
One person holding everything. The application stalls the moment the Secretary is unavailable.
Leaving it to the deadline. Vetting and training take time to process.

Notice the pattern: these are record-keeping problems, not governance problems.

How long it takes — and when to start

Be realistic: gathering policies, processing Garda vetting and getting coaches through training can take weeks to a few months. The FAI also sets its own assessment timelines. The practical advice: start in the off-season or pre-season, and get vetting and training moving 6–8 weeks before you want to submit.

FAI Connect: what it is

FAI Connect is the FAI’s official online system for clubs — registrations, affiliations and the formal submission of things like Club Mark. The actual application is lodged there. Software can help you get ready, but the official submission still goes through FAI Connect, and the FAI does the assessment. No third-party tool submits on the FAI’s behalf or grants the accreditation.

Where PureClub fits in

PureClub’s ClubMark compliance engine is built to handle exactly the failure points above:

A guided checklist for Entry, 1 Star and 2 Star, so you always know what’s outstanding.
A document vault for your constitution, policies, minutes and evidence — with versioning.
Automatic tracking of Garda vetting and qualification expiry, so nothing lapses unnoticed.
A readiness score and a submission-ready pack, so you’re not assembling everything from scratch.

What it deliberately doesn’t do is replace the FAI: you still lodge the final application through FAI Connect. PureClub’s job is to make sure that when you get there, everything’s organised, current and ready. Keeping your safeguarding and vetting records current year-round is the easiest way to stay accreditation-ready.

Frequently asked questions

Is FAI Club Mark mandatory?: It's a recognised quality standard rather than a universal legal requirement, but it's increasingly expected and is often linked to funding eligibility and good standing. Check with your league and the FAI whether it's required in your specific context.
How much does FAI Club Mark cost?: Any fees are set by the FAI, not by clubs or third-party tools. Check the current FAI Club Mark information for up-to-date costs.
How long does the FAI Club Mark process take?: It depends on how much you already have in place. The slow parts are usually external — Garda vetting and coach training — so allow several weeks, and start before your season rather than during it.
Do we need to renew FAI Club Mark?: Accreditations of this kind are typically reviewed periodically rather than being one-and-done. Keeping your records current year-round is the easiest way to stay ready — confirm the renewal cycle with the FAI.
What is the difference between Club Mark Entry, 1 Star and 2 Star?: Entry covers the core governance, safeguarding and financial basics. 1 Star and 2 Star add progressively deeper requirements around coaching, planning and structures. Each tier builds on the one below.
Can PureClub submit our Club Mark application to the FAI?: No, and no tool can. PureClub gets you submission-ready with a checklist, document vault, readiness score and submission pack, but the official application is lodged by your club through FAI Connect and assessed by the FAI.