Collecting subs in grassroots football should be straightforward. In reality, it rarely is.
Most grassroots clubs are still juggling bank transfers, spreadsheets and long message threads just to work out who has paid and who hasn’t. Volunteers end up chasing money in their spare time, cross-checking accounts and updating documents manually. It’s slow, it’s awkward, and it pulls focus away from football.
There are also platforms that promise to simplify payments but charge high transaction fees and annual costs. When fees sit at around 4.5 percent plus £300 per year, or 4.3 percent per transaction, that money comes straight out of grassroots football. It’s money that could be spent on pitch hire, kit or supporting volunteers.
How It Works
Club secretaries sign up for Centre Circle.
They create a payment plan. That can be one global plan for the whole club, or individual plans assigned to specific age groups or teams.
Players - or parents, if the player is under 18 - download the Centre Circle app, select their team and pay in two taps.
Clubs can:
- Set annual or monthly payments
- Apply sibling discounts easily
- Create invoices
- View a full overview of all money coming into the club
- Filter by “unpaid” to see exactly who hasn’t paid
If someone hasn’t paid, the club can open a one-to-one chat in a single click and send a reminder through our safeguarding-compliant messaging system.
Everything sits in one place. No separate spreadsheets. No chasing through multiple apps.
The Cost
Centre Circle is free to use. There are no platform fees. No annual subscriptions. No licence costs.
The only charge is the transaction fee. We are charged this by our payments provider, so it cannot be removed. However, we have secured the lowest rate available in grassroots football:
0.9 percent + 15p per transaction.
As more clubs use Centre Circle, there is potential for that rate to reduce further. The aim is simple. Keep as much money as possible inside grassroots football, while reducing the admin burden on the volunteers who keep it running.
Learn more about how Centre Circle payments work or speak to us about setting your club up.
