Captain’s Handbook

Introduction

If you’re here, then you already know what the club is, what football is, and vaguely how to play it.

What you might not know is the proud history of Royal Brussels British FC, the best amateur football club in Brussels:

• A home away from home to any football-loving expat that lands in the capital of Europe.
• A legacy of families that grew, met, and were created thanks to this club.
• A support network for anyone that knocks on the doors of the club with honest intentions.

There is nearly a century of it — have a read of the club history if you haven’t.

Club Structure — The Teams

Seven teams, split between seniors and veterans.

Senior Teams (16+)

• RBBFC 1 1st Division
• RBBFC 2 2nd Division
• RBBFC 3 3rd Division
• RBBFC 4 3rd Division

Veteran Teams (39+)

• RBBFC 5 Div 6A · Vets 1
• RBBFC 6 Div 6B · Vets 2
• RBBFC 7 Div 6E · Vets 3

Club Hierarchy — The People

Who to go to, and in roughly what order.

• Committee & captains contact list

Roles & Expectations of a RBBFC Captain

Being captain is a lot of work — so make sure to delegate some of the tasks.

• A team captain is expected to manage their team from an administrative viewpoint first (registrations, subscription fees, ABSSA documents) and from a footballing viewpoint second.
• It is a captain’s responsibility to manage communication with the stakeholders of the club, so that the goals of the team and those of the club align and the team is given all the tools it needs to achieve them.
• A captain must ensure their team has enough playing members attending regularly to compete in a manner fit for the club — in terms of results and behaviour.
• A team captain is responsible for organising footballing events — training, friendlies and league matches — and social events for their team.
• A captain needs to coordinate with the other captains for match-day selection, to ensure all teams have the best possible team in accordance with the club’s selection policy.

One Year at RBBFC

The season runs May to May, and then starts again.

1. May RBBFC Club AGM

   The previous year is discussed and assessed, pain points are tackled, and plans for the coming season are laid out. The AGM is also where new captains are elected and any rule changes are voted on.

2. July Pre-Season Start

   Training sessions every Wednesday — a chance to start getting the team together, focus on recruitment, and organise friendlies.

3. August Squad Selection

   Towards the end of pre-season, all team captains should meet and discuss squad selection for the season.

4. September Season Start

   Make sure you have the team, the kit and the tablet ready.

5. December Christmas Break

   Two-week break around Christmas and New Year.

6. April End of Season

   Well done! Whatever the result, you survived.

7. April End of Season Team Dinner

   Take the lads out for some food and drinks — it’s been a long season.

8. May Club Dinner Dance

   Best club night of the year. Dress up, enjoy some fine dining, and celebrate the awards.

9. May Vote of Confidence

   Do you want to do this again? Does the team want you to?

10. May RBBFC Club AGM

    It all starts again.

11. June Club Tour

    Weekend away as a club.

Guiding Lights

Five things to keep in mind when the rest of it gets complicated.

1. This is amateur football. No one is paid, no one is free of mistakes, and if they were then they wouldn’t be playing here.
2. On a Saturday, people are blocking 4–5 hours for the match day — driving there, getting dressed, warming up, playing, and the post-match drinks and Man of the Match voting. Playing time is only 70 minutes, so make sure the other 170–230 minutes are enjoyable and not wasted.
3. We play for the Club, not for the team. The Club always gets priority.
4. You are not by yourself. Lean on your Vice Captain and other players you trust, and involve them in this job so you don’t get overwhelmed.
5. It’s only football, a game you love. If it ever gets too much, step back and ask for help. The Club is always there to support you.

ABSSA

The Royal Association Belge des Sports du Samedi — the league we play in, and the source of every rule in the match-day sections below.

Pre-Season

Pre-season starts around July. This is where the captain needs to start building and preparing their team for the season.

• Take stock of the players you have. Reach out to all of them and gauge their levels of commitment and expectations. List the players and the positions they can play, to identify the gaps in the team.
• Start organising training sessions with the football system you want to play in mind.
• Organise friendly matches to keep the players interested and entertained, and to start testing your system and making adjustments.
• Start recruiting once you’ve identified the gaps in your team, looking for ways to fill them.
• Consider squad selection early — it’s crucial for squad-building. Have a chat with the other captains about who is in their plans and whether they’re interested in one of your players.

Friendly Matches

If you want to plan pre-season matches, there are a few ways to go about them:

• Reach out to your contacts who play in or manage other teams.
• Ask people in the team or club if they know anyone.
• Check the ABSSA website for the contacts of teams you want to play against, and reach out by email.
• Post on the ABSSA Facebook group to ask for or reply to a friendly match request. The same group is where you’d look for a referee for your friendlies.

• ABSSA Facebook group

ABSSA friendlies

• Any home friendly against an ABSSA team needs to be authorised by the league.
• Contact our ABSSA Secretary to arrange the paperwork (annonce match amical & feuille d’arbitre match amical).
• Pitch charges are usually covered by the host team; referee charges are usually split between the two teams.
• Although it’s only a friendly, fights and misconduct are not tolerated and could lead to bans and punishment from the league.

Non-ABSSA friendlies

No rules.

Recruitment

Recruitment is crucial to any amateur football team, especially when we are part of a club with different teams and squad selection can promote your best players to higher teams — leaving you needing replacements. There are some good sources:

Your own players

Your players have friends, and some of those friends can play football. If your players are happy, they won’t hesitate to invite their friends to play with them.

Facebook groups

Whether you post looking for a specific position, or react to a player looking for a team:

• facebook.com/groups/1722740338028768
• facebook.com/groups/816340168475335
• facebook.com/groups/779679629142456
• facebook.com/groups/213492449578720

The club website

RBBFC is so good that it is usually the top result when someone googles “amateur football in Brussels”. They’ll then land on our website and potentially fill out the form. So keep an eye on newcomers in training and make sure you include them in your sessions and your squad.

If a player is clearly very good, make sure you let the other captains have a look at them so they can be in the best team for the club. For this, keep an eye on the New Players spreadsheet that goes out with the captain’s newsletter.

Squad Selection

The secret to success at RBBFC is that we are a big club. When a team needs a boost to fill a squad, we help each other. When a team is struggling and needs to win some matches, we help each other.

This starts once pre-season is underway. People have a chance to look at new players and identify the gaps in their squads, and the team captains should sit together and discuss their desired squad members. There is a priority in terms of squad selection:

1. RBBFC 1
2. RBBFC 2
3. RBBFC 5 Vets 1
4. RBBFC 3
5. RBBFC 4
6. RBBFC 6 Vets 2
7. RBBFC 7 Vets 3

The goal of this meeting of team captains is to make sure that each team has a strong enough squad to compete in their respective divisions, and enough players to be able to field at least eleven each week.

The selection priority also applies during match-day selection on Wednesday after training.

Remember that we are not professional teams trading well-paid players, and they are not commodities. Discuss it with the player before confirming they are moving to or playing with another team, and explain the principles involved.

Training Sessions

Training will make or break your season, alongside the right squad. Make sure enough people attend to make it fun and interesting for everyone. Ideally you want the people playing on the Saturday to also be in training, so they get used to playing with each other in your system.

• Mon 20:00 All teams on the Astro pitch.
• Wed 19:00 Teams alternating between Astro and grass — check the New Players spreadsheet for the schedule.

Keep the drills simple and fun. We are not professional players and not everyone has the footballing IQ to follow complex drills and systems. Competitive drills usually work fantastically for atmosphere and intensity. You could also be a coach who prioritises playing a training match and fixing things during it.

League Match Days — Setting Up

League match days start on the Sunday before the match.

• Sun Make sure the matches are in SportEasy well in advance and with the correct information — double-check the pitch locations. Start chasing people for their attendance.
• Wed Have everyone’s reply in before training. Once you know everyone’s attendance you can go to match-day squad selection with the other captains with all the information you need. The selection priority is followed so each team has what it needs to compete on the Saturday. If you are giving away a player, talk to them and explain why.
• Home only Organise a délégué with your paired team — the 1sts usually have their own, 2nds pair with the 4ths, 3rds with Vets 1, and Vets 2 and 3 sort themselves out.
• Fri Send the match message with everything the players need: squad list, meeting time, location, things to bring. It is also very important to check that everyone has a way to get to the match — organise lifts in your team’s group.
• Fri AM Update the ABSSA app on the tablet, charge the tablet, pack the kit bag and make sure you have everything you need. For home matches always have an away kit ready in case it’s needed. For all matches, carry spare socks, shin pads, tape and shorts in case someone forgets something.
• Sat Get the mood going in the group and get to the pitch early — get the keys to the locker, see where the pitch is, and set up the changing room so the team has the best preparation possible. Blast some music, set the mood.

League Match Days — Before Kick-Off

The délégué

• They need to be a registered ABSSA member of the club, not suspended, and registered before the original date of the match — which matters for postponed matches.
• They cannot play in the match they are délégué for.
• The délégué wears a white armband, the coach a red armband, and the captain the tri-colour armband (flexible on that last one).

Kit and colours

• If there is a colour clash, the home team is responsible for changing to their secondary kit.
• Away teams must play in the colours stated on the ABSSA website.

Referees

• If there is no ABSSA-assigned referee, the away team have priority in choosing the referee.
• The referee needs to be a registered ABSSA club member, and cannot be a suspended player, or a player and/or délégué in the same match they are refereeing.

Identity checks

• The only accepted forms of ID are a Belgian ID and an ABSSA player card.
• Before the match the referee calls out the names of the team’s players, and each shows their number, their shin pads and their boots while the other team’s délégué checks the IDs match the names being called.

League Match Days — During & After

During the match

• The délégué stays in the technical area (bench) at all times. If balls go out of bounds, the substitutes retrieve them.
• Substitutes on the bench need to wear a different colour from the teams on the pitch.
• Jewellery is forbidden. If it is of emotional or religious importance it needs to be covered with tape or bands — and can still be refused at the referee’s discretion.
• Accessories must match, not be a collection of different colours: undershirts the same colour as the shirt, leggings the same colour as the shorts, socks matching.
• For a substitution, the on-pitch captain announces it to the referee (number X on for number Y). The player coming on goes to the referee to show their number, boots and shin pads.
• If the match is stopped because of a major injury or the weather, it must be rescheduled and organised by the home team during the week.

Match fees

• €10 Full match
• €5 Subbed on or off
• −50% Students and underemployed players
• €0 Whoever takes the kit home to wash it

The total collection should come to €100, minus the discounts for students and underemployed players.

Afterwards

• A Man of the Match is mandatory for the stats of the match on our website.
• Complete the stats on the website by Sunday morning.
• Transfer the money to the club with the communication “Match Fees – Team Name – Match Date”.

League Match Days — Home vs Away

Team & Club Socials

What’s a good team without some good parties?

At your discretion, organise social events for your team. These don’t need to be anything fancy: pizza and FIFA night, a night out in town with the WAGs, a BBQ hosted by whoever has a garden.

Team socials are crucial in building a bond and a connection between the players outside of just playing football. It’s always fun to play with friends.

Help the committee member responsible for events by gathering attendance numbers and sharing announcements, to ensure high levels of participation from the players.

Media & Communications

The club has a unified X (Twitter) account which you can have access to. Keep things clean and of the club’s standard when posting.

Each team normally has an Instagram account managed by the team leadership, to share news and give the lads some content to share on their personal accounts.

You can choose to expand this presence or ignore it, but players like to share when they are elected MoM, or when they win and score goals.

Adapted from “RBBFC Captaincy for Dummies”. Anything that looks out of date probably is — tell the committee and it gets fixed here.