Writing Match Reports for Junior Football Soccer Matches
3rd June 2012

A match report provides a written log of the events in a game of football and relives the key moments in the match, providing an opportunity for those who were not there to get an understanding of how the game went. Reports for junior teams also provide a record of the development of the team in words.

Here are a few points to consider when writing a match report for a junior football team.

Introduce the game to the reader by setting the scene, explaining the importance of the match. Describe the weather conditions, the quality of the playing surface and possibly tell the story of the journey to the away ground.

Describe what happened in the game, report on the flow of the match and make sure the report is in the order of what took place of the pitch, and avoid the trap of going back and forth on the action.  

Describe the build-up to a piece of action, a goal or a great save. How the goal was scored, who passed the ball or played the killer pass is as important as the goal itself.

Make a positive mention of every player in your team. In Junior football winning is not as important as playing the game, and in every game all players would have done something well and they want to read about their positive contribution to the game.

Add the score-line to the report as it changes. If you can add the time the goals go in, even better, and don’t forget to add the goals by the opposition. Be aware of what time key events took place in the game and report the event with the time.  

Add quotes from the players and coaches if possible. It’s not easy getting info out of young players, though listen to the half time team talk and quote the coach’s speech to the players indicating when the instructions were adhered to.  

Whenever possible add a picture to the report. A picture paints a thousand words and one image of the match will transport the reader directly to the game.  

User statistics if you have them, number of shots, corners, goals etc, though don’t overdo the stats, your reader will quickly turn off.  

One again mention every player by name, write about each player who played in the game even if they made little contribution.  

Notes are everything in match report writing, you cannot remember all of the important facts about the match, especially times. Take a notepad or at least a scrap of paper and a pen to record the details.  

Write the report as soon as you can after the match, you will have a much better memory of the action than you would if you have waited.  

A report should not be too long or too short. A long report with big paragraphs will bore your reader, and a report that is too short may not contain all the important action. Set the report into short paragraphs and make it punchy.

 

If you would like to have a go at writing a report for your team please mail the Keelby United website at admin@keelbyunited.co.uk.

Click here for Keelby Match report example.