Soccer Goals Safari

If you are going to play football at any competitive level, you’ll need to get a pair of soccer goals. The days of using a couple of rolled up jackets as posts are long gone! Luckily, there are loads of options available, from portable soccer goals made of plastic that you can set up just for shooting practice; all the way to the metal professional soccer goals for full-on competition matchplay.

Cheap Soccer Goals

Before you jump in and buy any kind of soccer goal, you need to be clear who is going to be using it, whether it is for a little practice in the backyard or for matches, how much space is available to you etc. There is little point in buying a pair of aluminum 8 foot by 24 foot soccer goals just to kick a football around the back garden with your toddling four-year-old son!

So the best soccer goals for this type of situation are the small, lightweight plastic ones. They’ll be the cheapest ones also. Remember that although these are lightweight, durable and portable, they can easily get knocked or blown over, so always remember to anchor them when in use, for safety. The plastic practice goals are great for shooting and usually have a tighter rebound net so the ball will come back out for you.

Metal Professional Goals

The more expensive type of soccer goals are made of aluminum, and are a lot heavier. For safety they should be securely fixed in place. They are designed to be a permanent fixture on the football field, not to be moved around. Because they are made of aluminum, they are weather resistant and sturdy enough (when anchored) not to move when hit by the soccer ball.

The full size metal soccer goals should be used by all players over the age of 12; they are 8 foot tall and 24 foot wide, and also have minimum pitch size requirements – 50 yards in width and 90 yards in length. These sizes apply to the outdoor game; indoor soccer goals and futsal goals are different.

Goal Requirements

It’s absolutely fine to buy the small plastic goals if you play for fun with the kids, out in the backyard. But for more serious training, for schools and colleges eager to build competitive teams, it is probably better to acquire a set of different soccer goals to best serve the different age groups. In this case, the general recommendation is to get two full sized all-weather goals and two smaller sizes for the youngsters to practise with. Usually, you’ll only be playing on half of the full-size pitch with the smaller ones.

I’ll explain a bit more next time about the different sizes and who should use them as well as what accessories you’ll need for your soccer goals.