Can I trial with another club without asking my own?

RB requires no permission for training, only for friendlies (RB 2026 chapter 4, section 11, in writing). The Stockholm and Småland FAs recommend that you tell your club first. In Stockholm the new club may not make first contact up to and including 31 October of the year you turn 14 – but nothing stops you from getting in touch yourself.

How old do you have to be to trial at an academy?

RB sets no age limit for training. The academies set their own: AIK scouts from age 12, not actively before that. Abroad, FIFA’s limit applies: earliest from the season you turn 15 within Europe.

Does a trial cost anything?

At Swedish academies such as Karlstad and Linköping, trials are free. For international trials nobody may request or accept payment (FIFA RSTP article 19ter). What costs money is commercial tryouts, like Juega’s 900 euros for Barcelona – and a tryout you pay for is not an academy that has chosen you.

For players

Trials: the rules govern the match, not the training

By Gustav, founder of Breakout · 5 min read

The Swedish FA’s player registration regulations (RB) govern which club you may play matches for. They do not govern training, and the word trial does not appear in RB 2026. What actually applies is three things: one rule about friendlies, your district’s recruitment policy and the academies’ own routines.

What the rules actually say

RB 2026 is about representing a club in matches. Training with another club requires no permission under RB. Playing a friendly for a club other than your own, however, requires written consent from your current club (RB 2026 chapter 4, section 11). Verbal consent is not enough.

Up to and including the calendar year you turn 14, you may only represent one club per playing term in competitive matches (RB 2026 chapter 1, section 3). That does not affect the trial, but what comes after it: if you change club mid-term, you wait until the next term before playing league matches for the new one.

How the contact works

The order of contact clubs refer to – you or your guardian speak to your own club first, then you contact the new club, and the new club contacts your current one before you train – is a recommendation from the Stockholm and Småland district FAs. It is not in RB, and Stockholm FA itself states that no sanctions are attached to it.

Recruitment rules do exist, though, in the districts’ competition regulations (TB). Under Stockholm FA’s competition regulations (TB) 2026 chapter 1, section 1, it counts as recruitment when a club representative – including parents and children in the club – makes first contact with a player at another club. The rule applies up to and including 31 October of the year the player turns 14. Direct messages on social media are not allowed, open training sessions and camps may only be held outside the competitive season, and the fine can reach 25,000 kronor. If you live in another district, check what your district’s TB says.

The age limits

Three limits are worth knowing by heart. Up to and including the calendar year you turn 14, the playing terms apply. From the age of 14 years and six months a club may negotiate a player contract with you, and from 15 you may sign one (RB 2026 chapter 3, section 7).

In Stockholm the recruitment ban ends on 31 October of the year you turn 14. From that day, clubs may contact you directly – Stockholm FA itself calls it a gap.

How academies invite players and what they look at

The pattern is the same everywhere: you get seen in a match, the club contacts your current club, and then you are invited to a handful of sessions. This is how some academies describe their own process.

AIK scouts boys and girls aged 12 to 15, does not actively scout ages 8 to 12 and always informs the player’s club. Trial weeks are in weeks 25, 33 and 44.
Hammarby takes on one or two of hundreds of applicants per season, gives no feedback after an open trial session and gets in touch within seven days if you go through. Parents are not allowed on the pitch. IFK Göteborg ran an application window from 15 November to 12 December in 2025 via a web form.
Falkenberg invites players to two of four sessions and wants you to inform your club first. Karlstad runs three sessions with technical and physical tests, free. Linköping charges nothing either and asks for a contact person at your club; the academy trains four sessions a week. Örebro has no open sessions, only a form where your coach’s contact details must be given.
What they look for, Malmö FF’s Georgson describes as “a real fire”. Academies must report every under-age player they take on to the Swedish FA (RB 2026 chapter 1, section 6). The Swedish Elite Football (SEF) certification 2025 gives a measure of the environment: Malmö FF seven stars, AIK, Brommapojkarna and Hammarby six.

How to prepare

This is our advice, not the FA’s – no FA source describes how to do a good trial.

Sleep properly the night before and arrive early, with shin pads and the right boots for the surface.
Listen to the instructions and do what the coach asks, not what you think will impress.
Play simple for the first ten minutes. A safe first pass gets you the ball again.
Ask the coach one question afterwards. You will learn something about how they saw you.

Trials abroad and paid tryouts

Trials at a foreign club are governed by FIFA RSTP article 19ter: earliest from the season you turn 15 within Europe, at most two trials per calendar year, a Trial Form in FIFA’s system ten days in advance, written consent from your parents, and if you are an amateur under 16 your club is informed. The club pays for medical care if you get injured, and nobody may request or accept payment for the trial. This applies to international trials, not to trials at a Swedish club.

Commercial tryouts sit outside that system. Juega charges 900 euros for a tryout in Barcelona for players aged 16 to 23. The Swedish FA’s advice, given by Claes Eriksson in 2014, is to finish compulsory school before moving for football. In 2019 FIFA fined the Swedish FA 104,000 Swiss francs over failings concerning 54 minors.

If you do not get through

Not being selected says less than it feels like. Güllich followed players in German academies in 2014: annual turnover 24.5 per cent, and the probability of still being there three years later below 50 per cent at every age. The recruitment age of those who reached the Bundesliga was spread evenly across childhood and adolescence. There is no age at which the door closes.

In Breakout, verified coaches create trials with age ranges from 13 upwards. If you are under 15, a linked parent must approve your application, and it is held for 24 hours after that approval before the coach sees it.

Last checked against RB 2026; RB 2027 comes into force at the end of November 2026.

Common follow-up questions

Can I trial with another club without asking my own?: RB requires no permission for training, only for friendlies (RB 2026 chapter 4, section 11, in writing). The Stockholm and Småland FAs recommend that you tell your club first. In Stockholm the new club may not make first contact up to and including 31 October of the year you turn 14 – but nothing stops you from getting in touch yourself.
How old do you have to be to trial at an academy?: RB sets no age limit for training. The academies set their own: AIK scouts from age 12, not actively before that. Abroad, FIFA’s limit applies: earliest from the season you turn 15 within Europe.
Does a trial cost anything?: At Swedish academies such as Karlstad and Linköping, trials are free. For international trials nobody may request or accept payment (FIFA RSTP article 19ter). What costs money is commercial tryouts, like Juega’s 900 euros for Barcelona – and a tryout you pay for is not an academy that has chosen you.