Question 1

How many teams do DUAFC have?

Accepted Answer

The women's side have 3 teams that compete in both the football and futsal BUCS competitions. The men's have 3 BUCS football teams and a separate 3 teams who play BUCS futsal. The non-league XI is made up of mostly the 1s and 2s squad members.

Question 2

How do I get into DUAFC?

Accepted Answer

There are several ways players get into the football club.

The first is by contacting us via one of our contact forms or social media platforms and expressing an interest for joining up with the squad for pre-season. This will require you to submit a 'footballing CV' so we can decide whether your experience suggests that you would benefit from training with the squad in pre-season.

Following our intake from pre-season, DUAFC holds trials during Fresher's Week each year where we look to bolster our squads heading into the university football calendar.

If unsuccessful at trials, we recommend that players go and play for their college teams and get some minutes. If they are excelling on the college circuit, then they can be recommended to have a trial training period with the 3rd XI (to start with) by our college reps, who are in contact with the captains from the teams competing at the top of the college football pyramid. And yes, this does really happen! Around half of the 3rd XI last year came in from the college system post-trials.

Note: The numbers we take at each stage of the process will change year-on-year depending on squad requirements.

Question 3

What standard have players played before coming to Durham?

Accepted Answer

The relationship between DUAFC team represented and previous standard played is not as linear as one might think, but as a general rule players will have played one or more of the following:

Academy Football in their teen years.
A good standard of men's non-league football.
D1 American Universities Football.
County representative football.
Played for a highly successful school 1st XI/ junior club side.

This list is not exhaustive, but merely gives an indication of the approximate standard DUAFC expects of its players. However, it is not completely transactional and the club definitely doesn't screen out players based purely on the fact that they haven't played academy football, especially through the trials process.

Question 4

What is the training schedule for a DUAFC member?

Accepted Answer

For an example guide on what a week as a first team footballer at DUAFC looks like, check out our "Week in the Life" page. To elaborate on this for the full squad, please see below.

Second XI: Train Monday evenings and Friday Mornings with a BUCS game on Wednesday and potential for games on Thursday and Saturday in our Non-League Side.

Third XI: Train Tuesday and Friday Mornings with a BUCS game on Wednesday. The top 3s players may be called upon to play in the Non-League XI, but are likely to be cleared to play college football over the weekend.

Frequently asked questions

How many teams do DUAFC have?

How do I get into DUAFC?

What standard have players played before coming to Durham?

What is the training schedule for a DUAFC member?