Nobody volunteers to run the Under 10s so they can become a travel agent, but that is usually who ends up organising the tour. The football is the easy part. The hard part is thirty families, one group chat and a spreadsheet that is wrong by Tuesday.
This is the order we would do it in, based on the clubs that arrive at the tournament with the least drama. It is written for a Revel tournament weekend, but the first half applies to any junior tour.
1. Decide what kind of trip you are running
There are two honest answers, and they need different planning.
- A tournament weekend. A fixed date, accommodation for the whole club, fixtures arranged by the organiser. You bring the squad; the weekend already exists. This is where most junior sections start, and it is what the rest of this guide assumes.
- A football tour. Fixtures arranged against local clubs at your level, a city to explore in between, travel and hotels booked around your squad. Longer, more bespoke, and more of a leap for the families. Those live on the tours page.
If you have never taken the section away, take the tournament weekend first. A club that has done one weekend together finds the next trip sells itself.
2. Pick the weekend before you pick anything else
The date settles most of the other decisions. Revel Football runs two tournament weekends in 2027: the English Easter Cup over the Easter weekend, 27–28 March, on the North Wales coast, and the International English Summer Cup, a three-day tournament in Manchester on 23–25 July. Both, with venues and formats, are in the 2027 calendar.
Three things to check before you commit to a date:
- Age groups. Each tournament publishes its own range. Both 2027 cups run Under 7 to Under 16 for boys, with girls-only categories at Under 12, Under 14 and Under 16. Check the tournament page for the format your age group plays.
- The school calendar. Easter falls differently across councils and independent schools, and late July is the first week of the summer holidays for some and the last week of term for others. Check yours before you announce.
- Distance. Two hours in a car on Friday evening is a weekend. Five hours is a tour. Both work, but families need to know which they are signing up for.
3. Get a price before you get a headcount
Parents will not commit to a trip they cannot price, and you cannot price a trip until you know roughly how many are coming. The way round the loop is to ask us for a per-person figure on a sensible estimate, announce that, and then let the real number settle.
What you need to tell us: the tournament, the age groups, roughly how many players, siblings and adults, and whether you want to be all together on one park. We come back within one working day. If you would rather price it yourself, the instant quote does the same sums from live availability.
What the price includes and what moves it is in the cost guide. The short version: accommodation is included in the tournament price, and the price moves with the accommodation category, how many share a unit, and how long you stay.
4. Announce it properly
One message, in writing, with three things in it: the dates, the per-person price, and what happens next. The parents' announcement template in the fundraising pack is built around exactly that. Everything else (rooming, kit, who is driving) can wait.
Put a deadline on it. Parks and hotels are booked against a tournament, and they sell out before the football does. An open-ended "let me know if you are interested" gets you a headcount of eleven in December and forty in February, by which time the unit you wanted has gone.
5. Book, then let the families do the rest
This is the bit that used to eat the organiser's evenings. With Revel Clubhouse your quote becomes a share link. You put it in the group chat and every family books themselves onto the tour: they pick their accommodation, add their travellers and pay their own deposit, straight to Revel. Nobody is the bank.
A deposit secures the booking, then families pay in instalments whenever suits them. The balance is due ten weeks before the trip. Revel sends the payment reminders, not you, and your organiser dashboard shows who has booked, who has paid what and where everyone is staying.
6. Sort the football admin
- Squads. Each age group has a squad maximum on the tournament page (Under 7 is 3-a-side with a squad of three; Under 14 to Under 16 is 11-a-side with a squad of eleven, and so on). Check yours before you finalise who is coming.
- Girls' teams. Girls enter as a girls' team in their own category. If you have one, say so early: it helps us build the category. More in the girls' guide.
- Coaches and adults. Decide the ratio your club's safeguarding policy needs and book those adults in with the group.
- Kit. Two kits if you have them. Referees are qualified and appointed by the tournament, so you do not need to bring one.
7. Decide what you are doing when you are not playing
At the Easter Cup you are on the North Wales coast with Chester and Liverpool nearby. Optional extras include stadium tours (Old Trafford, the Etihad, Anfield and Everton's stadium), a coaching session arranged with a local professional club's academy, and days out from Chester Zoo to Zip World. Stadium tours do not run on home match days and everything is subject to availability, so ask early. None of it is priced on its own: it goes into the itinerary and the group's quote.
On the park itself, most clubs do very little planning. Pools, arcades and the beach fill the gaps between games on their own.
8. The month before
- Balance is due ten weeks out. If a family is short, that is the moment to use the fundraising ideas in the pack, not the week before.
- Confirm your final numbers with us. Rooming lists come from what families have booked in Clubhouse, so check the dashboard rather than starting a new spreadsheet.
- Travel insurance is a condition of booking for every traveller. Remind families, in writing.
- Send the parents one final message: arrival time, check-in details, where the football is and what time the first game is likely to be.
9. The weekend
Arrive the day before the football, get everyone into their units, and let the kids find the pitch or the pool. A dedicated Revel tour manager is on site for the tournament and first aid is on site throughout. Your job on the weekend is to be a coach and a parent, not a travel agent. That was the point.
The short version
- Tournament weekend first, tour second.
- Pick the date from the 2027 calendar and check your school holidays.
- Get a per-person price on an estimate.
- Announce dates, price and next step. Put a deadline on it.
- Share the Clubhouse link and let families book and pay themselves.
- Sort squads, adults and kit.
- Ask about extras early.
- Balance ten weeks out, insurance for everyone, one final message.
Price it for your club
Tell us the tournament you are looking at, your age groups and roughly how many are travelling. We come back within one working day with dates, availability and a per-person price. You can also try the instant quote or check availability for your dates.
Phone lines are open Monday to Friday, 9am–5pm, and WhatsApp is always on. Contact the team.