Football
Invasion Games | Years 5–6 | 6 Lessons
Football Sessions
These football sessions progress from the previous unit of year 3/4, looking to keep improving our sending, receiving, dribbling and shooting, whilst introducing tactical and positional knowledge, as well as improving our decision making skills through playing small sided games. Lessons are progressive and suitable for indoor or outdoor delivery.
Lessons
Lesson 1: Advanced Dribbling
Warm-up • Skill Development • Game
View Lesson Plan
Learning Objectives:
- To develop close ball control while dribbling and maintain possession when moving into space.
Success Criteria:
- I can keep the ball close to my feet when dribbling.
- I am able to use close control when dribbling at speed
- I can manipulate the ball to keep it away from the defender
Key Words:
- Dribble
- Control
- Manipulate
Equipment:
- Footballs
- Cones
- Bibs
Preparation Ideas (warm up) – Dummy Run
Spread out cones around the playing area that will act as defenders. Give each child a ball and when go is signalled, we want the children to dribble around the area. When they come up to a cone, we want to see the children slow down, before exploding to either the left or right of the cone, dribbling at speed, whilst keeping control of the ball.
Allow the children to be creative when beating the defender, using a trick or skill to get past.
Skill Development
Team shield steal
Split the class into groups of 6 and have a playing area for each group. The game will be 3v3 with one team starting with all of the balls. The attacking players must shield the ball away from the defenders, whilst the defending team can either individually look to steal a ball or work together to steal a ball.
If you win a ball, you keep that ball. The team with the highest number of balls when the time ends, wins the game
En guard 1v1
Children to be in pairs for this activity. Depending on the space you have available you may want to split groups into 4’s/6’s/8’s and have them taking turns in the lanes.
Set up lanes for the children to work in. They will be working 2 at a time in their lane. One player is the attacker, one player is the defender. Staying inside their lane, the attacker must try to get past the defender by using the dribbling technique and stop on the line on the other side. If they do this, they win a point for their team. The job of the defender is to win the ball back. Once all the attacking group have had a turn in their lane, swap the roles so the defenders can have a turn at attacking.
Game – King/Queen of the ring
Divide the class into 2 and have 2 areas set up. Everyone starts with a ball. Your job is to keep control of your ball, whilst trying to intercept another player’s ball and kick it out of the playing area. When your ball goes out, you are out of the game until one player is left.
Progression:
>Make this game a team game, with players working together to knock the players of the opposing team out. The team with the highest number of players left are the winners
Teaching Points:
- When dribbling, it is important the children know how to manipulate the ball to keep it away from the defender. Close control, using tricks and shielding the ball are ways that we can keep the ball away. Keeping the ball under close control being the most important
- Using a drop of the shoulder can be an effective way of deceiving a defender. To do this, we are going to move in one direction, lowering our shoulder and weight onto one foot, as if we are going to move that way, before quickly pushing off on that foot and heading quickly in the opposite direction. Allow the children to be creative with other movements and skills to beat and keep the ball away from defenders
- Moving at speed is key when dribbling. We want to almost slow down the defender, before quickly moving away from them to try to get a head start on them. We want the children to remember to keep the ball close to them whilst trying this.
Key Questions:
- What do we mean by the term control, when dribbling?
- Why is it important that we keep close control of the ball when dribbling?
- In a game, if we did lose control of the ball, what may happen?
- When dribbling against a defender, what skills/tricks can we use to keep the ball away from them?
National Curriculum Links:
- Using running in isolation and combination
- Playing competitive games against others, applying basic principles for attacking and defending
- Developing control, balance and technique through playing football
Social/environmental skills:
- Developing listening skills
- Being able to follow instructions effectively
- Developing confidence in trying new skills
- Showing creativity in their work
Lesson 2: Passing & Receiving Under Pressure
Warm-up • Skill Development • Game
View Lesson Plan
Learning Objectives:
- To be able to send and receive the ball whilst being pressured
Success Criteria:
- I can show good accuracy and technique in my passing
- I can effectively receive a pass using good control to stop the ball
- I am able to use both skills whilst being put under pressure by a defender
Key Words:
- Accuracy
- Control
- Space
Equipment:
- Footballs
- Bibs
- Cones
Preparation Ideas (warm up) – Numbers Game
Divide the class into even teams of around 6-8 per group with each group given an area to work in. Within that area, each player is given a number between 1-however big the group is. The idea of the game is that the children look to move and find space and pass the ball to the next number. Player 1 starts with the ball, who will pass to number 2, who will receive and pass to number 3 etc.
Its important to remember to look to find space to receive the pass from our partner.
Progression:
>Make the game into a race between groups. Which group can be finished first
Skill Development
Rondo (Piggy in the middle)
To begin with, keep the group in the same teams as before (if you want to swap players around for groups to be of similar ability, that is fine).
Each group working in their area is given 1 ball and 1 bib to begin with. Choose 1 player to be the defender whilst the others are the attackers looking to keep the ball. If the defender touches the ball, they will swap with whoever gave away possession of the ball.
Progressions:
>You can make the area smaller to make it easier for the defender to close down the ball
>You can add in more defenders if the game becomes too easy for teams. Continue to add in defenders if the game remains easy until there is a max of 3 defenders.
Game – 5 Goal Game
Split the class into teams of 6-7 and have two areas set up if space allows. Within the space, you are going to set up 5 separate goals. These goals will be scattered inside the area in different spaces and will be gates (2 cones 2m apart).
The idea of the game is for the team to keep possession of the ball, passing, dribbling and moving into space and either pass the ball through one gate to a team mate on the other side, or to dribble through the gate if the space allows it. Each time a team successfully passes or dribbles through a gate, they receive a point.
Teaching Points:
- When passing the ball, we want to see the children use good technique, using mainly the instep of their foot to pass. We want to see good accuracy in their pass, aiming for their partner’s feet (ideally their strong foot). We don’t want to see the ball passed with too much power, as this will make it more difficult for our partner to control the ball
- When receiving a pass, either use the cushion technique with the inside of our foot, or use the top of the foot if the pass is struck with little power. When we receive the ball, we want our first touch to remain close to us and set us up to either dribble or to pass the ball to someone else. A bad touch may see the ball stuck under our foot or bouncing too far in front of us, allowing a defender to intercept the ball.
- During all passing games, we want to see the team mates of the player in possession of the ball finding space to receive the ball. They should be constantly looking for spaces and if they are not in a space, or are being blocked by a defender, they need to find a new free space to receive a pass.
Key Questions:
- When receiving a pass, why is it important that we control the ball well with our first touch?
- When our team is in possession of the ball, what do we need to do in order to receive the ball?
- What two things do we need to think about to ensure our pass is accurate? Why is this important?
National curriculum links:
- Use running, sending and receiving in isolation and combination
- Play competitive games against others, applying basic principles for both attacking and defending
- Develop control and technique through playing football
Social/environmental skills:
- Develop team work and collaboration skills
- Develop good communication skills
- Show creativity in their work
- Show resilience in looking to improve their work
Lesson 3: Attacking Positioning & Tactics
Warm-up • Skill Development • Game
View Lesson Plan
Learning Objectives:
- To understand the attacking positioning in football
- To understand and implement attacking tactics
Success Criteria:
- I understand where players should be positioned when attacking in football
- I understand different tactics when attacking and how they can used to win a game
- I can be creative with tactics with my team
Key Words:
- Tactics
- Creativity
- Teamwork
Equipment:
- Footballs
- Bibs
- Cones
Preparation Ideas (warm up) – Team Tag
Split the group in half into two teams. If possible, you want to have two areas set up. Each player will have a ball. One team will be the attacking team and one the defending team.
The job of the attacking team is to pass their ball to try to strike their opponents ball (a bit like a cue ball in snooker/pool). If they strike the opponent player’s ball, they get a point.
The job of the defending team is to dribble and try to protect their ball from being hit.
Allow teams to swap roles and then play again to see if they can beat each other’s score
Progression:
>Allow both teams to attack one another to see how many strikes they can get as a team. Team with the highest number of strikes on their opponents are the winners
Skill Development
3v1
Split the children into team of around 5-6 per team. In their area set up a goal at one end and an end zone at the other end. The attacking team will start at the end zone and will choose 3 attackers at a time to attack the goal. The defending team will have a goalkeeper and 1 defender looking to defend and win back the ball.
Each team will have 5 turns at attacking and defending, switching players each time and for each goal scored, the attacking team are awarded 1 point. Once the teams switch, can the new attacking team beat their opponent’s score.
Progressions:
>The main progression for this game is to add another defender into the game once each team has been, if the attacking teams are scoring multiple points. This will make it 2 defenders plus a goalkeeper vs 3 attackers
>If the teams are mismatched, we can either swap them over to play against teams from other areas or we can mismatch by allowing the team who was defeated to play against 1 defender whilst the team who won play against 2 defenders
Game – 4 Gates Goals
For this game, we want the class in teams of 6. To set up the area, if you are using the hall, flip the hall sideways. If outside, we simply want the area to be a lot wider than it is in length e.g. a normal area may be 25mx10m however for this game we would want the pitch to be 10mx25m (depending on space available). We are going to place a at either end of the width line on both sides, so each team has 2 goals they can attack to rather than just 1 in the middle.
This game is all about attacking, so we want to see as many players attacking as possible (we can have defenders but not goalkeepers guarding the goal). The teams can attack either of the goals and to score, the team must dribble through the gate.
Teaching Points:
- When the teams are attacking in both games, we want to see the teams stretch the area as large as possible. When in the 3v1 and 3v2 game, we want to see a player on the right of the area, a player in the centre of the area and a player to the left of the area, stretching the defending team as much as possible. If we bunch too close together, it is easier for the defending team to mark the space and players. If we spread out as much as possible, it makes it much more difficult for the defenders to mark both the space and the players.
- When in the 4 gates goal game, we want to see the teams ‘switching the play’. What we mean by this is the attacking team looking to attack 1 gate, which will attract the defenders over to that gate, before passing (or switching) to attack the other gate, which may be free. We would like the attacking team to keep at least one player on either side of the area, stretching the game. It is up to that particular team whether they want more than 1 player stretching the area.
- Teams need both defenders and attackers, but we do not want to see anyone just guarding the goal by standing in the gate. When attacking, we want to see those players being involved in the game by stepping up away from the gate. They can still be in a position to retreat and defend the gate when their team loses the ball, but they should be in a position to receive passes when their team is in attack.
Key Questions:
- What do we mean by ‘switching the play’ and ‘stretching the area’?
- Why is this important to stretch the area as wide as when can when we are attacking in an overload (more attackers than defenders)?
- What would happen if the attackers bunch too close together in a small space?
National curriculum links:
- Using running, throwing and catching in isolation and combination
- Play competitive games against others, applying basic principles for attacking and defending
- Comparing their performance against a previous attempt, and looking for improvements
Social/environmental skills:
- Developing team work and collaboration skills
- Developing good communication skills
- Showing creativity in coming up with tactics
- Showing and developing leadership skills
- Developing resilience when looking for improvements
Lesson 4: Defending As A Team
Warm-up • Skill Development • Game
View Lesson Plan
Learning Objectives:
- To understand the importance of defending in football
- To understand how we can defend in different ways in football
Success Criteria:
- I can mark an opponent effectively.
- I can defend space as well as a player.
- I can communicate with teammates when defending.
Key Words:
- Team work
- Specific Marking
- Zonal marking
Equipment:
- Cones
- Footballs
- Bibs
Preparation Ideas (warm up) – Snake
This is a tag game. Depending on numbers, you may want to split and have 2 areas playing the same game. Choose one player to be the tagger, everyone else has a ball. When you are tagged by the snake, you lose your ball and become part of the snake. As more people are tagged, the snake becomes larger and larger.
The snake must stay connected at all times by either holding the shoulder, hand or shirt of the player in front.
Skill Development
Liverpool
Set up areas and have teams play 5v5 in their given area. You can set up a goal or a gate at either end that the attacking team must dribble or pass through to score a point. There are no goalkeepers in this game so make the goals small if they are passing it through. This is a normal possession and scoring game with a twist, the defending team can also be awarded points.
The way the defending team is awarded a point is by winning the ball back within 3 passes. So basically, when they lose the ball, they have to try and win the ball back within 3 passes to be awarded a point. This encourages the children to specifically mark a player and all look to press towards the ball when they lose it.
Game – 5v5 Defend The Zone
Set up an area with a scoring zone line at either end. Make the playing area quite long to encourage the children to have to retreat. This game encourages the children to mark a space or zone rather than a player.
To score a point as the attacking team, you simply have to dribble the ball into the zone and place your foot on top of the ball.
You can also pass the ball into the end zone, as long as a team mate controls the ball and places their foot on top. As the defending team, we want to try to prevent the attacking team from dribbling the ball into the end zone. This game encourages children to get back into shape and defend the zone.
Teaching Points:
- When playing snake, we want the children to use good communication skills when they are the snake. Whoever is the head of the snake needs to communicate with the others which player they are looking to tag to ensure the snakes are all heading in the same direction.
- When playing the Liverpool game, we want to see the children react quickly to their team losing the ball and look to close down the nearest player to them. What we don’t want to see is everyone closing down only the player with the ball, leaving their team mates free to receive a pass. If we can close down the options of the player on the ball quickly, we can then begin to slowly press the attackers into a small space, before intercepting the ball.
- When playing defend the zone, when the attacking team lose the ball, rather than them all closing down the nearest player, we want to see them, as quickly as they can, retreat behind the ball. From there, we need good communication to allow 1 or 2 to close down the ball and the nearest opponent to the ball, without leaving too much space for the opposition to pass or dribble the ball through the end zone. They might line up in 1 line, they may line up in 2 lines and allow the players in the front line to close down the opposition whilst the back line defend the zone.
Key Questions:
- What do we mean by the terms specific and zonal marking?
- When we lose the ball and want to specific mark, what do we need to do?
- When we lose the ball and want to zonal mark, what do we need to do?
- How is communication important when defending as a team?
- Which type of marking did we prefer and why?
National curriculum links:
- Use running, throwing and catching in isolation and combination
- Play competitive games against others, applying basic principles for both attacking and defending
Social/environmental skills:
- Developing team work and collaboration skills
- Developing good communication skills
- Showing and developing leadership/ownership skills
Lesson 5: Combining Skills
Warm-up • Skill Development • Game
View Lesson Plan
Learning Objectives:
- To apply dribbling, passing, attacking, and defending skills together during game situations.
Success Criteria:
- I can decide whether to pass or dribble depending on the situation.
- I can support teammates in both attacking and defending phases.
- I can communicate work in a team in order to succeed when playing the games
Key Words:
- Team work
- Communication
- Combine
Equipment:
- Footballs
- Cones
- Bibs
Preparation Ideas (warm up) – Team shield steal
Split the class into groups of 10 and have a playing area for each group. The game will be 5v5 with one team starting with all of the balls. The attacking players must shield the ball away from the defenders, whilst the defending team can either individually look to steal a ball or work together to steal a ball. If you win a ball, you keep that ball.
The team with the highest number of balls when the time ends, wins the game
Skills Development
Over the river bank
Keep the children in the same groups of 10. In their playing area, we are going to have 2 large bank areas with 4 players in each area. We are also going to have a thin middle river area where there will be 2 defenders. The ball starts in one of the large bank areas, where the attackers must pass the ball 3 times in a row. The defending team will send 1 player into that area to try and win the ball back.
If the attacking succeeds with their 3 passes, they can send the ball, by passing, into the other bank area, watching out for the defender in the middle who can intercept the ball going across.
If either defender intercepts/tackles and wins the ball back, they swap with the player who gave the ball away.
Progressions/regressions:
>If the attacking teams are struggling, you can either make the area larger so the attackers have more space to control and pass, or you can only allow the defender to intercept the pass rather than tackling
>Instead of the defenders coming into the bank area, they can stay in the river and move from side to side. This will encourage the teams to move the ball from side to side in their area before sending the ball across to the other bank when there is space to do so
>If the attackers are finding it easy, you can increase the number of passes needed before sending the ball across
Game – 5v5
Simple game of 5 a side with a goal at either end. Make the goal small and have no goalkeepers, so that all players can be playing outfield. Simple game with a point being awarded every time a team scores a point. Play 5 minute games before swapping over the teams.
Teaching Points:
- When playing over the river, we want to see the children who are attacking finding spaces to receive the pass from their partner. We want to see good control using the cushion or foot on top technique and accurate passes to both their team mates and to the other side. When passing to the other side, talk to the children about where they are passing from. Do they have their head up to see who is free to receive the pass, or is the defender in the way? Are we close enough to the other team’s bank to pass the ball. We don’t want to be passing the ball over too long a distance so can we move closer to the river before passing the ball.
- When playing 5v5, can the teams come up with their tactics before the game starts. Who is playing in defence, midfield and attack? When we lose the ball, are we specific marking and winning the ball back quickly or are we retreating to our goal and getting back behind the ball? When we are attacking, are we stretching the game and finding spaces to receive the pass to make it more difficult for the defenders to win the ball back?
Key Questions:
- Can we explain a tactic we are using in the game when we are both attacking and defending?
- When our team has the ball, what do we need to do in order to receive a pass?
- What will help us to work well as a team?
National curriculum links:
- Use running, throwing and catching in isolation and combination
- Play competitive games against others, applying basic principles for both attacking and defending
- Comparing our performance against a previous attempt, and looking for improvements
Social/environmental skills:
- Developing good team work and collaboration skills
- Developing good team work skills
- Showing creativity in coming up with tactics
- Developing leadership and ownership skills
- Showing good sportsmanship skills when playing against others
Lesson 6: Football Games
Warm-up • Skill Development • Game
View Lesson Plan
Learning Objectives:
- To apply skills, rules, and tactics in competitive football games.
Success Criteria:
- I can use skills taught in previous weeks within games.
- I can follow rules independently.
- I can work positively with my team.
Key Words:
- Compete
- Respect
Equipment:
- Footballs
- Cones
- Bibs
- Football goals (if available)
Preparation Ideas (warm up) – Team Warm Up
Give each group a ball and allow them to go and create their own warm up. This should include a dynamic movement (jog, shuttle), a stretch (1 stretch per person in the group) and practice passing the ball in the group
We also want to see the group come up with tactics they are going to use in their games.
Recap football rules to the class
Game – Football games
Depending on the size of the space you have and staff members available, set up one or two football areas (around half size basketball court). You could use goals with keepers outside. If indoor, you can use bench laid sideways as the goal.
Children who are not playing can be used as referees or assistants if wanted. Roles can include:
>Time keeper
>Score keeper
Playing with 4 teams:
| Pitch 1 | Pitch 2 |
| 1 v 2 | 3 v 4 |
| 1 v 3 | 2 v 4 |
| 1 v 4 | 2 v 3 |
If you only have one space available go with the 4 teams and look to make the teams slightly bigger to accommodate the 4 teams. Play 5 minute games
Teaching Points:
- No slide tackles if indoors. We want to see children staying on their feet to tackle as much as possible
- We want to see both teams managing to stick to the positions that are given to them during the game. We do not want to see for example, the defenders pushing up into attack and leaving space in defence.
- We also want to see the team work back defensively to either win the ball back quickly or to get back into their positions and shape. This will depend on their strategy and tactics.
- If teams start to be magnetised towards the ball, we can have a timebomb that goes off. Count down from 5 and we want to see all attacking players find a space in the area.
Key Questions:
- What did we do well during the game in attack?
- What did we do well during the game when defending?
- Can we make any changes to tactics or positions in the next game to improve?
- Did everyone feel involved in the game? If not, why?
National curriculum links:
- Use running, throwing and catching in isolation and combination
- Play competitive games against others, applying basic principles for attacking and defending
- Comparing their own and their team’s performance against a previous attempt and looking for improvements
Social/environmental skills:
- Showing good sportsmanship to others
- Developing team work and collaboration skills
- Developing good communication skills
- Showing creativity in their work by coming up with tactics
- Showing and developing leadership skills
- Showing resilience in their work by looking for improvements
Need support?
If you are unsure on which lesson to teach or need help with accessing lesson plans, please contact us