How much should a team fine be?
· 5 min read
The instinct is to make fines sting. The arithmetic says the opposite, and so does every squad that has tried it the hard way.
The short answer
Most team fines should be between 50p and two pounds, with three to five pounds reserved for genuinely letting the team down, such as a match day no show. A squad of sixteen running small, frequently issued fines typically raises three to six hundred pounds across a season, which beats a short list of harsh fines because harsh fines simply go unpaid.
The short answer
- Routine offences, the ones that happen weekly: 50p to £1.
- Proper offences, the ones that annoy people: £2 to £3.
- Letting the team down, like a no show on match day: £5.
- Ceremonial, once a season, genuinely outrageous: £10.
- Nothing above £10, ever. Past that people stop playing along.
Why cheap fines raise more money
A fine only collects if it gets issued, and a fine only gets issued if the person involved admits what happened or does not mind being dobbed in. Both of those stop the moment the price hurts.
Put a fiver on being late and you will book two late fines a season, because suddenly everybody has a reason that was not their fault. Put a pound on it and you will book forty, because owning up costs less than arguing. Forty pounds beats ten pounds, and the forty came with better banter.
What a season actually raises
Take a squad of sixteen across a thirty week season. A system with cheap, frequently issued fines runs at roughly one to two fines per player per month. That is somewhere between 120 and 240 fines over the season, averaging around two pounds fifty once the occasional five pound no show is mixed in.
That lands between three hundred and six hundred pounds. Enough for a proper end of season night out, or a decent chunk off a tour, from a system where nobody ever paid more than a fiver at once.
Scale it to who is actually paying
An adult Saturday league side and a university team are not the same economy. Students, apprentices and anyone paying match subs on top will quietly drop out of a system priced for people on full salaries, and they will do it without telling you why.
If your squad is mixed, price for the lowest earner in it and let the money come from volume. If you are running a junior or youth side, do not use money at all, which is a different conversation and one we have written up separately.
Round everything to 50p
Fines at £1.25 or £2.75 are a nightmare to settle in cash and a nightmare to total in your head, and whoever runs the kitty will quietly start rounding them anyway.
Fifty pence, a pound, two, three, five, ten. Six prices, and your whole rulebook fits inside them.
Common questions
What is a reasonable amount for a team fine?
A pound for anything routine, two to three pounds for something that annoys the squad, and five pounds for letting the team down. Keep everything in 50p steps so the kitty is easy to total.
Can team fines be too high?
Yes, and it is the most common mistake there is. Once a fine costs enough to argue about, people stop admitting to offences and start disputing them, and the system quietly stops producing either money or banter.
How much can a team fines system raise in a season?
A squad of sixteen running cheap, frequent fines generally raises three to six hundred pounds across a thirty week season. The total comes from the number of fines issued rather than the size of them.
Should team fines be the same price for everyone?
Yes. Scaling fines by income sounds fair and plays terribly, because it turns every fine into a conversation about what people earn. Price the whole list for the lowest earner in the squad instead.
Run your fines in the app, not a notes app
Fine Club keeps your rulebook, the pot and the leaderboard in one place, so nobody has to chase a pound by hand. Free on iOS and Android.