The Small Club Operations Playbook

One wet Wednesday, an hour before kickoff: the referee is stuck in traffic, the sponsor banner is missing, two players are arguing about unpaid bonuses and the food truck wants cash on arrival. Everyone turns to you. Running a local or semi‑pro team means being the person who keeps money, people, fixtures and community partners moving in the same direction—usually with volunteers, thin budgets and no formal training. The Small Club Operations Playbook turns that chaos into a simple, repeatable way of working. Using the logic of a small business rather than big‑league bureaucracy, Mark Ellison shows how to launch or reset a club, set clear roles and build a season plan you can actually follow. You learn to read and use basic budgets and P&L reports, speak to sponsors in plain language, and keep contracts and agreements under control instead of buried in email. Player welfare and conduct, safeguarding, travel and equipment, insurance, risk and discipline procedures become everyday routines rather than legal puzzles. Game‑day checklists, media and social‑media run sheets, volunteer briefings and community activities are broken into steps you can delegate. Throughout the book, fill‑in templates and starter scripts help you move from good intentions to clear documents your board, coaches and partners can understand. Keep this playbook on your desk, adapt the tools to your sport and country, and build a club that is more predictable, safer and more sustainable—without turning it into a full‑time job.