Fees, Refunds and Fines
This page explains what your registration fee covers, what can be refunded and how to ask, and how fines issued by Football Canterbury are handled.
Most of what you pay never reaches us. When you pay in PlayFootball the payment is split automatically between Football Australia, Football NSW, Football Canterbury and Leichhardt Saints, and we only ever receive the club fee. That is the only part we can refund.
Looking for the fee amounts for the current season? They’re on the registration page.
1. The Four Components of Your Fee
Your total registration fee is split into four parts. LSFC only has control over the Club Fee:
1. Football Australia (FA): National Registration Fee (NRF).
2. Football NSW (FNSW): Capitation and Insurance.
3. Football Canterbury: Association Fee.
4. Leichhardt Saints FC (LSFC): Club Fee.
Important: We never receive the Football Australia, Football NSW or Football Canterbury portions, so we can’t refund them. Whether any of that money comes back is decided by those organisations through PlayFootball, and the club has no influence over it. We can only refund the club fee.
2. Refunds of the Club Fee
| When you tell us | Club fee refund |
|---|---|
| We can’t place you or your child in a team | Full refund, no fee. We’ll also support your PlayFootball request for the other three portions |
| Before we submit teams to Football Canterbury, usually the first week of March | Full refund less $5 |
| After team submission, before your team’s first scheduled game | Full refund less $20 |
| From your team’s first scheduled game to 31 May | No automatic refund. Talk to us |
| From 1 June | No refund |
The date that counts is the date of your email to the Registrar. Not the date we reply, and not the date PlayFootball processes anything. If you’re close to one of the steps above, send the email and sort out the details afterwards.
Why we keep $5 and then $20. The $5 covers what the payment costs us to process, so the club isn’t out of pocket on a registration that didn’t go ahead. The $20 after team submission reflects that we’ve entered a team, paid for it, and held a place that another player couldn’t have.
Your team’s first scheduled game is whatever appears on Dribl, whether or not it’s played and whether or not your child takes the field.
Why 1 June. Our season runs April to August, and teams that don’t play finals usually finish in July. By 1 June a player has had more than half their football. The club has also long since paid the team entry fee, the ground hire, the lighting and the referees, and none of those reduce when one player leaves. The team plays every remaining round either way. At that point we treat the season as delivered.
We’d rather tell you that plainly than leave you hoping.
Your Active Kids voucher
We can’t refund a voucher as cash or credit and neither can Service NSW. Once it’s redeemed in PlayFootball it can’t be un-used.
We can usually transfer the value to another registered Active Kids provider. Tell us where you’re going and we’ll arrange it.
3. How to Request a Refund
All refund requests must be initiated through your PlayFootball account. The exact path depends on whether your registration has been approved yet.
If your registration is still awaiting approval:
1. Log in to PlayFootball.
2. Go to “Manage My Registrations”.
3. Select the three dots next to your registration and click “Refund Request”.
If your registration has already been approved you need to submit a de-registration and refund request instead. PlayFootball’s step-by-step guide covers both paths.
Then, in both cases: email the Club Registrar so we can start the internal review. Your refund date is the date of that email, so send it even if you’re stuck in PlayFootball. We can sort the rest out afterwards.
What happens next. Each of the four organisations reviews your request separately. Even once one of them approves it, the money doesn’t appear straight away. From 2026 PlayFootball nets approved refunds against club disbursement periods, so there’s a lag between approval and payment. If it’s been a few weeks and you’ve heard nothing, chase us rather than assuming it’s been refused.
4. The Other Three Portions
We can only refund the club fee. The rest is decided by the governing bodies under their own published policies, and each assesses your request separately, so you may hear back at different times and with different outcomes.
- Football Canterbury: Refund Policy, Association Player Registration
- Football NSW: Refund Policy, Club Football Registration Fees
- Football Australia: Registration Fee Refund Policy
Football NSW’s decision on its own fees is final and can’t be appealed. We’ll help you make the request, but the club has no influence over the outcome.
5. If Money is the Problem
If you’re thinking about withdrawing because the fee has become unmanageable rather than because you want to stop playing, that’s a different conversation and it isn’t a refund one.
Contact the Registrar about our Hardship Fund. We don’t ask for documents or proof, and we won’t ask you to explain in detail.
6. Fines
Football Canterbury issues fines to the club, not to individuals. Where a fine results from something a player, coach, manager or team has done, the club passes it on and expects it to be paid.
What gets fined
Common ones include:
- Red cards
- Five cards issued in one match
- Forfeiting a match without sufficient notice
- Fielding an ineligible or unregistered player
- A ground official not being vested and active within ten minutes of kick-off – this is a team responsibility, and one of the most avoidable fines we receive. Ground Official Guidelines
Football Canterbury sets the amounts and publishes them in its rules and regulations (see Football Canterbury Rules of Association). Football Canterbury Rules
Who pays
Individual fines are paid by the player, coach or manager responsible.
Team fines are the responsibility of the Team Manager to collect, and are usually shared across the squad.
How you’ll be told
The Club Administrator notifies your Team Manager or the player directly where applicable.
How to pay
Details for a direct bank transfer will be provided in the notification email.
Fines are due within five days of being notified.
If a fine isn’t paid
An unpaid fine may result in suspension from playing, and ultimately in de-registration.
Outstanding fines also carry over. A player, coach or manager with an unpaid fine from a previous season will not be registered for the following season until it is settled.
Disputing a fine
Fines are issued by Football Canterbury under its rules, not by the club, so the club cannot waive one. If you believe a fine has been issued in error, tell your Team Manager as soon as possible so the club can raise it with the association within the appeal window.