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New · for observers and match day coaches

Watch the game. We’ll keep the notes.

Take notes during the match in a few taps, then find them waiting in a report in the FA format, with the total worked out. No notebook to decipher, no evening of typing.

Create your free accountFor County FAs →

Works in the browser on your phone, tablet or laptop, and keeps working without signal. Voice notes Coming soon in the penalty.app phone app.

Two roles

Whether you mark or you coach.

Choose Observer or Match Day Coach as your role on the match, then press Start observation on your dashboard’s next-match card.

Observer · Level 5-4, 4W-3W and Level 4s

Mark the referee and both assistants in one visit.

  • One visit covers the referee, AR1 and AR2, each with their own section.
  • The FA six-level scale, from Major Dev to Exceptional.
  • Description, evidence and impact wherever a rating isn’t Expected.
  • The total is calculated for you, the FA way, as you rate.
Match Day Coach · Levels 7 to 5 and Youth

Coach the referee. No mark.

  • The FA Level 6-5 Match Day Coaching form: 23 items.
  • Focus for Development, Standard Expected, Performed Well or N/A.
  • Three strengths, one key focus and a summary.
  • Your match notes sit next to the form when you write it.
How a visit works

From the offer to the official’s inbox.

BeforeThe visit comes to you

Your County FA offers the visit and you accept: the match, the pitch address and the visit fee land in your account. Or log the match yourself.

DuringNotes in a few taps

Minute, official, team and shirt, zone, + or −. Keeps working without signal.

Coming soonVoice notes in the app.

AfterNotes become the report

Notes turn into evidence lines, the total is calculated, and you submit to the county. Each official receives their own part once it’s approved.

Match mode

Built for the touchline, not the desk.

Open the match in your browser on any phone, tablet or laptop. Big targets, one hand, and a note in a few taps.

  • A clock for each half, so every note gets its minute.
  • Official, team and shirt, zone, + or − in a few taps, then type what happened.
  • Goals and cards logged on the same timeline.
  • Lose signal and keep going: notes wait on your device and sync later.
Coming soonMatch mode in the penalty.app phone app, with voice notes: hold to talk, and the note is transcribed on your phone.
Built on the FA forms

The report your county expects. Without the evening of typing.

Each criterion is rated on the FA six-level scale. Where a rating isn’t Expected, the report asks for a description, the evidence and the impact. Attach a note and the evidence line is written for you:

11th - H10 - Middle - Marginal decision that stopped a goal scoring opportunity
  • The FA observer forms for the referee and for assistant referees, and the FA Match Day Coaching form.
  • A PDF with the full text: nothing cut off in a box.
  • County FAs can adapt the forms to their own scheme. For County FAs →
Privacy, in plain words

Your notes are yours.

An observation is about someone else’s performance. penalty.app keeps each part with the person it belongs to.

  1. 01
    Your notes stay with youYour match notes are private. The county never sees them, only the report you submit.
  2. 02
    Each official sees their own partThe referee, AR1 and AR2 each receive only their own section, and only after the county approves it.
  3. 03
    No one sees anyone’s moneyNo county ever sees your fees, expenses or mileage, or anyone else’s.
  4. 04
    Voice stays on your phone Coming with the appWhen voice notes arrive in the phone app, recordings are transcribed on your phone and stay there.
Also for your own refereeing

Still refereeing at the weekend? It’s all in the same account.

Matches and feesEvery game logged, every fee paid or chased.
Mileage and expensesMiles and costs kept with each match.
Promotion progressGames, observations and marks against your next level.
Laws of the GameA quiz with 130+ questions to stay sharp.
See how penalty.app works →

Questions from observers and coaches

No. Log your own match, take your notes and write the observer report in your account, then download the PDF and send it yourself. County FA visits, approval and delivery to each official need your County FA to be on penalty.app. Match day coaching reports are for County FA visits for now.

Step by step: the observers and coaches guide →

Leave the notebook at home.

Create your free account and take your notes on penalty.app at your next visit.

Create your free accountAsk your County FA about penalty.app →

Work at a County FA? See the County FA portal