Martyn's Law for sports clubs: does it apply to your club?
Updated 26 October 2026. Guidance, not legal advice.
Martyn's Law affects some sports clubs and not others, and the reason isn't obvious. It depends on your clubhouse, how people get onto your ground, and how many could be there at once. This guide helps you work out where your club stands.
In short
- The law only covers premises that include a building, such as a clubhouse or pavilion, on its own or with land.
- Open grounds that anyone can walk onto are excluded, like most council recreation grounds.
- A ground can be covered if you charge for entry, check tickets or limit it to members and guests, and 200 or more people could be there at once.
- A clubhouse with a function room you hire out can be covered on its own, just like a village hall.
- Most clubs that are covered will be standard tier. The duties are expected to start in spring 2027.
What is Martyn's Law?
Martyn's Law is the common name for the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025. It's named after Martyn Hett, who was killed in the Manchester Arena attack in 2017, and follows years of campaigning by his mother, Figen Murray. It became law on 3 April 2025, and the Home Office published its final statutory guidance on 15 April 2026.
For a covered club, it means knowing in advance how you would keep players, spectators and guests safe if the worst happened.
Is your club covered? Four questions
1. Is there a building?
The law only applies to premises that are a building, or a building together with land. A pitch with no clubhouse, pavilion or other building isn't covered as premises (though large one-off events can be, see below).
2. What is the site mainly used for?
The law lists the kinds of use that count. For clubs, the relevant ones are:
- A sports ground: a ground where sport is played outdoors and there is accommodation for spectators, such as a stand or terracing.
- A venue for hire: a function room or clubhouse you hire out for parties, wakes and events.
- Food and drink or entertainment mainly for visiting members of the public, such as a bar, café or events open to the public.
3. Can people walk in freely?
Parks, recreation grounds, open-air sites used for leisure and smaller sports grounds are excluded if there's nothing in place to check that people have paid, have a ticket, or are members or guests.
- If your pitches sit on an open council recreation ground, the ground itself is likely to be excluded. A clubhouse on it could still be covered if it's used for something like function hire.
- If you take money on the gate, sell tickets or restrict entry to members and guests, the exclusion doesn't apply and your ground may be covered.
- Charging only for a particular event, while the ground is open the rest of the time, doesn't on its own stop the exclusion applying.
4. Could 200 or more people be there at once?
Think about your busiest occasion: a cup final, a derby, a presentation night, a big party in the function room, or a summer tournament. Count everyone, including players, officials, volunteers and bar staff. If 200 or more could reasonably be there at the same time, the club is likely to be covered.
Common situations
A clubhouse with a function room
If you hire out your clubhouse or function room and it can hold 200 or more, it's likely to be covered in the same way as a village hall, whatever happens on the pitch. Count your biggest booking, not a quiet Tuesday.
A ground with a stand, a gate and a clubhouse
Non-league football, rugby and cricket clubs that charge at the gate or are members-only, and have spectator stands or terracing, are the clubs most likely to be covered. The clubhouse and ground may count as one set of premises, so count your biggest matchday crowd plus anyone in the clubhouse.
Pitches on a public park with a small pavilion
Open public pitches are likely to be excluded, and most small changing pavilions never hold 200 people. Many clubs in this position won't be covered, but it's still worth agreeing simple procedures.
Big one-off events
Separate rules cover large events of 800 or more people held at places that aren't otherwise covered, such as a festival or fireworks night on a field. These are enhanced tier, with heavier duties, and need specialist advice.
Who is responsible?
The duty falls on whoever controls the premises. For most clubs that's the club committee or its board. If you lease your ground or clubhouse from a council, school or landlord, responsibility depends on who controls the building and how it's used, and in some cases it may be shared. Check your lease, and talk to your landlord early.
What the standard tier asks you to do
1. Tell the regulator
Notify the Security Industry Authority (SIA) that your club is covered and who the responsible person is. The SIA's online notification service is expected to open in early 2027.
2. Have procedures for four situations
- Evacuation: getting spectators off the stands and people out of the clubhouse, away from danger, and where they should go.
- Invacuation: bringing people from the pitch and stands into the clubhouse or changing rooms when the danger is outside.
- Lockdown: which clubhouse doors and ground gates can be locked, who holds the keys and how quickly they can be closed.
- Communication: how you'd tell everyone what to do, using the PA, stewards, the bar team or the club's messaging groups.
3. Brief the people on duty
On matchdays that means stewards, gate volunteers, bar staff and whoever is running the day. For functions it means the key holder and the hirer. A one-page briefing works far better than a long policy.
Matchdays, visiting teams and hirers
- Make sure at least one person on duty knows the procedures every time the ground or clubhouse is busy.
- Give visiting team managers and function hirers a one-page sheet: exits, gates, keys and who to call.
- Add a line to your hire agreement asking hirers to read the club's emergency briefing.
What happens if we don't comply?
The SIA expects to start with advice and support rather than fines. It can issue compliance notices, and for standard tier premises the maximum fines are £10,000, plus up to £500 a day for continuing failures.
A simple timeline for your club
- Now: raise Martyn's Law at the next committee meeting. Work through the four questions above and decide who will lead.
- Before the end of the season: walk round the ground and clubhouse, write the procedures and brief your stewards and key holders.
- Early 2027: notify the SIA once its service opens.
- Spring 2027: the duties are expected to come into force.
Want it done in an evening?
Protect My Venue turns a 20-minute questionnaire about your ground and clubhouse into a ready-to-use plan, a steward and key-holder briefing, a sheet for hirers and visiting teams, and a step-by-step guide to notifying the SIA.
Free help and official guidance
- ProtectUK: the official home of the Martyn's Law guidance.
- The Act, Schedule 2: the exclusion for parks, recreation grounds and open sports grounds (paragraph 3).
- Sports Grounds Safety Authority: guidance on safety at sports grounds.
- Your sport's national or county governing body, which may publish its own advice for clubs.
This guide summarises the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 and the Home Office statutory guidance as we understand them. Whether a particular club is covered can depend on the details, so it isn't legal advice. If your situation is unclear, check with the SIA or a solicitor.