Privacy notice

Last updated 8 November 2026

Who we are

Gafferbook (gafferbook.com) provides free tools for grassroots football coaches. Questions about your data: [email protected].

What we collect and why

• Your account: email address, and if you give them, your name, team name and mobile number. We use these to run your account and send sign-in codes (to provide the service you asked for).
• "Email me this": if you ask us to email you a sub plan, line-up or cheat sheet, we use your email address to send it and add you as a Gafferbook sign-up so you can sign in later. The names in a plan are only used to write that email.
• Marketing: we only send news and offers by email or text if you tick the box to agree. You can change this any time in your account or by unsubscribing. We keep a record of what you agreed to and when.
• AI backgrounds: the text you type to describe a background, and the image created, are logged with a scrambled (hashed) device and connection identifier so we can prevent misuse and act on reports.
• Questions you ask our coaching assistant: we keep the question, the answer and the page you asked on, to improve answers and decide what guides to write next. A general, reworded version of a question (never your words, name or team) may be shown on that page as a "Coaches also asked" question after we've reviewed it. Please don't include children's full names.
• How the tools are used: we record anonymous settings such as age group, number of players, format and formation when you use the planners and line-up builder, linked to a random device ID, plus which steps of sign-up you reach and the kind of site that sent you (for example Google or TikTok). If you sign in, these are linked to your account so we can see which tools help coaches. No names you type are recorded. Turning analytics off in the privacy settings stops the visit record.
• Settings on your device: club colours, badge and recent requests are stored in your browser.
• Saved backgrounds, badges, sponsor logos and styles: if you're signed in (or sign up to keep one), backgrounds, badges and sponsor logos you upload or create, and graphic styles you name and save (colours and layout choices), are stored with your account so you can reuse them on any device. They're never sent to the AI, and you can delete them at any time. Player photos are never saved: they stay on your device.

Photos and children's information

Player photos you add to graphics or reels stay on your device. The player is cut out from the background by software running in your browser, so the photo is never uploaded to us and never sent to or edited by AI. We ask you to confirm you have permission from a parent or carer before adding one; please follow your club's photo policy. Match reels are made on your device too.

If you use the style assistant ("Your style" in reels), what you type about colours and look is sent to Google's AI to suggest colours and a background, and isn't stored by us beyond normal abuse logs. Your chosen colours, badge, background and sponsor logos are saved to your account so graphics and reels match on any device. "Colours from a picture" works on your device and doesn't upload the picture.

If you use "Describe it" in the graphics maker, the sentence you type (for example a score and scorers) is sent to Google's AI once to fill in the boxes, and isn't stored by us beyond normal abuse logs.

When you save a graphic, the details you typed (team and opponent names, score, scorers, award and player names, dates) are saved to your team record so we can build your season stats and so our AI can give you insights about your team. If you aren't signed in, they're linked to a random ID on this device and moved to your account if you sign up. Photos are never included.

Setting up your team (Assistant Coach): what you type about your team, and any team sheet or fixtures you add, is sent to Google's AI once to read it. Before you sign up it's only kept on your device; when you sign up, the details you confirmed (team details, first names and initials, fixtures) are saved to your account.

Your own drills, sessions and plans: drills you create, sessions you keep, your season plan (with how each week went) and match plans are saved to your account. If you use "Write it up", "What do you need tonight?", the season planner or the match plan helper, your words are sent to Google's AI once to write up the drill or set up the plan, and aren't stored by us beyond normal abuse logs. If you offer a drill to the library, we check it before publishing, and it's shown with the credit name you choose (please use a team or first name, never a child's). You can take it back at any time.

Share links: when you share a drill or session, we keep a copy so anyone with the link can open it without an account. Links don't include player names.

"How did it go?": after a session you've saved, we ask how it went (in the app and, if check-ins are on, by email the next morning). Your answers are used to improve your future plans, and, without any names, to show which drills coaches rate highly. You can turn check-ins off in your account.

Notifications: if you turn on notifications on a phone or browser, we store the address your browser gives us for sending them (not your phone number). We only use it to ask how training and matches went (and for the Sunday check-in), never for marketing. Turn them off in your account or your browser settings at any time.

Personalising Gafferbook: so we show your kind of thing first (for example 7v7 drills for a U10 coach), we remember your team's age group and format, and a simple count of the kinds of drills and formations you look at. For visitors this stays on your device; if you're signed in, it's saved with your team profile. We don't use it for advertising.

Fixtures and results: if you add fixtures, we store the date, time, opponent team name, home or away, competition, venue, score, your scorers and player of the match, and any short note. We store opposition team names only, never opposition players. If you paste or upload a fixture list or screenshot to import it, it's sent to Google's AI once to read the fixtures and isn't stored by us. Please don't include health, family or welfare details in notes.

Match day tracker: the match you track (players' first names, who started where, subs, goals, assists, cards, short notes and the minutes they add up to) is kept on your phone first. If you're signed in, it's saved to your team so you can see playing time across the season, and the final score, scorers and player of the match are added to your results. A "knock" is recorded only as a tap with the time, never what happened; please keep health, family or welfare details out of notes. On the day of a fixture you've added, we remind you and your team's coaches to open the tracker: a notification before kick-off if notifications are on, otherwise one email that morning. These are part of the check-ins you can turn off on your account page.

Parents' match reports: if a coach makes a match report link, anyone with the link can see the team name, opponent, date, score, and the first names of the scorers, assists and player of the match, plus any note the coach adds. It never shows surnames, minutes, positions or anything else about the players, isn't listed in search engines, and the coach can take it down at any time.

Coaching with others: a team's owner can invite other coaches by email or a private link. Coaches who accept can see and add to that team's squad, fixtures, matches, sessions and plans, and each match tap records the first name of the coach who made it. The owner can remove a coach at any time, and coaches can leave; anything they added stays with the team. If we email an invite for you, we use the address only to send that invite.

Your squad, sessions and ratings

If you add your squad, we store each player's first name and last initial, usual positions and preferred foot. No dates of birth, photos or contact details. Sessions you save record the plan and who came. Ratings and notes you give players are private to your team: only your account, and any coaches you've invited to the team, can see this information.

Notes, development goals and chat messages about your players are private to your account. When you chat with the assistant coach, player names are replaced with codes (P1, P2...) before anything is sent to Google's AI, and swapped back on your screen. The assistant is told not to save health, family or welfare details; please keep those out of notes and raise welfare concerns with your club welfare officer.

If you have a squad or team profile, we send you a short "how did the team get on?" message on Sunday afternoons, in your coach chat and by email (or WhatsApp, if you've connected it). It's part of the service, not marketing, and you can turn it off at any time on your account page.

If you connect WhatsApp, your messages to Gafferbook and our replies pass through Twilio and WhatsApp (Meta) to reach us, and we store your WhatsApp number to know it's you. You can disconnect at any time by asking us.

Emails you send us: emails to any @gafferbook.com address, including replies to our check-in, session and match-day emails, are received through our email provider (Postmark). If you reply to one of those emails from your account's email address, your assistant coach reads the reply (using Google's AI, the same as the coach chat) and updates your team, then emails you what it saved. If you attach a team sheet, a fixtures screenshot or a photo of a written session plan, it's read by Google's AI the same way as on the website: team sheets and screenshots aren't kept, and session-plan photos are saved to your account with the session. Photos of people are never read or kept. Other emails, such as questions and support requests, go to our team inbox, where AI sorts them and suggests a reply that a person checks before sending. We keep emails for 12 months. Please don't email us health, family or welfare details about children.

If you add a photo of a session plan to a training session, it's saved to your account so you can look back at it. If you choose "Read my plan", the photo is also sent to Google's AI once to pick out the activities and match them to our drill library. Please only photograph your written plan, not players.

If you use "Snap your team sheet", the photo, screenshot, PDF or text you upload is sent to Google's AI once to read the names and positions, and is not stored by us. We keep only first names and surname initials, positions and shirt numbers, and only after you've checked and confirmed them. Please don't upload photos of players.

AI insights are created from this data with player names replaced by codes (P1, P2...) before anything is sent to Google; names are added back on your screen. You can ask us to delete your squad and all its data at any time.

Website analytics

We use Clicky to understand how coaches use Gafferbook: pages visited, how you found us, your rough location (town or region), device and browser, and actions such as asking a question, saving a graphic or planning a session. If you're signed in we add your first name, team name, age group and format so we can see which tools help which teams. We don't send Clicky your email address, phone number or anything about the players in your squad. Clicky may use cookies or similar storage for this.

Who helps us

We use trusted providers to run Gafferbook: Hetzner (servers, Finland), Cloudflare (website delivery and storage), Postmark (sending emails), Clicky (website analytics), Twilio (WhatsApp messages, if you connect it) and Google (creating AI background images from your text description, and AI team insights from anonymised data). They only process data on our instructions.

How long we keep it

Account details are kept while your account is open. Sign-in codes expire after 10 minutes. AI request logs are kept for up to 12 months for safety. Ask us and we'll delete your account.

Your rights

You can ask to see, correct or delete your information, or object to how we use it, by emailing us. If you're unhappy with how we've handled your data you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk).