Child safety on The Concourse

The Concourse is a space for adults to talk about football. Our minimum age is 16, and the platform is not designed for or aimed at children. This page explains our age rule, how we handle anything that threatens the safety of a young person, and how to report a concern. We take this seriously, and we'd rather hear about a worry that turns out to be nothing than miss one that wasn't.

Our minimum age

You must be 16 or over to hold an account on The Concourse. We ask for your date of birth when you sign up. It's never shown on your profile or to other users. If we have reason to believe an account belongs to someone under 16, we'll remove it.

Zero tolerance for child sexual abuse material

There is no version of this we tolerate, and no context in which it is allowed. Any content that appears to be child sexual abuse material, or to sexually exploit or endanger a minor, is removed immediately and reported to the appropriate authorities. In the UK this includes the police and, where relevant, the National Crime Agency and the Internet Watch Foundation. We preserve the necessary evidence as required by law. This is not subject to warning, appeal, or discussion. Accounts involved are permanently banned.

Grooming, exploitation, and concerns about a young person

If you see behaviour that looks like an adult attempting to contact, manipulate, or exploit someone you believe to be under age — or anything that makes you worried for a young person's safety — report it. You don't need to be certain. Our moderators escalate these reports immediately and, where appropriate, involve the authorities.

How to report a child-safety concern

• On any post or thread: use the report button and choose the child-safety reason.
• You don't need an account. Reporting anything involving the safety of a child does not require you to be logged in.
• For anything urgent or sensitive, contact us directly: founder@theconcourse.co.uk

If a child is in immediate danger, contact your local emergency services first. In the UK that's 999.

How we protect under-18s who use the platform

The Concourse is built for people aged 16 and over, and most of what keeps it safe is built into how the platform works rather than bolted on afterwards. We have carried out the risk assessments the law requires, including a children's risk assessment, and the protections below reflect what that assessment found.

• We don't allow content that's harmful to young people. Our rules prohibit pornography, anything that encourages or glorifies suicide, self-harm or eating disorders, abuse or hatred aimed at people for who they are, bullying, content pushing dangerous stunts or harmful substances, and graphic violence. One important line: if you talk about your own struggles, or reach out to support someone else, that's welcome here — what we act on is content that promotes or encourages harm, not someone being honest about a hard time.
• There are no private messages. The Concourse has no direct messaging, no closed groups, and no hidden channels. Everything is posted in the open. This deliberately removes the private spaces where harm to young people, including grooming, most often happens.
• No photo or video uploads. Users can't upload images or video. That removes a major route for harmful imagery.
• No algorithm pushing content at you. We don't use a recommender system that learns what keeps you scrolling and feeds you more of it. Content is ordered simply — by what's recent and active.
• You can always report, and we act when we know. Every post and thread has a report button, and you don't need an account to report something about a child's safety. Reports about a young person's safety are prioritised. We can't promise we see everything the moment it's posted, but when we're aware of something, we act on it.
• Someone is responsible. Named people here are accountable for safety, and we review how we're doing at least once a year and whenever we make a significant change to the platform.

If you're a young person using The Concourse and something here has worried or upset you, report it — and remember you can always step away and talk to someone you trust. If you're struggling, talking about it is never against the rules here.

Our wider obligations

The Concourse operates under the UK's Online Safety Act 2023. We have completed the risk assessments the Act requires of us — an illegal-content risk assessment and a children's risk assessment — and we keep them on file and under review. If you believe we've fallen short of how we should be keeping this place safe, you can raise it with us through the contact route above.