How to Find Football in London Using Claude or ChatGPT

Q: What's the difference between "spot", "court" and "pitch" in a result?

spot = book one place in a multi-person event (a Footy Addicts pickup, a swim lane seat). pitch = book the whole football pitch as a team. court = book a whole court (used for racquet sports). For football, you'll see mostly spot (pickup) and pitch (whole-pitch bookings).

Q: Can I find women's-only or junior football sessions?

Yes, but they appear with an eligibility_restricted: true flag. The assistant should mention this when surfacing results; if it doesn't, ask "any eligibility restrictions?" and it'll re-check the field.

You can search both kinds of London football availability — whole-pitch bookings (5-a-side, 7-a-side, 11-a-side astroturf and grass) and individual-spot bookings for Footy Addicts-style pickup games — using Claude or ChatGPT. Connect LayUp's Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, ask in plain English for the format and time you want, and the assistant returns a unified list with the exact number of spots remaining (for pickup) or the pitch booking link (for organised games).

The distinction matters: a 5-a-side player organising their own team needs a pitch booking; a casual player wanting a kickabout tonight needs a spot in someone else's pickup. The MCP server understands both and lets the assistant filter by which one you're after.

Two very different "find me football" problems

London football availability splits into two completely separate booking models:

Pitch bookings (court / pitch) — you reserve the whole surface, you bring (or are) the team. Astroturf 5-a-side cages, council 7-a-side pitches, full-size grass for 11-a-side. Booked through borough leisure systems (Better, Everyone Active, Lambeth, Hackney, Tower Hamlets), with prices ranging from £40-£60 for an off-peak 5-a-side cage to £100-£150+ for a full 11-a-side pitch on a Saturday morning.
Spot bookings (Footy Addicts pickup games) — you turn up alone or with one mate, pay a per-head fee (typically £8-£12), and get assigned to a team for a 60-90 minute game. Around 998 LayUp-tracked pickup games run each week across London. Inventory varies daily — some games sell out within minutes of going live, others have spots until kick-off.

LayUp aggregates both in one dataset (~10,000 football slots a week across London), with a booking_type field that tells the AI assistant exactly which model each slot uses. The assistant can filter by booking_type: "spot" for "I just want to play" prompts, or booking_type: "pitch" for "I'm organising the team" prompts.

Set it up in 60 seconds

Claude (claude.ai)

Open Settings → Connectors.
Click Add custom connector.
Paste this URL: https://mcp.layupsport.com
Save.

Available on Claude Pro, Team, and Enterprise plans. The same install reference lives at app.layupsport.com/connect.

ChatGPT

Enable Developer mode, add a custom MCP server with the same URL, start a chat.

Cursor / Cline / Continue / any MCP-capable client

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "layup": {
      "url": "https://mcp.layupsport.com"
    }
  }
}

Prompts that work — by what you're trying to do

"Find me a pickup game tonight" (spot booking)

"Find a football pickup game in East London tonight with spots remaining."

The assistant calls search_slots({sport: "Football", area: "East London", booking_type: "spot", date_to: "today end-of-day"}). Results show the venue, kickoff time, spaces remaining (e.g. "8 spots left"), the per-head price, and a link straight to the Footy Addicts game page. Spaces drop in real time as people book — if "12 spots left" turns into "0" by the time you click, refresh and search again.

"Book a 5-a-side cage for the team Friday at 7pm" (pitch booking)

"Find a 5-a-side astroturf in Hackney or Tower Hamlets for Friday at 7pm, under £55."

Maps to search_slots({sport: "Football", area: "Hackney", booking_type: "pitch", date_from: "Friday", time_from: "19:00", time_to: "20:00", max_price: 55}). Returns whole-pitch slots from Better, Everyone Active, Tower Hamlets and other operators serving that area. You get the standard 60-minute booking, with the rate as listed.

"11-a-side grass for Sunday morning"

"Find an 11-a-side football pitch in South London for Sunday at 10am."

11-a-side slots are rarer than 5-a-side — usually borough-managed grass pitches with seasonal availability. The assistant returns what's bookable that day; if results are thin, ask it to widen the area or the time.

"Cheapest pickup tomorrow"

"Find the cheapest football pickup game in London tomorrow evening, any borough."

max_price: 10 filter, with no area constraint. Pickup games tend to cluster £8-£12 per head; this filter shows you the bottom of the range.

"What's on at Mile End Park football?"

"What football is available at Mile End Park this week?"

The assistant calls get_venue with the relevant venue_slug from a previous search. Returns the venue's full football schedule across pitches and pickup games.

What it does (and doesn't do)

The assistant CAN:

Distinguish whole-pitch bookings from pickup-game spots via the booking_type filter.
Return spaces-remaining counts for pickup games (the critical "is this even joinable" signal).
Filter to 5-a-side cages, full pitches, or specific time/price/area windows.
Search across borough leisure operators (Better, Everyone Active, Lambeth, etc.) and pickup-game platforms in a single query.
Hand you a direct booking link to the right operator page.

The assistant CAN'T (today):

Book on your behalf, or hold a spot. You complete the booking on the provider's site. For pickup games especially, where popular slots sell out in minutes, the assistant finds them — you have to act fast.
Tell you the pitch size for sure. The dataset captures booking_type: pitch but doesn't separate 5-a-side vs 11-a-side as a structured field today. The assistant can usually infer from venue name patterns ("Astroturf 5-a-side", "Hackney Marshes 11-a-side") but treats this as a best-effort signal.
Filter for indoor pitches. Indoor 5-a-side venues (e.g. Powerleague-style cages under cover) aren't structurally flagged — only the venue name signals it.
Find pickups that need a specific skill level. Footy Addicts categorises games (beginner / intermediate / advanced) on its own site; LayUp's feed flattens to availability only. Check the booking link for the game's skill tier.
Surface games hosted outside the LayUp-tracked platforms. Plenty of WhatsApp-organised kickabouts exist — they aren't in any feed at all.

For pickup games specifically, the MCP is best at the "find candidates" step. The final "is this game right for me" check happens on the Footy Addicts game page, where skill level, kit colour, and venue specifics are documented.

Tips that matter for football searches

For pickup games, search same-day or next-day. Footy Addicts games typically go live 3-7 days ahead and the popular ones fill within 24 hours. Searching for "next Friday" with a week's notice often returns slim results — try "tomorrow" or "tonight" for the freshest picture.
booking_type: "spot" is the magic flag for pickup. Without it, the assistant returns a mix of pitches and pickups, which can be confusing if you just want to turn up alone. Explicitly say "pickup game" or "individual spot" in your prompt and the assistant will set the filter.
For pitch bookings, name the format. "5-a-side astroturf" and "11-a-side grass" guide the assistant toward the right venue patterns. "Football pitch" alone returns everything.
Off-peak is dramatically cheaper. 5-a-side cages at 11am Wednesday can be £35-£45; the same cage at 7pm Friday is £55-£75. If you're flexible on time, lead with the off-peak slot.
Eligibility flags exist. Some pickup games are women-only, junior-only, or skill-level-restricted. Those return with eligibility_restricted: true — the assistant should call this out; if it doesn't, ask "any restrictions on this game?"

How this compares to the Footy Addicts app

The Footy Addicts app is the right tool for managing pickup-game bookings end-to-end — you see your booking history, get cancellation notifications, message organisers, and rate games. For active regular pickup players, the app is essential.

The MCP server is the discovery layer on top. When you don't already know which Footy Addicts venue or which leisure-centre operator to check — "I'm in Stratford, what's on tonight at any price under £15" — asking Claude is meaningfully faster than opening Footy Addicts, then Better, then Everyone Active, then Tower Hamlets in turn.

The two tools combine well: discover via the AI, manage via the platform's own app.

Privacy and how the data flows

The MCP server is anonymous. No LayUp account, no credentials, no writes back. The assistant queries the same public availability data LayUp shows on app.layupsport.com.

OpenActive-sourced data (Better, Everyone Active, Gladstone leisure centres) is licensed CC-BY-4.0; Footy Addicts and the borough leisure systems come through direct integrations.

Frequently asked questions

Can the assistant find pickup games on platforms other than Footy Addicts?

Today the LayUp dataset's pickup-game inventory is primarily Footy Addicts. If a Meetup-organised kickabout or a borough-run drop-in session doesn't expose a structured booking feed, it won't appear. Adding new sources is on the roadmap.

How does pickup-game pricing work?

Footy Addicts charges per player (typically £8-£12), paid when you book your spot. Whole-pitch bookings on the leisure systems charge per pitch per session (usually 60 minutes), starting around £40 for an off-peak 5-a-side cage and rising to £150+ for a full-size grass 11-a-side on a Saturday morning.

Are Powerleague venues in the search?

Not currently. Powerleague's booking system isn't yet in the LayUp dataset. For Powerleague specifically, check their app directly. For independent 5-a-side cages on Better, Everyone Active and the borough astroturf network, the MCP works fine.

Can Claude book the pitch or pickup spot for me?

No. The assistant finds slots and hands you a direct link. You complete the booking on the operator's site (Footy Addicts, Better's BookableNow, the borough leisure system, etc.). The per-platform booking flow stays the same — the AI just routes you to the right page faster.

What's the difference between "spot", "court" and "pitch" in a result?

spot = book one place in a multi-person event (a Footy Addicts pickup, a swim lane seat). pitch = book the whole football pitch as a team. court = book a whole court (used for racquet sports). For football, you'll see mostly spot (pickup) and pitch (whole-pitch bookings).

Can I find women's-only or junior football sessions?

Yes, but they appear with an eligibility_restricted: true flag. The assistant should mention this when surfacing results; if it doesn't, ask "any eligibility restrictions?" and it'll re-check the field.

What about cancellations and refunds?

LayUp doesn't manage the booking — the operator does. Footy Addicts has its own refund policy (typically full refund up to 24 hours before kickoff); leisure-centre operators vary. The MCP doesn't surface cancellation policy data, so check the operator's terms before booking.