I am now starting Year 2 of my Professional Doctorate (PhD) at the University of Birmingham, and I am loving it! This week I have been interviewing coaches from the top academies around Europe that have worked with the very best players. The past year has given me access to so many opportunities that I would not have been able to otherwise, hopefully setting me up for future coaching and analysis roles in football and to be able to advise clubs in a similar way. So far the Professional Doctorate has given me the opportunity to-
- Interviewed coaches from the most productive academies in European football about their methods and training structure, includes; FC Barcelona, Ajax, Sporting Lisbon, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea, Manchester United, West Ham, Arsenal, Porto, Manchester City and Feyenoord
- One to one video call with Head of Analytics and Insights at FIFA to gain an understanding of how they work
- Had a one to one presentation of the Feyenoord club philosophy by Head of Methodology, Koen Stam
- Had a one to one call with the Head of Research at one of the UK's biggest clubs as they enquired and are following my research
- Given access to UEFA case studies on the running of Academies such as Bayern Munich and Ajax, as well as viewing UEFA analysis of German academy football
- Studied the use of isolated-practice in professional football clubs and academies from around Europe
- Had a video call and full personality assessment by a well-respected Sport Psychologist to help consider my behaviour and how this affects the work and thought process that I do
- Completed and presented findings from systematic literature reviews on CPD with adult learners
- Refined, adapted and continually investigating research methods
The most recent part of this has been the interviews of academy coaches and leaders at some of the most successful European clubs. Sometimes I have sat in these calls and genuinely cannot believe that I am learning exactly how these coaches helped to develop Cristiano Ronaldo, Harry Kane, Phil Foden, to name a few. One thing that has struck me is the fact that I have spoken for a minimum of an hour each with Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Dutch coaches, and every single one of them could hold a conversation in English about the complexities of their club's training philosophies, which really is a motivation for improving my German language skills- a huge goal of mine is to be able to communicate in two languages.
The research and interest in my research has led me to thinking about the future of a Head of Football Research role as a professional club, using a dedicated researcher to get insights into how to run and direct aspects of a football club, just in the way that clubs have taken an interest in my current research. If any clubs are interested in discussing this, I would love to hear from them!
While doing my PhD and currently focusing on the research side of football, I’m looking to keep my hand in with the professional game. I am looking for scouting (opposition/recruitment which can be done remotely), academy coaching, or if these are unavailable I’d just like to come along and see clubs at work, spend a day or evening with the staff and see how things are done- and I’m always happy to share my research along the way.
I’m based in West-Kent (close to London) and have a lot of experience professional experience in the above mentioned roles. So if anybody knows of anything in the area or remote working, I would be glad to hear of it!
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