Football Coaching

We've all seen it on game day.   A team are warming up with a shooting drill and it looks like this: The coach is standing at the top of the box His players are all in a line On his signal the first player passes a ball into him The coach lays it off The player shoots for goal The...

It might surprise you to know that professional scouts don’t attend grassroots football matches as much as they used to. Before the digital age, a scout might watch a young player from the sidelines a dozen or more times before making an offer. These days, however, players can be signed after just one or two visits. This is because technology...

Times have changed, and the days of jumpers for goalposts are fewer and farther between than ever. Strict rules on ball games on streets and a huge increase in road traffic have restricted where and how often youngsters can practise their football skills. But if you have a garden, you’ll always have your own mini training pitch. The truth is...

There are a few key goalkeeping skills that are essential in the modern game. Without all of them, an aspiring keeper won’t be able to fulfil their true potential. This is why constant practice and repetition of certain drills and exercise is essential. We’ve put together a few tips to use on the training pitch. But first, you need to...

Unless you’re involved in the business side of grassroots football, you probably don’t realise how expensive things can be at this level. After all, you wouldn’t necessarily think that some young people kicking a ball around on some grass would be all that costly. But when you delve into the figures, you might begin to wonder how so many grassroots...

Regardless of what you think about England’s performances in the 2018 World Cup, there’s no doubt that this run is capturing the imagination of the country. Politicians are talking about the team in Parliament, airline captains are announcing results at 30,000 feet and throngs of fans are enjoying beer baths in open-air “World Cup zones”. There’s magic in the air...

Michael Carrick has enjoyed an exemplary career — both on and off the field. Widely regarded as one of the country’s best passers, the Geordie midfielder has enjoyed huge success with Manchester United over the years. But more importantly, Carrick is a gentleman and a great ambassador for both United and English football in general. He’s the perfect role model...

Disabled football has been short-changed compared to other “para” sports in recent years. While millions have been poured into Olympic sports, the beautiful game has been something of a poor relative — which is shocking given the huge amounts of cash in the game. While there are associations, charities and clubs promoting disability football in the UK, they’re relatively small...

Switch on to Premier League football, and there’s a good chance that, sooner or later, you’ll see an example of unprofessional behaviour from the game’s big stars. Unfortunately, we’re now conditioned to accept this as part of the game, but this definitely shouldn’t be the case. The highest paid athletes in the UK are swearing, intimidating officials and opposition players...

The growing chasm in quality between the Premier League’s top six and the rest of the league is causing a real problem for managers. How do you get a team of honest yet limited players to stop some of the most talented stars in the World cutting through your defence like butter? The only way the league’s second and third...