Tom Mallinson is a UEFA A license holder who works at Nottingham Forest as the U16 coach. Tom has been part of the staff at Nottingham Forest staff for a number of years and worked his way up through the academy. Tom shares some of the methodology he uses with his players as well as giving us an in depth insight to the club player development approach and playing philosophy. Don’t miss this excellent interview with one of England’s brightest young coaching talents. Show Notes…
academy football
Kristjaan Speakman has been involved in player development for almost two decades. He is leading a program at Birmingham City FC Academy where he emphasises the value of having an incredibly strong team and focusing the curriculum around a safe and open environment. As a result of that, he and his team are producing players. In his interview with Kristjaan, PDP’s Dave Wright goes in depth into how Birmingham City FC Academy operates and discusses the success of a program which has produced Demarai Gray,…
Player Development Project Lead Researcher, James Vaughan recently attended the third annual International Congress for Psychology Applied to Football. He shares his notes from this prestigious event where some of the best thinkers in player development shared their ideas on the state of the game. An Introduction The AIPAF is partnership between academics and professionals who are dedicated to improving player development. By combining the stories and experiences of forward-thinking compassionate coaches, clubs and psychologists, AIPAF aims to forge a new path for player development…
Edu Rubio is a UEFA PRO License holder and the Technical Consultant at Crystal Palace F.C. He has previously worked for MK Dons FC, Chelsea FC, Nike Academy and The FA among others. Edu also has a degree in Sports Science and studies in Sports Psychology. His mantra is work with passion, stay committed and be consistent with both; and he truly believes in Team work and a holistic & multidisciplinary day to day environment. MK Dons are developing a reputation for nurturing thinking football…
What is the Future of Academy Coaching? PDP Lead Researcher, James Vaughan discusses his experience from a trip to the Applied Psychology in Football Conference in Bilbao earlier this year. James shares some of the key questions and notes from the event. Earlier this summer I was lucky enough to attend the AIPAF III International congress of Applied Psychology in Football, held in Bilbao, Spain. This blog is based on the notes that I took at the congress, which were transcribed from discussions translated live from Spanish. The reason I…
Sean Reed is a coach who epitomizes a lot of people working in professional football in England. Sean is a man who has quietly gone about his work over the last 16 years in two of London’s top clubs from academy to first team level resulting in a wealth of knowledge and experience. We caught up with Sean to discuss his experiences in football fitness, cognitive development and coaching in the Championship. Sean grew up playing locally and at the school of excellence of Wimbledon…
Doing your football apprenticeship at FC Barcelona is the kind of coaching education we all dream of. Player Development Project caught up with Josep Gombau, a man who emerged from Catalonia and has since travelled the world coaching at all levels. Josep Gombau is a much travelled man. Born in Amposta, Catalonia, his coaching career has taken him from Spain to Hong Kong, where he was named coach of the year twice, before a stint at A-League club Adelaide United. Between 2003 and 2009, Josep…
PDP Lead Researcher, James Vaughan recently attended a seminar by Joan Vila Bosch – Head of Methodology at FC Barcelona. Speaking in Christchurch, New Zealand – Joan described how and why FC Barcelona are breaking down the coaching language of war surrounding football. Moving away from what he called ‘the language of war’, Joan’s department is using scientific principles to define FC Barcelona’s game and crucially the language they use. Joan explained: “As people we are defined by our words” The language of football transmits the ideas, beliefs and values…
Player Development Project believes who we are is how we play. In this Live Webinar replay, UEFA Affiliate Tutor at The FA, Jonny Henderson joins us to discuss just how important the power of play is in youth development. Jonny holds a UEFA Pro License, an MSc in Coaching Science as well as a BSc (hons) in Sports Coaching. He is holds both a UEFA A Licence and the FA Advanced Youth Award. Jonny has been full time with Bristol Rovers for 4 years in…
With the help of Pro Soccer Development, Dave Wright examines whether Jamie Vardy is a football anomaly or personification of a problem in elite player development. Unless you’ve been living in total football isolation, away from the world of social media and headline news, it’s fair to say that by now, we know that Jamie Vardy has experienced a meteoric rise over the last eight years. This has culminated in seeing him go from striker for the Stocksbridge Park Steels (in the eighth tier of English Football) to the…
Talent ID is a topic that polarises opinion. In recent years, professional clubs have begun their search for ‘talent’ at a younger and younger age. Mark O’Sullivan examines the talent identification landscape and questions whether the process is merely a survival of the fittest. According to Darwin’s theory of evolution, organisms which are better adapted to their environment tend to survive longer. Does the environment we create influence the selection process and favour those that possess attributes that give them a temporary advantage while at…
Check out this Live Webinar replay with some of the best coaches in England as we host our second ever Masterclass Webinar. Filmed in 2016, we welcome, Mick Beale (Liverpool U21 Manager), Stuart English, (Brentford FC Head of Coaching) and Jon De Souza, Brentford FC U21 Manager to a live webinar discussion with the PDP team. All of these coaches have since moved onto leadership roles and senior coaching positions at Glasgow Rangers, Birmingham City FC and Colchester United. PDP Editor, Dave Wright will lead a…