Dr. Thomas Buck
UCFB Manchester
Course Leader
BSc Sports Coaching Science
Senior Lecturer in Sports Coaching and Performance
Tom has been involved in professional sport since the final year of his undergraduate degree and assisted in research with Premier League clubs before taking on an MSc in Sport & Exercise Psychology and a full-time role as a research assistant.
He joined UCFB as a Graduate Teaching Assistant in 2015, assisting in the teaching of research methods, and lecturing on sport psychology topics surrounding elite player development, before becoming a full-time lecturer after 12 months with UCFB. Tom has since evolved as a researcher and practitioner and was subsequently promoted to Course Leader in Sports Coaching Science and a Senior Lecturer in Sports Coaching & Performance.
Tom has also worked with professional football clubs at a variety of levels from The National League to the Premier League, including Hull City during their promotion to the top flight from the Championship. This work has looked at improving performance through analysing psychological and behavioural patterns in order to inform the coaching process and improve on pitch performance. Outside of this Tom has been engaged in his own practice working with athletes on a 1-2-1 basis to provide psychological support for both current professionals and athletes who have retired from their sport.
Area of expertise
- Athlete Mental Health
- Attitudes toward help-seeking
- Transitions
- Identity
- Coping Strategies
- Psychological impact of injuries
- Elite Player Development
- Qualitative Research Methods
Industry expertise
- Performance psychologist working with professional football clubs at Championship and Premier League level.
- Worked 1-2-1 with athletes from professional football, rugby, golf, Olympic/Paralympic athletes and cricket.
- Practicing psychology for over 10 years working across various professional levels, from academies, senior professional and retired professional athletes.
- Athlete Mental Health
- Attitudes toward help-seeking
- Transitions
- Identity
- Coping Strategies
- Psychological impact of injuries
- Elite Player Development
- Qualitative Research Methods
- PhD
- MSc
- BSc (Hons)
- British Psychological Society Chartered Member (CPsychol).
- Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society (AFBPsS).
- Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).
- Currently enrolled on the British Psychological Society’s Qualification in Sport & Exercise Psychology (Stage 2) – SEPiT.
- Buck, T.A. (2021). Retirement through Injury: A case study approach exploring mental health issues and the retirement experiences of two ex-English Premier League Footballers. In Agnew, D. (Ed.), Athlete Transitions into Retirement; Experiences in Elite Sport and Options for Effective Support (pp. 84-98). New York and London: Routledge.
- Buck, T (2023) Reducing the Stigma of Mental Health in Elite Sport: An Investigation of Mental Health Literacy and Attitudes Towards Help-Seeking in Current and Retired Professional Athletes. Doctoral thesis, Liverpool John Moores University. https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/19173/
- Buck, T.A., Morris, R.M., and Eubank, M.E. (In Prep) Professional support provision experiences and reflections in elite football in the UK: Enhancing mental health literacy and clinical referral systems for current and retired elite footballers. Soccer & Society Special Issue.
- Buck., T.A. and Morris., R. (2018) “”Do me a favour and ask if you need some help”: Understanding Antecedents Leading to Adverse Mental Health in Professional Sport, BPS DSEP Annual Conference, Poster Presentation, Belfast, 4th December 2018.
- Buck., T.A. and Morris., R. (2019) “”Do me a favour and ask if you need some help”: Understanding Antecedents Leading to Adverse Mental Health in Professional Sport, BPS DSEP Annual Conference, Oral Presentation, Solihull, 2nd December 2019.
- Buck, T.A., Horrocks, D., and Tonge, A.J. (2016) The Coaching Process, Performance Analysis, Football Psychology and the £150m Prize of Premier League Football, BPS DSEP Annual Conference, Poster Presentation, Cardiff, 6th December 2016.