Football Coaching and Management

This module will enable you to develop awareness and understanding of the key fundamentals and principles of football coaching, integrating theory with practice and sharing knowledge and understanding through discussion and debate. The practical element of coaching will allow you to gain experience in and an understanding of the cognitive process of coaching. You will learn what a coach needs, to function effectively in a variety of situations, developing reflective skills and identifying which theories are most applicable when working in a specific coaching context. You will learn how to reflect on and evaluate your own strengths and weaknesses and develop a plan to improve both your technical and behavioural skills relevant to a career in the coaching industry.

The module introduces you to the necessary understanding and skills for effective leadership and management within association football by considering it at different levels of the national game. You will be able to identify the skills and qualities required by individuals to succeed in management from grassroots to management in the elite game. You will be exposed to case study examples of successful and unsuccessful managers and will compare and contrast different leadership styles. You will explore the key qualities, characteristics and roles of an effective manager in association football across all levels of the game.

In order for you to achieve your university and future workplace goals, you need to be aware of a number of personal qualities and behaviours that can impact your ability to succeed. It is also important that you understand the industry and societal context in which you plan to work. This module aims to introduce you to personal and professional factors relevant to employment in the sport industry, and to enhance your awareness of the industrial landscape. Additionally, it will support you in developing some essential academic skills for higher education (such as academic writing and referencing). The module will introduce you to a wide range of perspectives, philosophies, and principles of critical and ethical thinking which will equip you with the competencies and confidence to achieve your academic and employability goals.

The module considers the concept of ‘community’ and how it is interpreted and applied across a variety of football development initiatives. You will employ a critical and politically informed lens to create culturally aware, inclusive and reflective football development strategists and coaches. It will enable you to acquire the knowledge, understanding and practical experience of a range of topics that relate to both coach education/development, and the wider enhancement of football. Throughout lectures, seminars and practical’s, you will be encouraged to engage with a range of concepts by understanding the current grassroots/ community landscape, potential barriers and ways students can champion positive recreational activity through coaching practice. In addition, you will explore the issues of equality in football exploring the ‘target group’ philosophy and barriers to participation.

The purpose of this module is to provide you with the necessary attributes and knowledge to enable you to develop the technical performance of young players. Firstly, you will examine the predominant technical components that are essential for football. Furthermore, you will examine the principles of play (both attacking and defending), how you can develop individuals understanding of the game and how to manage mistakes within practice situations. Taking a player-centred approach which allows the player to be actively involved in their own learning and development through decision-making and problem-solving rather than being coach-led, you will design practices which will develop players game craft and game understanding and learn what constrains lead coaching principles. Developing your knowledge on the three stages of skill acquisition which age groups ability levels they can be associated with and how you can plan to enhance your players’ ability through this.

The intense demands to identify, select, and develop some of the brightest young talents in the game places more pressure on a range of staff and clubs than ever before. Given such demands, you (as a scout or coach for example) will find yourself navigating through a range of changing, challenging and complex environments. Therefore, developing an ability to nurture talented individuals is seemingly an essential part of a football clubs (and coaches) daily task. This module, therefore aims to provide an introduction to the complexities and magnitude of talent development. The module will introduce you to a wide range of topics and themes that can support your understanding of talent development. Here, we include considerations around academic models of talent development, environments, cultures, as well as performance pathways for a range of athletes across a number of different sports.