Six Things Worth Watching For In Ten Minutes Of Opponent Footage
You don't need an hour of full-match footage or expensive analysis software to prepare for an unfamiliar opponent. Ten minutes and six specific thi...
Read Article →Coaching Tips
Practical, actionable coaching advice you can apply immediately to improve your sessions and player development.
63 articles
328 Sessions, Built So You're Not Starting From A Blank Page Every Week
328 Sessions To Master The Ball, The Opponent, The Game, The Position, and The Performance is the resource I built after years of my own Sunday-nig...
Read Article →You Don't Need A New Exercise. You Need More Depth In The One You Have.
If your coaching depends on constantly finding new exercises, you're a curator, not a coach. Here is the real fix from the book, one exercise with ...
Read Article →The Four Traps: Which Kind Of Dogmatic Coach Have You Been?
I've been all four of the coaching traps I now write about at different points in my career: Copy-Paste, Closed, Results-First, Social Media. None ...
Read Article →The Problems Grassroots Coaches Actually Raise In Our Community
Academy advice rarely accounts for solo coaching, unpredictable numbers, or pushy parents on a Tuesday night in the rain. Here are the real problem...
Read Article →13 Questions That Test Whether Players Understand The Game Or Just Their Position
A set of tactical questions I use to check whether players actually understand why they're doing something, not just where they're meant to stand. ...
Read Article →Good Sessions Aren't The Same As A Season That Develops Players
It is entirely possible to run engaging, well-delivered sessions week after week and still not see real development, because the sessions were neve...
Read Article →Turning Casual Match Watching Into Something You Can Actually Coach From
Most coaches watch matches, they don't analyse them. I built my How To Analyse A Match course around that exact gap, turning casual observation int...
Read Article →Foundations Before Tactics: The Order Player Development Actually Follows
You cannot build tactical understanding on weak technical foundations, and you cannot build match performance on weak tactical understanding. Here ...
Read Article →Why I Turned My Coaching Notes Into One-Page Cheatsheets
I've built 18 one-page cheatsheets over the years, covering everything from 9v9 formations to pre-season planning to defensive principles for small...
Read Article →Turning A Team Around After A Bad Result Starts At Halftime, Not Monday
Every coach has a result that stings. Brian, a coach in our community, turned his team around at halftime after getting clobbered in the first half...
Read Article →The Training Session I Planned In Eleven Minutes
It was 9:40pm on a Tuesday. Tomorrow's session was not planned. The panic was familiar. What happened next changed how I approach every session since.
Read Article →The Match Where I Knew The Tactics But Could Not Use Them
I could discuss formations fluently. Draw diagrams on tactics boards. Explain pressing triggers to anyone who asked. Then the match started and I f...
Read Article →The Training That Made Players Tired But Not Better
My sessions were intense. Players finished exhausted. Then match day arrived and they looked like different people. What I learned about the gap be...
Read Article →Football Drills With No Equipment: 20 Sessions Anywhere
20 football training activities that require only a ball and players. Perfect for when you forget equipment, train in parks, or want minimal setup ...
Read Article →How to Stop Players Bunching Around the Ball: 5 Proven Solutions
5 proven solutions to stop youth players bunching around the ball. Practical activities that teach spacing naturally without constant coaching inst...
Read Article →The Mid-Season When I Changed Everything And Made It Worse
We were third in the league when I decided to fix our problems. By March we had dropped to eighth. What I learned about mid-season adjustments chan...
Read Article →The Formation I Copied And Why It Failed
I watched a successful team and copied their formation exactly. Two months of chaos later, I understood why formations do not transfer between team...
Read Article →The Modern Centre-Back: What The Position Actually Demands Now
A centre-back who can only defend is half a player now. Here is the real session library for building the complete package, from U12 foundations th...
Read Article →The Complete Goalkeeper: Shot-Stopping Is No Longer Enough
The goalkeeper position has changed more than any other. Here is the real shot-stopping technique, positioning principles, and why coaches keep ask...
Read Article →FootballGPT: Your AI Coaching Assistant for Coaches, Players & FM Managers
Meet FootballGPT - the AI football assistant with 16 specialised advisors for coaches, players, and Football Manager enthusiasts. Get instant answe...
Read Article →The Decision That Changed Everything
Every coach has a turning point. A decision that changed everything. I asked our community to share theirs. These are the real stories that came back.
Read Article →Measuring What Matters in Youth Football - 2026 Goals
But if trophies are your primary measure, you are missing what actually matters in youth football.
Read Article →Nine Years With The Same Team
Nine years. Same team. Eighteen players who still love football. This is what happens when you commit to the long game instead of chasing the next ...
Read Article →The January I Finally Made Changes That Stuck
Every January I set ambitious coaching goals. Every February they were forgotten. Then I learned why most coaching resolutions fail and what actual...
Read Article →Planning Your Coaching Development for 2026
The Three Questions Before planning sessions, answer these three questions about your coaching: 1.
Read Article →The Message That Arrived At 11pm
I posted a question in the community at 11pm, expecting to wait until morning for answers. Within twenty minutes, three coaches had responded. That...
Read Article →The Mistakes I've Actually Made, Not The Ones That Sound Good In Hindsight
No matter how experienced or qualified you are, you still make the same mistakes over and over sometimes. Here are the real ones from my own coachi...
Read Article →The Question I Was Too Scared To Ask For Three Weeks
I joined a coaching community and lurked for three weeks. Too scared to post. Too worried my question was too basic. Then I asked anyway. The respo...
Read Article →The Masterclass I Watched Three Times Before I Understood It
I thought elite coaching content would not apply to my U10s. Then I watched a professional coach explain something that transformed my sessions com...
Read Article →The Course I Watched Three Times Before I Understood It
I watched a coaching masterclass once and felt like I learned a lot. Then I could not remember any of it the next week. That is when I discovered h...
Read Article →The Community That Changed My Coaching
I used to coach in isolation, convinced my problems were unique. When I finally connected with other coaches, I discovered they had already solved ...
Read Article →What Kept Football Alive During Lockdown Was Parents, Not Me
During the UK lockdowns I went live at 7:30am every morning with ball mastery sessions. What actually kept me going wasn't the numbers watching. It...
Read Article →The Session That Finally Made Sense
For years my sessions felt disconnected. Passing on Tuesday. Defending on Thursday. A match on Saturday where nothing connected. Then I discovered ...
Read Article →The Saturday I Chose Not To Shout
I was surrounded by coaches screaming at referees and parents yelling instructions. I made a decision that day that changed how I think about match...
Read Article →The Three Weeks That Changed How My Team Played
A coach told me 'Been working with the game model these past 3 weeks and our improvement has been noticeable from week to week.' Three weeks. Notic...
Read Article →How I Actually Got From Parent Volunteer To Where I Am Now
Coaches ask me fairly often how to turn coaching into an income. My honest answer starts with my own path, no plan, no qualifications, just showing...
Read Article →Game Changers - The Resources That Transform Coaching
The Football Coaching Academy has been a game changer to my coaching development.
Read Article →The Coach's Balance - Dedication Without Destruction
I just paid for plane wifi to type this out. No wonder my wife loses it with me sometimes.
Read Article →Protecting the Love of the Game - Preventing Youth Football Burnout
Introduction "It's about cultivating players who still love playing years down the road." Youth football faces a crisis: massive dropout rates.
Read Article →The Value of 1-2-1 Coaching Conversations
Why 1-2-1 Conversations Matter Personalised Guidance Content speaks to everyone.
Read Article →The Video I Was Embarrassed To Watch But Grateful I Kept
A coach messaged me: 'We have even gone from lowlights to a really good standard thanks to everything I have learned.' But he could prove it becaus...
Read Article →When Learning Changes Everything - Moments That Transform How You Coach
Introduction "Changed the way I think about football for sure." Some learning moments just hit differently.
Read Article →The Value of Revisiting - Why Second Viewings Teach More Than First
I have been looking through old posts this week and finding excellent stuff I had not noticed before.
Read Article →Three Minutes That Changed My Coaching
I used to rush home after every session without thinking. Then I started spending three minutes in my car reflecting. That small habit changed ever...
Read Article →The Halftime Talk That Changed Everything - How to Turn Matches Around
Turning things around with a halftime talk after getting clobbered in the first half.
Read Article →10 Books That Will Change How You Coach Football
Coaches in our community regularly share book recommendations. Here are the ones that come up most often - the books that genuinely change how coac...
Read Article →Are Coaching Qualifications Worth It? An Honest Assessment
I generally think the coaching certificates are not worth the money. It is just a box you need to check.
Read Article →The Grassroots to Professional Pipeline - What Actually Contributes to Player Success
Like goalkeeper Julian Pollersbeck, who gave me my greatest success with his U21 European Championship title.
Read Article →Specific vs General Feedback - The Detail That Accelerates Development
I have been focusing on giving specific feedback to players and using video clips to help them understand.
Read Article →The Coach Whose Players Still Call Him Gaffer
I asked coaches in our community what their biggest achievement was. The answers had nothing to do with trophies. That changed how I think about su...
Read Article →How to Survey Your Players (And What to Do With the Answers)
I am having fun, and I hope the players are - I surveyed them and they appear to be.
Read Article →Why Relationship Skills Determine Coaching Longevity
There is no longevity if you are not good at the people part. Technical knowledge has a ceiling. People skills compound forever.
Read Article →The Long Game - Why Staying With Your Team for Years Matters
Taking a team from U9s all the way through to U18 and finishing with a squad of 19 players who all still enjoyed their football.
Read Article →The Kids Nobody Else Would Take
We have included kids who did not get to play much at other clubs and kids who no other club would take. That is grassroots football at its best.
Read Article →Attitude vs Talent - Why Character Trumps Ability in Youth Football
I will always take someone who has a great attitude and tries hard, regardless of talent.
Read Article →5 Grassroots Coaching Challenges Every Coach Faces (And What Actually Works)
Mixed abilities. Coaching alone. Sessions going stale. Ball-hogs. Parent pressure. Five problems nearly every grassroots coach hits, and the system...
Read Article →What 37 Coaches Say Their Biggest Win Was (Hint: It Wasn't Trophies)
We asked coaches in our community one simple question: 'What's your biggest win as a coach?'
Read Article →The Ten Mistakes I Made My First Season
Every beginner coach makes the same errors. I made all of them in my first twelve months. Here is what I learned from each one.
Read Article →Your First Training Session With A New Team: What To Actually Do
What to run in your first session with a new team, why front-loading tactics is the wrong move, and the small-sided games that let you observe play...
Read Article →The Pre-Season That Actually Worked
For years, my pre-seasons were chaotic. Fitness weeks that exhausted players. Tactical sessions they forgot by match day. Then I found a structure ...
Read Article →The Sunday Night I Stopped Guessing
Fifteen minutes of planning changed my entire coaching career. What I discovered about session structure transformed random training into intention...
Read Article →The Season I Nearly Quit Over A WhatsApp Message
A single parent complaint at 11pm made me question everything. What I discovered about team management systems transformed my coaching experience.
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