The Definitive Guide: How To Become A Football Coach

Dreaming of becoming the next Jose Mourinho? Are you football mad?

You’ve played on the pitch and now you are ready to inspire, teach and develop others to reach their potential and be successful…

What is a Football Coach?

• Job Description

  Being a football coach means being passionate, and dedicated to your team, helping them to reach their full potential and developing the players in all aspects. Whether you are coaching children, entry level or professional football players, you will need to put your all into making sure the team thrive. You will be the driving force behind the players.
  
  You could be working in many different locations such as schools, universities, leisure clubs or football clubs, and could find yourself working with a range of levels from children to adults, beginner to professional. It depends on your level of experience and qualifications on how far you will get with your coaching career.

• Hours of Work

  Your working hours will depend on the level of football that you are coaching. Lower levels of football will require evening and weekend work, however the higher the level of the football the team, the more hours you will need to put in. Your dedication to your job is likely to take up some of your personal time, especially if you need to travel for football matches across the UK and abroad – this could require overnight stays.

• Main Responsibilities

  So, what will your main responsibilities be as a Football Coach?
  
  Duties typically include:

  • Planning coaching programs
  • Evaluating performance and providing feedback
  • Coming up with techniques and tactics
  • Helping the team to improve both physically and mentally
  • Working alongside other professionals such as physiotherapists and nutritionists
  • Maintaining records
  • Applying for sponsorships
  • Arranging transport for your team

Key Football Coach qualifications

Do you have the qualifications to get the job?

Football coaches are required to have recognised coaching qualifications from The Football Association (FA). This starts from level 1 and goes all the way up to semi professional and professional levels. You could also take a sports degree such as sports science.

You will also be required to have a DBS check (when working with children) as well as completing The FA Safeguarding Children Workshop. First aid training is important and you may be required to take the Introduction to First Aid in Football (IFAiF) course.

How to become a Football Coach?

Now that you know what a Football Coach does, how do you become one?

You could start your career as an assistant coach first before learning the ropes and taking the lead.

You could also think about volunteering at a sports club as a coach whilst studying and working towards your qualifications. This will help you to build experience so that when you are ready to apply to jobs, you will (hopefully) have a glowing reference.

Another option that you could look into is doing an apprenticeship. This will enable you to learn on the job whilst completing all of the relevant qualifications.

How to develop your Football Coach career

The more experience you get, and the better your team perform, the higher you can climb the ladder to coaching higher-level teams. You could even take your team from the bottom to the top. Success starts with you!

Career Opportunities

• You can find some of the best Football Coach roles with brands such as Chelsea FC, Serco, Camp Leaders and many more.

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