Football coach
Football coaches teach skills and tactics to individuals and teams, and motivate them to fulfil their potential.
What you'll do
Day-to-day tasks
As a football coach, you would:
- plan and run coaching sessions
- work on game tactics
- give feedback on performance and fitness, and set targets
- offer guidance on nutrition and injury prevention
- keep up to date with good coaching practice
- motivate players to develop a positive mental attitude, confidence and self-discipline
Working environment
You could work in the community, at a school, at a college, at a university or at a sports arena.
Your working environment may be outdoors in all weathers, physically demanding and you'll travel often.
You may need to wear a uniform.
Career path and progression
As a community football coach, you could move into sports development or youth work after further training.
As a coach with a professional or semi-professional team, you might move to a bigger club to advance your career.
You could also complete higher level coaching awards, or specialise in a particular area like:
- goalkeeper or set piece coaching
- sports psychology
- mentoring new coaches
What it takes
Skills and knowledge
You'll need:
- leadership skills
- the ability to teach pupils how to do something
- the ability to monitor performance
- excellent verbal communication skills
- knowledge of teaching and the ability to design courses
- to be thorough and pay attention to detail
- the ability to use your initiative
- the ability to motivate and inspire
- to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device
Restrictions and Requirements
You'll need to:
- be over 16 years of age
- pass enhanced background checks as you may work with children and vulnerable adults
Depending on the age groups you work with, you might need to do the Football Association's Safeguarding Children Course.
How to become
You can get into this job through:
- a university course
- a college course
- an apprenticeship
- volunteering
- specialist courses run by a professional body
You could study for a foundation degree or degree in a subject like:
- football coaching and development
- coaching science
- coaching and performance
There are also undergraduate and postgraduate courses that combine football coaching with other subjects, such as:
- sports business
- management
- talent development
You'll usually need some experience in coaching to apply for a postgraduate course.
Entry requirements
You'll usually need:
- 2 to 3 A levels, or equivalent, for a degree
- a degree in a relevant subject for postgraduate study
More Information
You could do a college course, which could help you to get started in football coaching.
Courses include:
- sports coaching
- sport - football coaching
- UEFA C Licence (this used to be called the FA Level 2 Coaching award)
If you hold a UEFA coaching licence, you could do a course in coaching game based football.
Entry requirements
Entry requirements for these courses vary.
More Information
You could apply for a place on a Community Activator Coach Level 2 Intermediate Apprenticeship or the Sports Coach Level 4 Higher Apprenticeship.
These typically take 1 year and 6 months to complete and are a mix of workplace learning and study.
Entry requirements
You'll usually need:
- some GCSEs, usually including English and maths, or equivalent, for an intermediate apprenticeship
- 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) and A levels, or equivalent, for a higher or degree apprenticeship
More Information
You can start as a volunteer at your local amateur football club. This will help to build up your experience and could lead onto training for coaching qualifications.
You can contact your county football association to learn more about volunteering opportunities.
You can also do online introductory courses while volunteering, through England Football Learning. These include:
If you're currently coaching a football team, you could apply to do a coaching course or licence.
These start at foundation level and UEFA C Licence, and go up to UEFA Pro Licence aimed at coaches working in professional football.
You can also do courses which cover different age groups, abilities and types of football, such as futsal.
Career tips
Many paid coaching positions are part time, so the salary will reflect that. Salaries for coaches in English professional football are much higher than for those working in education, the community and for smaller football clubs.
Further information
You can find out more about a career in football coaching through England Football Learning and UK Coaching.
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