Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast Football DNA Podcast

In the first episode of 2026, we are joined by David & Keith Mayer to discuss How To Become A More Effective Coach, Quickly. Insights are taken from the book they both published as co-authors. Keith has an extensive coaching background around the world and for the last decade with Liverpool FC Academy. David has also coached around the world as a UEFA A Licenced Coach, currently at Utah Red Wolves Academy.

For even more insights, check out their book Gold Dust: How to Become a More Effective Coach, Quickly, available on Amazon and major bookshops.

In the ninth episode of 2025 our host Paul Barry is joined by Ross Embleton to discuss Talent ID & Recruitment In Grassroots Football

Ross is a highly respected English football coach, currently serving as Academy Head of Recruitment at West Ham United. With a background in youth development at clubs like Tottenham and Norwich, he is best known for his time at Leyton Orient, where he held roles including Head Coach and helped lead the club through a period of transition.

In the eighth episode of 2025 our host Paul Barry is joined by Ben Bradford to discuss grassroots goalkeeper coaching.

Ben Bradford is an experienced and sought-after goalkeeping coach, who is a former academy Goalkeeping Coach for West Ham United Football Club. He has numerous qualifications, including FA Level 2 goalkeeper, FA Level 1 in Talent Identification, and FA Emergency First Aid. His coaching philosophy prioritises attacking-minded play with both feet and developing his goalkeepers' organisational skills and positive attitude. Ben was also the former Essex Regional Goalkeeping Scout for Cambridge United.

Under Ben's guidance, many of his students have signed for professional football clubs, such as Man Xity, Crystal Palace, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea, Ipswich Town, Cambridge United, Southend United, Colchester United, West Ham United United and Milwall. 

In the seventh episode of 2025 our host Paul Barry is joined by Paul McGuinness to discuss Individual Skill Development

Paul McGuinness spent 24 years at Manchester United, where he served as Head Coach of the Professional Development Phase. During his time at the club, he played a pivotal role in the development of players such as Marcus Rashford, Danny Welbeck, and Axel Tuanzebe, among many others.

As coach of United’s U18s, Paul guided the team to FA Youth Cup glory in 2011, overseeing a squad brimming with future stars, including Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard, and Ravel Morrison.

After departing Manchester United in 2016, Paul spent four years as a National Coach Developer with The Football Association, helping to shape the next generation of coaches across the country. In 2021, he joined Leicester City’s academy as Head of Player Development, a role he held until September 2022.

Paul now works as a consultant, providing mentorship to both players and coaches, and delivering coaching demonstrations and presentations across the football landscape.

In the sixth episode of 2025 our host Paul Barry is joined by Chris Ramsey to discuss being an effective grassroots football coach.

Chris Ramsey MBE is a highly respected football coach and coach educator with decades of experience developing elite players and coaches. A former professional defender, he played for clubs including Brighton & Hove Albion and Swindon Town. He coached England’s youth teams and held senior development roles at Tottenham Hotspur and Queens Park Rangers. Known for championing diversity in football, Ramsey has mentored countless players and coaches, helping shape modern youth development in England. Awarded an MBE in 2019, he now plays a leading role in the national coaching structure, focusing on the progression of England’s 18s to 20s age groups.

In the fifth episode of 2025 our host Paul Barry is joined by James Barlow to discuss the role of coach development.

James is currently Head Of Coaching at Portsmouth FC, is a UEFA A Licensed Coach & has The FA’s Advanced Youth Award.

In the fourth episode of 2025 our host Paul Barry is joined by Merfyn Roberts to discuss Managing Behaviour In Youth Football Coaching.

Merfyn is an education consultant, specialising in behaviour management and applied learning, and has been an FA tutor for a number of years. His latest role at St George’s Park has been as the lead tutor for the Social Corner on the Advanced Youth Award.

In the third episode of 2025 our host Paul Barry is joined by Pete Sturgess.

Pete is synonymous with Grassroots football development within England, in particular his focus on supporting junior coaches to provide enjoyable and inspiring football experiences.

He has committed his whole career to improving the coaching of our youngest players. A former teacher and academy assistant director, Peter worked at the English FA as Technical Lead for the 5–11s age group (Foundation Phase).

During his 17 years at the FA Peter was also privileged to be the Head coach of the England Futsal squad for 8 years leading them successfully into FIFA and UEFA competitions and today continues to influence the technical and tactical proficiency of the next generation as a FIFA Futsal Instructor.

In the second episode of 2025 our host Paul Barry is joined by Steve Sallis. He supports 20 Premier League and Football League Players with mental conditioning support. Steve delivers Leadership Seminars on the UEFA Pro and A’ Licence for the Scottish Football Association. He is the author of "Educating Football" which has received national and international press coverage, which includes interviews on the iconic ‘High Performance Podcast’ (12 Million Downloads), BBC Radio 5 Live, Talk Sport, The Daily Mail podcast and Love Sport Radio. Steve has featured on a Netflix documentary which entailed supporting world class athletes in need of cognitive and technical performance support.

In the first episode of 2025 our host Paul Barry is joined by Connor Horrocks. Connor is a British national who moved to Spain as a young child and developed a love for coaching. As an UEFA A Licensed Coach he challenged himself further by now coaching in South Korea.

In the tenth episode of 2024 our host Paul Barry is joined by Thomas Gronnemark. Thomas has made a career in coaching throw ins for professional clubs including Liverpool FC under Jurgen Klopp! Here we dive into the topic of throw ins especially in the youth phases of the game.

In the ninth episode of 2024 our host Paul Barry is joined by Temisan Williams. Temisan has experience coaching at 3 different premier league clubs and has completed the route of starting in grassroots to academy football.

In the eighth episode of 2024 our host Ross Brooks is joined by Shamus Beaglehole - YDP Coach at Leicester City. Take a listen to get some knowledge on how to plan your coaching sessions.

In the seventh episode of 2024 our host Ross Brooks is joined by Nathan Thomas - Head Of Coaching U13 - U16 at Crystal Palace. Take a listen to get some knowledge on how to manage players on a match day.

In the sixth episode of 2024 our host Ross Brooks is joined by Elliot Head - Head Of Foundation Phase (AFC Bournemouth). Take a listen to get some knowledge on how to manage this challenge in coaching.

In the fifth episode of 2024 our host Ross Brooks is joined by experienced coach Matt Dunn (Brighton & Hove Albion). Take a listen to get some top insights into creating and managing relationships with parents.

In the fourth episode of 2024 our host Ross Brooks is joined by experienced coach Mark Lyons (Leicester City). Take a listen to get some top tips for managing player behaviour in coaching sessions.

In the third episode of 2024 our host Ross Brooks is joined by U13 - U16 coaching specialist Sam Cox. Take a listen to get some top tips for coaching those teenage age groups.

In the second episode of 2024 our host Ross Brooks is joined by U9 - U12 coaching specialist Pawel Guziejko. Take a listen to get some top tips for coaching 8,9,10,11,12 year olds.

In the first episode of 2024 our host Ross Brooks is joined by U5 - U8 coaching specialist Michael Fox. Take a listen to get some top tips for coaching 5,6,7,8 year olds.

In this episode we are joined by Nick Dye who is an experienced coach from the UK currently coaching in the USA at United Soccer Coaching Inc. Nick has substantial experience in the US though a range of director of coaching roles. 

In this podcast Ross Brooks from West Ham United speaks with Cambridge United Academy Coach Dario Seminerio on how to develop and establish objectives for players and teams for the upcoming season. 

In this podcast we speak with Lúðvík Gunnarsson - UEFA Pro Licence coach and has experience as Head of Talent ID at Icelandic FA and various coaching roles. 

In this podcast  Ross Brooks and Jack Matthews discuss planning & delivering for the individual.

Jack joined the AFC Wimbledon Academy in 2016 as a coach in the Foundation Phase (U9-12) having previously held roles at Coerver Coaching and Barnet Football Club.

Jack combined his role in the Academy with his role as a tutor in the foundation department at Fulham FC, and from 2018 as a coach in their Football and Education programme.

In 2021 Jack was appointed as Lead Youth Phase Coach after spending 2 years as the Lead Foundation Phase Coach.

In this episode we speak with Jack Rolfe from The Coaching Lab who discusses how can support player development using MatchPlay Cards! 

thecoachinglab.org/matchplaycards

In this podcast Charlie from Bloomsbury Football shares their story of growing a grassroots football club and gives ideas and support on developing your own. 

A sport scientist at Liverpool John Moores University, Sigrid Olthof's research has made a lasting impact on the sport of football. Listen to Ross and Sigrid discuss the importance of considering pitch sizes in training sessions and matches.

Today we speak with the 3x Current World Champion, 2x European Champion, World Record Holder and Tiktok sensation, Aguśka!

Take a listen to Ross Brooks and Rick Fenoglio talk about the importance of using small sided games in your coaching sessions! ⚽

Ross Brooks talk to coach Karl Marius Aksum about the importance of scanning for football players.

Ross Brooks of West Ham talks all about the common challenges in grassroots football! 

Brad talks all about how he got into coaching and how he creates the right atmosphere at Exeter.

Ross Brooks talks to former professional footballer Mark Roberts all about planning for life after being on the pitch.

Fiona Wilson talks all about The Importance of Player & Coach Wellbeing.

Sally is passionate about the Psychological and Social aspects of life through a Neuroscience Lens, Sally is also a Coach, Coach Developer & Consultant. 

Mark Bennett MBE has spent the last 30 years developing robust and scalable strategies and tools to help organisations, teams and individuals maximise the performance potential of themselves and the people they are influencing.

In this episode:
- Objectives as a coach (process v results)
- Creating an environment (inclusion philosophy)
- Player centred v needs centred
- Play station coach v player led?
- Reviewing sessions / linking learning
- How do you get players to coach themselves?
- How do you audit yourself as a coach?
- Any other advice for grass roots coaches

In the third Coaches Insight episode we speak with Richard Shorter: (The Non-Perfect Dad) on how the role of the parents is so important and ways you can promote good behaviours.

The second in our Coaches Insight Series. This week we speak with Tom Statham of Manchester United.

Stewart & Ross talk to Rangers Football Academy coach, Thomas Carpels. They talk all about Brain Training in football and where it could be leading to! 

Paddy McCarthy is an Irish former professional footballer who played as a centre-back, most recently for English club Crystal Palace. He currently serves as the Under-18s coach at Crystal Palace. Born in Dublin, he began his football career as a junior with Manchester City before joining Leicester City in 2005 where he spent three seasons before joining Charlton Athletic in the summer of 2007. He remained with Charlton for just twelve months, joining Crystal Palace in the summer of 2008 where he remained until 2016. McCarthy has also played for Boston United and Notts County on loan during the early part of his career and Sheffield United, Bolton Wanderers and Preston North End, also as a loan player. In December 2016, he was appointed Under-18s coach.

Paddy speaks to Shaun Derry from footballdna.co.uk reflecting on his career pathway and taking his first steps into coaching making the transition from playing.

Jamie Lawrence is a former professional football player having made 70 appearances in the Premier League. He played as a right winger for Sunderland, Doncaster Rovers, Leicester City, Bradford City, Walsall, & Wigan Athletic. He also has 24 caps for the Jamaican National team. His route to professional football was very different to many others, having led a very troubled lifestyle as a teenager with a period of time in prison. He then went onto play for teams in the lower pyramid on his release and build his career in the game.

Jamie now has developed his own academy where he takes young players who have been released from professional clubs at the age of 16 years old. He helps them develop by coaching them on the pitch and helps with their physical conditioning required for senior football. Another aspect Jamie goes onto speak about is improving young players attitude and work ethic which he believes is missing in a lot of young players he meets. He is also a big believer in teaching life skills and holds time management in high regard. Jamie’s academy has now been going for the past 10 years and recently one of the players he supported Zavon Hines made the move back into professional football with Chesterfield.

On this interview, Robin Shroot features who is another one of Jamie’s players he has worked with. Robin was released by Wimbledon and then went onto play for clubs such as Birmingham City, Walsall, Burton Albion, Cheltenham Town. He has had a period of time in Norway and now currently plays for Nashville in America.

In this interview Martyn Margetson the current England National Team Senior Goalkeeping Coach sits down with Jimmy Walker to discuss his career, goalkeeping topics and individual England goalkeepers!

“Marge” started his playing career with Manchester City, joining their youth system in 1988.He went on to make 60 first-team appearances for the Maine Road side, while also having loan spells with Bristol Rovers, Bolton and Luton Town.

He left City for Southend in 1998, before playing for Huddersfield and Cardiff, becoming player-coach at the latter and moving into a goalkeeping coach position after hanging up his gloves in 2007.Margetson, who was capped by his country against Canada in 2004, joined the Wales national set-up to work with Gary Speed in 2011.He remained involved under Chris Coleman as the Dragons enjoyed an unforgettable run to the semi-finals of Euro 2016.

Margetson then made the switch to England in August 2016, initially working under Sam Allardyce and then remaining in Gareth Southgate’s backroom team as the Three Lions reached the World Cup semi-finals, as well as the UEFA Nations League finals.At club level, he moved to West Ham in 2014, before returning to Cardiff. He has since worked at Crystal Palace and Everton and now makes the switch to the Liberty Stadium.

Matthew Gill is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He began his career in 1997, notably representing Peterborough United, Exeter City, Norwich City (Achieved League One promotion) and Bristol Rovers, Walsall & Notts County. He made 451 appearances and scored 21 goals.  Gill was the club captain for Bristol Rovers for the 2011/12 season.

Following his retirement in 2014, he moved into coaching, first becoming assistant manager at Tranmere Rovers before taking a post at the Norwich City academy. At Norwich City he was U23 Coach and was responsible for bringing players through like Jamal Lewis, Max Aarons , Todd Cantwell, Ben Godfrey who are now playing in the Premier League (2019/20). After this role he joined Ipswich Town as first-team coach. Matt is currently undertaking his UEFA Pro License with the FA.

Jamie Lawrence is a former football professional player featuring in the Premiership for Bradford City & playing for his national side Jamaica. Jamie had a troubled start to life having spent time in prison. In this part Jamie follows on from Part 1 and his career after Leicester City where he moved to Bradford City where he enjoyed a brilliant time playing in the Premier League. He also enjoyed spells at Wigan, Walsall and a few more clubs. After football he transitioned into a fitness coach role with Ghana where he helped take them to the African Nations Cup Final. Jamie now educated and guides young players looking to improve their fitness and football with his own academy.

Jamie Lawrence is a former football professional player featuring in the Premiership for Bradford City & playing for his national side Jamaica. Jamie had a troubled start to life having spent time in prison. In this part Jamie follows on from Part 1 and his career after Leicester City where he moved to Bradford City where he enjoyed a brilliant time playing in the Premier League. He also enjoyed spells at Wigan, Walsall and a few more clubs. After football he transitioned into a fitness coach role with Ghana where he helped take them to the African Nations Cup Final. Jamie now educated and guides young players looking to improve their fitness and football with his own academy.

Matthew Etherington is a former footballer who played as a winger. He currently manages the under-18 team at Peterborough United which is his first coaching role in professional football. Matty started his career at the club before moving onto Tottenham Hotspur where appeared 45 times before moving to West Ham United. He made 165 appearances scoring 16 goals over a 6 year spell including help them win promotion from the Championship and re-establishing them as a Premier League club. He finished his career at Stoke City in the Premier League with 152 appearances and 13 goals. Matty retired early from football due to an injury and is now focusing on his coaching career holding the UEFA A License.

In this interview Matty talks through his career highlights, best goals & speaks about his regrets in an open manner.

Harewood made his league debut for Nottingham Forest in 1998. In the same year, he acquired experience abroad with a successful loan spell at Haka in 1999, he had a further loan spell with Ipswich Town, scoring one goal in six appearances. Harewood went on to forge a reputation as one of the most lethal strikers in the First Division. He scored 51 goals in 124 league games and 58 substitute appearances for Forest and also scored four goals in 23 cup appearances. He joined West Ham United in November 2003 for a fee of £500,000. Harewood was the top scorer for West Ham in 2004–05 with 23 goals in all competitions. He returned to top flight football following West Ham’s playoff victory at the end of the 2004–05 season, and the 2005–06 season saw Harewood lead  West Ham’s Premiership attack. He scored 14 league goals, including the first top flight hat-trick of the season in a 4–0 home victory against Aston Villa. Harewood became one of the top scoring strikers of the 2005–2006 season. Harewood collected an FA Cup runners-up medal with West Ham that season, and was also the club’s top Premier League goal scorer with 14 goals.

Harewood joined Aston Villa on the 17th July 2007 for a fee of £4 million. Harewood scored his 100th career league goal whilst at Aston Villa in November 2007. Harewood eventually left Villa on loan, joining Wolverhampton Wanderers in March 2009. He played five games for Wolves during his time there. On the 24th September 2009, Harewood joined Championship side Newcastle United on a three-month loan until December, He made his debut on the 26th September 2009. His first goal for the Magpies came, in a 1–1 draw, against Queens Park Rangers on 30 September 2009. Following his release from Villa, Harewood joined Blackpool in early August 2010 signing a two-year deal. Harewood joined Barnsley on loan on 26th February 2011, until the end of the 2010–11 season. He further went onto play for clubs such as Bristol City, Hartlepool United & had a spell in China and finished his career at Nuneaton Town. He also returned back to Forest for a 4 month spell.

In this interview Dean talks in detail about his career path from getting into football at a young age going through the ranks at Crewe Alexandra to retiring early due to a serious injury. Dean gives a fantastic insight into how he adapted his game throughout his career and had to improve on certain aspects. He further goes onto explain how he developed his game by learning from older experienced players.

Shaun Derry is an English former professional footballer and manager . He previously managed Notts County and Cambridge United, and played for Crystal Palace and Queens Park Rangers among other clubs. In this interview Shaun speaks about his professional playing career and the transition into management whilst he was still playing!

A while back Jimmy interviewed a young and inspiring manager, Danny Cowley.