John Allpress is ex-assistant head of academy player and coach development at Tottenham Hotspur and a Former national coach at the English FA. He has decades of coaching experience, and a keen interest in how players learn and take on information.

Here, he shares his knowledge on how youngsters learn, and how we, as coaches, can use that information to help them get better. 

Find this in written form: https://www.soccercoachweekly.net/coaching-advice/how-youngsters-learn---and-how-you-can-help-them

Register for John's webinar on October 25: https://www.soccercoachweekly.net/coaching-events/how-to-help-your-players-get-better---cpd

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The Journey to Training is a series from Soccer Coach Weekly,  sharing advice, ideas, inspiration and opportunities for coaches to reflect as they head to their next training session. Or, as they head anywhere, really.

Ultimately, we want to help you become a better coach, and solve some of your coaching problems. Wherever and whenever you listen, we hope to do just that.

Find more from us: www.soccercoachweekly.net

Moritz Kossmann is DStv Diski Challenge coach and head of youth at Cape Town City in South Africa.

Here, he speaks to Soccer Coach Weekly about the skills of covering and recovering – how the approach to them differs depending on position, how we sell the skills as positive actions and the role leadership and communication plays...

Receiving is such a vital skill in soccer.

A good first touch can beat a player in an instant, get a team out of trouble or create a chance on goal.

But how can we support players to improve their receiving?

Moritz Kossmann is a coach at Ubuntu Football Academy in Cape Town. There, he coaches the U21s, who play in the third tier of South African football, and oversees the senior section, made up of U18s and U16s.

Moritz lent SCW his expertise on receiving – what it is, what good receiving looks like and how we can coach it…

As a player, Joanna Boyles Fennema performed at the highest level.

She spent her four college years with the North Carolina Tar Heels, represented the U17 US national team and played for the Orlando Pride in the NWSL.

Alongside success, Fennema’s playing days came with a lot of challenges – she was drafted by the Boston Breakers just before the team folded, suffered two ACL injuries while at college, discovered she has severely degenerative discs in her back.

This back injury, and subsequent hip labrum tears, led Fennema to retire at 24.

A chance encounter led her back into the game, and she is now thriving as an assistant coach at Columbus State University (CSU).

SCW caught up with Jo to talk about the transition from player to coach, and how coaches can best support players going through injuries...

Mark Jenkins is the U15s lead coach at Weston-super-Mare AFC, a semi-professional club based on the southwest coast of England.

Having been ready to keep working with his current crop of players for a few years, Mark was told that he would be given a new group for the 2023-24 season.

It spurred him to start early with his season planning, and give him the best chance of getting the most out of his players.

SCW caught up with the Uefa B-qualified coach to find out more about how he is going about preparing for next season...

Sarah Brady had aspirations of making it as a player.

She went through Everton’s academy before playing for her beloved Liverpool for a brief time, and then moving to Leeds United for a short spell.

When, she says, her "body didn’t really want to comply with the ambition", she took a step into coaching. It led her to the USA 14 years ago, where she has “done everything, from tying the shoelaces of three-year-olds all the way up to the collegiate game”.

Last season, she was head coach of AC Connecticut in the inaugural USL W League, a pre-professional women’s league. Now, she is the USL academy director for the women’s pathway.

SCW caught up with Sarah to find out more about the USL Academy structure, the Academy Cup, and what challenges coaches face working in the set up…

Matt Spear has had numerous different lives in soccer – as a player at NCAA Division I program Davidson College, a sports marketer, returning to his alma mater as a full-time coach for 18 years, and president and general manager for the third-tier US pro side Richmond Kickers.

During his time at the Kickers, a number of things collided, resulting in Matt experiencing what he calls a "dark depression" as the result of burnout.

It is what led him to his current role – a life coach and wellbeing advisor. He works with a number of clients, including the United Soccer Coaches' national office staff and various athletes and coaches.

SCW caught up with Matt at the United Soccer Coaches convention to chat about why coaches are so susceptible to burnout, what some of the signs might be, and how open coaches should be about their mental health in front of their players…

Katie Smith, based in Memphis, Tennessee, started coaching straight out of high school, alongside playing at community college.

Now, in a situation that might sound familiar to a lot of coaches trying to make their way, Katie juggles numerous roles.

She coaches at Collierville High School and Collierville Middle School, has two youth teams at Lobos Rush, is a volunteer assistant at Northwest Mississippi Community College and also works with USL 2 club Tri-Cities FC. Katie is also a full-time student and, this semester, a student teacher.

SCW caught up with Katie at the United Soccer Coaches convention in January to talk about what is similar and different across her roles, her person-over-player philosophy, and some of the challenges she has faced…

Kyle Martyn is senior girls’ academy director for the Ukrainian Nationals Soccer Club in Pennsylvania, the place where he grew up. Martyn played high school and college soccer in the state before going professional for a few years. 

Now, as a coach, he gets to give back to the game he says was such an integral part of his childhood.  

SCW caught up with Kyle at the United Soccer Coaches convention - coincidentally held in Pennsylvania, back in January - to talk about the importance of soccer for kids, how he creates a safe space at his club, and what it’s like coaching in your home state…

James Wagenschutz is an applied sports scientist and sports performance coach who has been in soccer for almost 25 years. 

He holds a USSF A license and has used it to coach in the college game, including notable stints as assistant men’s soccer coach at Colorado College and Regis University, and his daughter’s U5s team. 

He is now a coach educator for United Soccer Coaches and the USSF, and runs his own consultancy, W Sports Performance, working with MLS players and Olympians. 

SCW talked to James at the United Soccer Coaches’ convention about how players and coaches learn and develop…

Dr Haroot Hakopian got into coaching by accident when he suffered a significant knee injury - tearing his ACL, MCL and PCL - and requiring four different operations.

A move into coaching followed, alongside entering education. Thirty years later, he is still involved in, and loving, both worlds.

Dr Hakopian celebrated 20 years as an AP English teacher and girls’ soccer coach at Winston Churchill High School in Maryland last year. He also holds numerous other roles, including sitting on the United Soccer Coaches’ board of directors.

SCW caught up with him to talk about culture, climate, and the importance of telling your players when you’ve messed up…

A love for the work of his college coaches was what led Jeremy Tosaya to go into the profession himself.

Jeremy coached the college game for 18 years, including a notable seven-year stint with Dakota Wesleyan University, before moving on to coach in club soccer.

Since Covid, Jeremy’s full-time job is outside of coaching, but he continues in a part-time role as director of coaching for Nebraska State Soccer, and has just taken on a high-school coaching job.

SCW caught up with Jeremy to explore what a good coaching environment looks like, the delivery of coaching points, and how the attention span of players is likely a lot shorter than you think…

Moritz Kossmann is DStv Diski Challenge coach and head of youth at Cape Town City in South Africa.

Here, he speaks to Soccer Coach Weekly about the skills of challenging - how it has changed over the years, the role of strength in the challenge and the information that goes into decision-making around challenging…

In her senior year at Shawnee Mission West High School Kansas, Sarah Gonzalez wrote in her yearbook that, in five years’ time, she would be back at the school, teaching math and coaching soccer.

Well, after playing soccer at the University of Kansas and then taking on a junior varsity role, Gonzalez has made her dream come true.

She is now 18 years into her time at Shawnee as both a math teacher and head coach of the girls’ soccer team. 

At the United Soccer Coaches Convention in Philadelphia last month, SCW caught up with Sarah to find out more about what it is like coaching at your alma mater, why mentorship is so important to her, and the struggles she has faced over the course of her coaching career...

Tom Shields is the technical director, boys’ ECNL director and USL2 head coach at STA Soccer in Randolph, New Jersey.

Tom was formerly coach of Hull City Ladies and the University of Hull, in his native England. He was also an assistant and NCAA Division I title-winning coach at Central Connecticut State University, and director of player performance and pedagogy at Rutgers University. He also holds a masters degree in sports psychology.

SCW caught up with Tom at the United Soccer Coaches Convention, where he spoke about his progressive, holistic, player-centred coaching approach…

The first team Kai Edwards ever coached was a group of under-12s that included two players who would go on to be US World Cup stars: Kristen Press and Whitney Engen.

He is currently head coach at the Southern Utah Thunderbirds, leading the team to its most successful ever season in 2022.

In between those coaching gigs, Edwards, in his own words, "worked, competed, failed, got dropped out, and came back in".

When he joined us on podcast row at the United Soccer Coaches Convention in Philadelphia last week, Edwards explored his journey in more depth, talking about how he manages his ego, why he is no longer a "transactional" coach and how important it is to be human…

Steph Fairbairn joined her first soccer team as an eight-year-old, back in 2001.

Then, the women's game in England trailed behind in participation and attendances - so much so that, in 2006, Steph was part of a double-figure crowd for a top-flight game, chatting in the bar with England players Jill Scott, Fara Williams and Rachel Unitt.

The current landscape is very different. WSL crowds are In the thousands and the
current Lionesses get mobbed wherever they go, thanks to their victory in the Women's Euros last July. Steph was there to see it - along with 87,000 others.

Now, she joins our team on a full-time basis as editor-in-chief, having been our podcast host and a regular contributor.

It is therefore the perfect time to turn the tables - and allow her to discuss her coaching philosophy, learning from others and 'holding the space' for discussions
around young players' mental health…

Wesley Gullin started coaching in the early  2000s, in his hometown of Watford, just north of London. 

In 2013, a job with Yeovil Town Ladies took him to the south-west of England. Wesley has since immersed himself in girls and women’s football in the region – coaching at Yeovil, founding Sherborne Town Ladies, and working at both Somerset and Dorset Advanced Coaching Centres (ACCs).

Now called Emerging Talent Centres (ETCs), they are run by the Football Association (FA) with the aim of furthering the development of female players.

SCW caught up with Wesley to find out more about the ETCs, what coaching in one looks like and who he is as a coach...

As a semi-professional player, John Allpress says he wasn’t very good because, rather than having a "footballer’s mentality", he has a "game-based mentality".

It was this mentality that led to him becoming a physical education teacher - initially shocked that people were "paying him money to play games" - before coaching at top-level English academies, such as Ipswich Town and Tottenham Hotspur, and two spells with the Football Association.

During his second stint at the FA, John’s focus was on developing an understanding of how children learn, in order to better coach education and, ultimately, the player’s experience.

Here, John shares with us his insights into how kids learn, and explains why leadership is far more important for coaches to possess than tactical or technical knowledge…

Justin Walley’s soccer journey has, he says, been "very chaotic and very unintentional". 

From being player-manager of his university team at the age of 18, to working at Euro 96 as assistant director for one of the host cities, Nottingham; and from founding and coaching Riga United in Latvia, to managing the team representing Matabeleland in Zimbabwe, Justin’s journey has been beyond what he could have ever envisaged. And he’s done it all with an FA Level 2 qualification.

SCW caught up with Justin to learn more about his journey, how he went about building a club from scratch, and his advice for other coaches…

Michael Wright has coached within the youth ranks at Premier League club Southampton for the past decade.

Now working with the under-nines to under-11s in the academy, he has previously held roles with various other age-group teams and in the recruitment department.

His coaching journey began aged 17, and ramped up when he was released as a player, when he had been, by his own admission, "more of a team player than an individual".

Coaching has taught him the importance of individual play, and he has become fascinated with the idea of 1v1 dominance.

SCW caught up with Michael to find out what the term means, what it looks like in an attacking and defensive sense, and how we can coach it…

Lewis Vaughan-Jones finds himself in a position many coaches will be all too
familiar with – working with multiple teams.

Lewis coaches the U8s, U9s and U14s at Notts County's development centre, the goalkeepers at Notts County Girls, and a senior men’s team in tier 11 of the English football pyramid, Wollaton FC.

It means the 22-year-old FA Level 2 coach is gaining lots of experience fast. But it also comes with its challenges.

SCW caught up with Lewis to talk about what his week looks like, the similarities and differences across the environments he works in, and what he has learned about himself from combining environments…

Rob Breton has been coaching since the age of 17.

He started out as a youth coach before moving into the US college game, spending four years as an assistant women’s coach at NCAA Division II team Alderson Broaddus University in West Virginia.

During his time at AB, Rob also assisted with the Battler men’s soccer program and was girls’ head coach at Clarksburg’s Excel Futbol Club.

He has since stepped into a head coach role, taking the reins of the women’s team at the University of Nebraska at Kearney – a Division II institution in the MIAA conference. Rob calls it "the best decision he ever made".

SCW caught up with Rob to talk about how he knew he was ready for the jump to head coach, what his first season in charge looked like, and how to create the optimum environment for your players...

Moritz Kossmann is DStv Diski Challenge coach and head of youth at Cape Town City in South Africa.

Soccer Coach Weekly caught up with Moritz to discuss the crucial skill of intercepting. 

He covers whether it’s a natural action for players, how important communication is alongside it, and how players can build up their knowledge around it as they progress...

Chris McLaughlin is a teacher, Uefa B license coach, and increasingly, a football analyst.

With a variety of coaching experience -  including work as an academy coach, club development officer and women’s assistant manager - and time spent at the Scottish FA and Celtic, Chris set about integrating analysis into his skillset to improve his tactical understanding.

A role as first-team scout and opposition analyst at East Fife FC allowed Chris to put his analysis skills into practice.

Now living and working in Malaysia, he continues to share his thoughts and ideas about games on social media.

SCW caught up with Chris to talk about what he enjoys about analysis, how it helps his coaching, and how other coaches can get started…

Dan Bratcher is a Uefa B-qualified coach, currently working with Cambridge City Ladies, who play in the fourth tier of the women’s football pyramid in England.

Having stepped into coaching after realising he wouldn't make it as a player professionally, Dan has now found a home for himself within the women’s game.

He is committed to his personal learning and development, with the ultimate aim of getting a full-time role in professional soccer.

SCW caught up with Dan to talk about how he furthers his learning, the role of reflection, and if assessing yourself honestly gets any easier the longer you coach…

Aulani Fernandez is currently the interim head women’s soccer coach at Chicago State University.

It is a role that Fernandez - part of the 2021-22 United Soccer Coaches' 30 Under 30 Program - didn’t see coming so soon. But she has grasped it with both hands. 

At Chicago, she is rebuilding the program from the ground up, with a culture of "inclusiveness, love, support, vulnerability and safety" at its core.

SCW caught up with Aulani to talk about why those principles are so important to her, how she goes about embedding them, and what it is to be a young, female coach in the world of soccer…

Connor McGinn is a 21-year-old coach based in the UK, FA Level 2 qualified and a third year student in a football coaching degree programme.

He has spent time coaching at grassroots level, in development centres and at academies. Most of his coaching experiences have been with children from under-6 to under-10, and through that he has found a passion for coaching in the foundation phase (ages 5-11).

SCW caught up with Connor to talk about how we create the right environment at the foundation phase, the technical skills we should be coaching, how we can help our players shape their sessions, and what to bear in mind on matchdays when it comes to selecting a formation…

Having stepped away from coaching to become a postal worker, an offer to coach a colleague’s son’s soccer team led Matt Fisher back to a journey he had started at the age of 16.

More than two decades on from his first step onto the coaching ladder, Matt is now full-time at English pro club Crewe Alexandra, famed for their academy which has produced several England internationals.

He works with the U18s boys on the education programme, leads on the newly formed Emerging Talent Centre, and manages the women’s first team.

SCW caught up with Matt to talk about his work with the women’s team, the style he’s developed and what working with his first female team has taught him as a coach...

Philip O’Callaghan is a physical education teacher from Cork in Ireland.

Though tennis was the sport he played growing up, and coaches now outside of school, his PE sessions mean he teaches a variety of sports.

Much of his approach to teaching sport is based on skill acquisition, a topic he says he researches and reads about as a hobby - even running a Twitter account to make the approach more accessible, and to “give coaches a starting point…to see how they can use some of the skill-acquisition research or theory to improve their sessions".

SCW caught up with Philip to find out more about skill acquisition and how it can be better understood in the context of coaching and session design...

Eight years ago, when Ali Speechly was playing Sunday League matches with a team in south London, she was offered a free place on an FA Level 1 course, then the entry point into coaching in England.

That first course quickly led into a second and now, almost a decade on, Ali is a Uefa B level coach, with a vast array of experience under her belt.

She has coached players at grassroots level, respected girls’ academies, women’s clubs and foundations - and currently works with Goals4Girls, a football development programme for girls from deprived backgrounds which aims to bridge the gap between grassroots and academy.

Her coaching ethos is ’engage, educate, empower’. SCW caught up with Ali to find out more about that approach and how coaches can work on what drives them...

Barnsley Women ply their trade in the fourth tier of women’s football in England.

At the helm is 26-year-old Lois Daniels, who became the sole person in charge in May after a period as joint-manager.

She had previously coached Sheffield FC and their city neighbours Sheffield United, having hung up her boots early as a player to fully commit to her management dream.

Her first solo season as Barnsley boss comes off the back of England’s historic victory in the Women’s Euros.

SCW caught up with Lois to get her take on the Euros, what impact it has had on her players and the club, and the opportunities the Lionesses’ victory can provide the female game at all levels in the UK…

Ross Williams is a physical education teacher, working in a small school in north Wales.

Having started out as a strength and conditioning coach working in elite pathways, Ross now applies his skills to his PE practice and curriculum.

SCW caught up with him to find out more about his approach, talk about what planning and reflecting looks like for him, and get some tips for coaches working in a school context…

Matchdays are a key part of the coaching week and can be exhilarating, daunting and stressful all at once. For the players, those emotions are amplified.

It is the coach’s role to make the matchday experience as safe and enjoyable as possible for all. But how do we go about doing that?

We asked Sarah Lowden, a Uefa A coach and a regional coach development officer at the Football Association, for her take. 

Sarah - who has previously coached at the Reading and Burton Albion academies and Sunderland girls' regional talent centre - shares some of the key things coaches need to consider…

Moritz Kossmann defines the act of marking as "the act of tracking the movements of an opponent player and looking to close them down in a 1v1 situation or to intercept the ball as they are receiving or are about to receive the ball".

Moritz - DStv Diski Challenge coach and head of youth at Cape Town City - speaks to SCW about what marking looks like for different positions, the decision-making process, the physicality required and how players learn about marking over the course of their development...

Having previously spent time coaching at QPR and Aldershot Town, Ross White is now lead professional development-phase coach at English fourth-tier club Sutton United.

The Sutton academy - where White leads the under-18s squad, the final step before the senior team - recently attained Category 3 status, the third level for UK academies.

Uefa A-licensed coach White describes the past 12 months at the club as "exciting times" and is now looking to develop what he calls a ‘championship mentality’ among his squad.

SCW caught up with White to talk about what that is, how he is going about developing it, and why getting to know your players is vitally important…

Dean Arrowsmith is director of coaching of the United and Extra programs at the American Youth Soccer Organisation's Region 300 in Chicago.

He moved to the US permanently seven years ago to take up a full-time role in soccer, having gained much of his experience back in Dundalk, Ireland.

Alongside AYSO, he also has another very important role: co-founder and chairperson of Head In The Game, a mental health campaign aiming to start a conversation for those involved in the League of Ireland.

In the two years since its inception, Head In The Game has made a big impact, offering a safe space for coaches that may be struggling with their mental health.

Dean himself has been affected by self confidence issues and imposter syndrome when on a Uefa B course at the age of 21.

SCW caught up with Dean to discuss the work Head in the Game does, the pressures coaches face, and tools for coping with them.

Please note: this interview contains references to suicide, from the start.

Having previously coached at youth clubs, in the Elite Clubs National League, at development academies and as an assistant at NCAA D1 level, Jason Collinsworth is now fully focused on his own enterprise.

PlayMaker Training provides individual coaching to develop more confident players who want the ball. 

SCW caught up with Jason to talk about why confident soccer players are so important, and how we as coaches can go about developing them...

After two serious injuries in consecutive seasons, non-League player Ben Franks turned to another area of the game he had always been interested in – coaching.

He chose university as the route of entry, doing an undergraduate degree in sport, coaching and physical education, a Masters by research in sport and health sciences, and is now studying for a PhD in perceptualmotor learning.

He is also a coach developer at Boing Kids, a lecturer at Oxford Brookes University, and was recently announced as a first-team coach at Ebbsfleet United Women.

A key element of Ben’s research is ecological dynamics. SCW caught up with him to find out what that is in the context of soccer and how it helps in session design…

Since starting coaching at 14, Ross Brooks has developed a style and approach that sets him apart as a brilliant foundation phase coach.

Although he has experience across many levels and forms of the game, Ross says he does enjoy teaching that 5-11 age group the most, and his mission is to make sure the kids he coaches are enjoying it too.

Currently the u9s-u11s lead coach at West Ham United, Ross focuses on creating an environment where players can fall in love with the game.

SCW caught up with him to find out how he judges the needs of players and how we can all make sure joy is present in training sessions, regardless of the age group…

In 2020, Adam Davidson returned to the UK from Australia.

The pandemic made sponsorship and visas difficult, meaning he couldn't stay in a country where he had spent the previous five years working various roles, such as youth technical director at Dunbar Rovers FC.

Adam has since been appointed head of coaching at Priority Football Academy, based in Bristol, England. He has been there for more than a year, initially taking on the role of lead coach and performance analyst.

His coaching experiences and Masters degree in sports performance analysis mean Adam has always had a fascination with session design.

SCW caught up with him to talk about something he has been trying recently - co-designing sessions with his players…

Debbie Barry did her FA Level 1 coaching qualification when she was at university in Liverpool.

She didn’t coach for a number of years after that, believing there wasn’t a career available to her. Instead, she chose teaching. 

In 2019, a visit with a school colleague to Doncaster Rovers Belles' training facility reignited her interest in coaching.

Three years later, Debbie is now both the u16s coach at the Belles' Regional Talent Centre (RTC) and a coach development officer at the Football Association (FA).

SCW caught up with Debbie to talk about environment and team culture, touching on what a good set up looks like and how coaches can help create one…

In 2015, Brookhaven College women’s soccer team were struggling, often seen by league opposition as an opportunity to increase goal difference.

In the seven years since, the Texas-based Bears have gained three national titles and won the conference five years in a row. 

This has all come under the stewardship of head coach Jimmy Elder and his assistant Robert Williams.

Robert, who originally began coaching in his native Bermuda, is so enamoured with Brookhaven, and the journey the team has been on, that he aims to one day be elevated to the head coach role.

For now, though, he is thoroughly enjoying the success the team is achieving. SCW spoke to Robert to discuss the important role of junior colleges and how to be an effective assistant…

Ed Jackson-Sankey started coaching at the age of 12, helping his mother run the after-school team at a local primary school.

That was 16 years ago. Now, Ed is in the final stages of completing his Uefa A and Elite Youth A Licenses. 

His coaching journey, which has taken him to South Korea and seen him take up roles in England with Portsmouth and Oxford City, among others, was interspersed with a stint as a secondary school teacher. 

Now, he bases a lot of his coaching methodologies on the principles he learned as a teacher. SCW caught up with Ed to talk about one principle he’s particularly committed to: player-led environments…

JF Scarfo is both coach and club manager at Alpha Football Intelligence in London, a grassroots club with the motto ‘Play at pace, attack the space’.

During the Covid-19 lockdown, the French-born, Uefa B-licensed coach used his time to watch, review and clip videos of pro games.

Now, he uses both these clips, and clips of his team playing, to help his players improve.

SCW caught up with JF to talk about the benefits of using video, how it has helped him develop as a coach, and a technical and tactical map he put together to categorise the clips…

For Moritz Kossmann, pressing is the primary defensive action in soccer.

It is, in his words, “an attempt at putting pressure on an opponent who has the ball so that they can't progress the ball up the field easily".

Moritz - who has now moved on from his role at Ubuntu Football Academy to become DStv Diski Challenge coach and head of youth at Cape Town City - sat down with Steph Fairbairn to discuss collective pressing strategies, individual pressing principles and how to coach it all...

In a 15-year career to date, Ash Civil has coached in more than 10 different countries.

Uefa A qualified, Ash made the decision at an early age to coach internationally in order to stand out from the crowd.

Currently, he is head coach at Tampereen Pallo-Veikot, a third-tier club in Finland, where he also works alongside the director of coaching and sporting director to develop talent pathways to the first team.

SCW caught up with Ash to talk about the soccer culture in Finland, coaching in extreme weather conditions and the importance of letting players have a say in what their sessions look like…

Having developed a love of the game in the English city of Stoke-on-Trent - birthplace of rock guitarist Slash and pop icon Robbie Williams - an invite to work at a soccer camp led Tim Bradbury to the US.

Adding to the qualifications earned in the UK, he went on to gain the USSF A License, USSF National Youth License, USSF DOC License and the USC Master Coach Diploma.

Now director of coaching at Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association, a US youth national instructor and on the United Soccer Coaches national staff, Tim dedicates his time to bettering the game for coaches and players alike.

SCW caught up with him to talk about letting kids make their own decisions, coaching according to your values, and bringing parents along on the journey…

Brian Murphy wants people in soccer to open up more about their mental health.

The Irish-born, Australia-based coach freely admits he had such a bad year in 2019, battling depression amid a turbulent period in charge of New Zealand amateur side Fencibles United, that he tried taking his own life.

“I felt like a failure again,” Murphy says, candidly. “I went to a really dark place. I have a beautiful wife and two beautiful kids. It was a tough time for me and them.

“A friend of mine, Brian Shelley, reached out and brought me back into football as an assistant coach, for the rest of that season.”

Following his recovery from that period, Murphy has most recently taken on his first role as head coach of a professional side, Magpies Crusaders United in Queensland.

He is taking all he has learned over the years – in good times and bad – to lead a team built on strong values and humility.

SCW caught up with Brian to discuss these values, how he goes about sharing his personal experiences with his players, and why he encourages them to hold themselves accountable…

If you were to walk past a session put on by Billy Ready, chances are you may not see a soccer ball being used.

Instead, the 25-year-old has been known to challenge youngsters by throwing a tennis ball, multi-sided reaction ball or even an American football into small-sided games.

Billy, the son of former Wales international defender Karl Ready, also reduces complex coaching points into bitesize rhyming couplets and acronyms.

He is currently working towards his Uefa B licence, and much of his coaching has been with the community arm of English third-tier professional side Wycombe Wanderers.

But Billy is also on the staff of a local semipro  team, operating in the ninth tier of the English pyramid.

SCW caught up with him to discuss his use of language and differently shaped balls - but started with a philosophical question...