BA (Hons) Football Coaching & Management

This module enables students to develop self-awareness and to identify those personal qualities, attributes and skills required for successful progression to Level 4 academic study.

The module provides students with the opportunity to reflect on their existing abilities, and to further develop key academic and study skills.

This module allows students to learn about employment prospects in their chosen area of interest. This includes research about what employers are looking for in future recruits – including technical skills, transferable skills, personal attributes and business awareness – as an important pre-cursor for being able to present themselves effectively to employers using a CV, application form, social media networking and during a job interview.

Students will also develop entrepreneurial skills, being able to formulate a properly evidenced proposal to address the needs of identified consumers, for example, some innovation, service improvement or new business opportunity. They will be able to pitch their idea in a professional manner and using a range of appropriate visual aids.

This module provides students with the opportunity to analyse a problem that relates to their specialist subject area, making use of information gathered from various sources using different methods and strategies.

Once the problem is fully understood, as well as the requirements and expectations of the stakeholders, a project can then be planned and completed in a structured manner in order to implement some intervention to bring improvements and benefits to the inspected situation.

Throughout, students will be required to effectively communicate and report their progress with their project, and make use of the advice and guidance provided by an appropriate project supervisor.

A role of a sports coach isn’t just about picking the right team or laying out the cones, they must also be the guardian of the team, young and senior, and be able to apply a number of techniques to their players to ensure they are maximising their ability.

This module will introduce students to the fundamental principles of sports coaching and the role and responsibilities of the coach within a range of contexts, including legal obligations, problem solving, analysing, professional conduct and the ability to develop the skills necessary to plan, deliver and review the successful delivery of a sports coaching session.

Introduction to Football Management

The module introduces you to the necessary understanding and skills for effective leadership and management within association football by considering it at different levels of the national game. You will be able to identify the skills and qualities required by individuals to succeed in management from grass roots by examining management in the elite game. Students will be exposed to case study examples of successful and unsuccessful managers at different levels of the game and will compare and contrast different styles. Students will explore the key qualities, characteristics and roles of an effective manager in association football across all levels of the game.

Fundamentals of Coaching

This module will enable you to develop awareness and understanding of the key fundamentals and principles of sports coaching, integrating theory with practice and sharing knowledge and understanding through discussion and debate. The practical element of coaching will allow you to gain experience in and an understanding of the cognitive process of coaching. You will learn what a coach needs to function effectively and safely in a variety of situations, developing reflective skills and identifying which theories are most applicable when working in a specific coaching context. You will learn how to reflect on and evaluate your own strengths and weaknesses and develop a plan to improve both your technical and behavioural skills relevant to a career in the coaching industry.

Football Principles & Practice

This module is designed to provide you with an essential ‘coaching toolkit’ with which to develop the technical performance of young players.

Firstly, you will examine key technical components used in football. Secondly, you will explore the principles of play (both attacking and defending), how you can develop individuals understanding of the game and how to manage mistakes within practice situations. Taking a player-centred approach which allows the player to be actively involved in their own learning and development through decision-making and problem-solving rather than being coach-led, you will design practices which will develop players game craft and game understanding and learn what constrains lead coaching principles.

Coaching in the Community

This module will develop your core understanding of sport in community projects. You will particularly explore the role of community-based youth sport initiatives and how these are conducted. Coaching theory will be applied to age- and ability-related practical sessions and you will learn how to support and engage community groups via sport. You will also develop a clear understanding of your own strengths and weaknesses in relation to working with diverse demographic groups.

Managing Teams & Individuals

This module explores key principles of leadership and management and examines leadership styles in football. You will study and evaluate leadership and management skills and consequent behaviours. Moreover, you will be able to develop management knowledge and understanding to help to advance your career within the football industry in a management role. You will analyse which behaviours are considered to be successful in the management of players, teams and backroom staff in Association Football. Change management strategies and consideration of psychological factors, such as stress management, confidence building, motivation and ways of working with different personalities will be examined.

Talent Development

You will critique the literature and evidence behind the different types of talent and the predictors of talent across a range of sports. You will evaluate a variety of different performance pathways that exist across sports and within other countries. This will allow you to evaluate key predictors of talent within a chosen sporting field and moreover have the appreciation to apply key theories of talent development and critically analyse talent development pathways. Furthermore you will examine the support mechanisms which aid the development of sporting ability and skills that help to fulfil young people`s potential.

Research Methods

The aim of this module is to provide the student with an understanding of research principles, a range of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies and appropriate analysis for these. This will enable the student to develop the research skills and knowledge necessary to undertake an independent research project. Students will be provided with support in developing their writing style to incorporate citations and make use of referencing.

They will be introduced to Academic Journals and will use these to inform their understanding of the research approaches used in the sector. This will also serve to familiarise the learners with the role of Journals in their wider study. The final aspect of this module will introduce hypothesis testing, with learners making use of a computer package to undertake simple statistical tests commonly used within their subject area.

Football Tactics & Strategies

You will acquire a systematic understanding of the principles of play, appropriate to Association Football and advanced tactical and strategic knowledge relevant to the 11 vs.11 format of the game. You will explore different formations and the roles and responsibilities of players, looking specifically at movement off the ball and key movement triggers to develop patterns of play. Coaches will develop their understanding of progression starting with specific aspects of team play, working with individuals (13-21 years), with units and then whole team triggers in functional practices and phases of play in 11 vs. 11 game situations. You will design practices which will develop players’ positional play and understanding through functional practices and phases of play.

Applied Reflective Practice

Using leadership and management as central themes you will learn how to critically appraise relevant theory and research in order to develop your own actions, behaviours and characteristics pertinent to a career as a sport, business or coaching manager. The module provides an opportunity to reflect on your own approach to leadership and management skills and behaviour and to critically analyse the impact of this in an applied setting benchmarking such approaches against tested relevant academic frameworks. You will learn how to evaluate and apply managerial and leadership theory to practice, and will have the opportunity to produce an evidenced-based personal development plan to improve your own management and leadership behaviours.

Elite Performance Coaching

This module will give you critical insight into how coaches work in the professional game and explore how analysis and reflection inform coaching practice & management within professional football. The module will follow an interdisciplinary approach in both theory and practice to explore the coaching and management behaviours and methods employed when working with professional football teams and players. You will use theory and evidence-based practice to evaluate appropriate training programmes and critically analyse existing approaches to elite performance coaching within football and other sports. You will critically analyse (through observation) current practices to develop skills and improve high performance within professional football, furthermore exploring key support mechanisms when working with elite professional players within the coaching environment.

Research Project

This module aims to provide students with the opportunity for independent learning through the completion of an individual, extended research project. The project requires a high level of individual application and commitment to research and enquiry. It provides students with the opportunity to identify, reflect upon and explore a topic that has implications for their own professional development.

Match Analysis

This module aims to provide you with a framework to support the ongoing cycle of the coaching process. Coaches are required to observe, analyse, evaluate and provide feedback to players after performance. You will explore key performance indicators with particular reference to both technical and tactical analysis. You will establish how to use a range of match analysis methods from notational to applying technological advancements to enhance your efficiency in providing feedback. You will develop techniques to evaluate teams’ overall performance both technical and tactical in order to provide feedback for intervention planning.