The Production Line: Coaches and Players in the English Game

(Image: Birmingham Football Association)

Forty-eight years without a major tournament win. A large part of the footballing community blames a lack of success for England’s national team on the quality of coaching from grassroots upwards. 

Many ex-players and coaches have commented that the gulf in class between kids and young adults in this country compared to those on the continent and even in South and Central America is getting ever wider.

 

Our top leagues benefit from the talents of foreign players plying their trade here, whereas very few have gone the other way. Jonathan Woodgate and Michael Owen were qualified flops when giving Real Madrid a try - the former fairing worse than the latter, of course.

 

But as an overall assessment, it took pretty dire circumstances for the FA to finally put into action a programme of improvement. Failure after failure from our national side has been both baffling and concerning - each generation of players is heralded as ‘golden’ but never manages anything more than shortfall.

 

Strength in Numbers?

 

The FA’s Developing World-Class Coaches and Players report in 2008 made a point of highlighting the sad fact that English football is falling behind the rest of the major competing nations in tournaments.

 

An immediately obvious problem when compared to most - but not all - footballing nations, is the way coaching is both viewed and how it is executed, particularly at UEFA B, A and Pro license levels.

 

“In comparison to our European counterparts, we do not place the same degree of importance on the status of coaching in this country. This must change if we are going to progress.”

This was the opening gambit of John Peacock, the Head of Senior Elite Coach Development at the FA. As the current England under-17s manager, he also sees first-hand how coaching reaps the desired rewards.

He successfully guided his Young Lions to two UEFA European Under-17 Championship victories in 2010 and 2014.

"It's not just a numbers game - it's not about producing mediocre or above average players - it's very much about producing top players and more of them."

 

This was Peacock’s comment on player production following the unceremonious exit from the 2010 World Cup of the England senior team; it’s not just about having a huge pool to choose from, but a pool good enough to pick truly outstanding talent from.

 

What has been done?

 

The grand opening of St George’s Park in October 2012 was meant to mark the culmination of the efforts made in the above report to genuinely improve both coaches and players, not only in volume but also in ability.

 

The 330-acre, £105million facility in Burton-on-Trent was met with a lukewarm reception because of the stop/start nature of its completion and purpose. The project was halted in 2004 whilst Wembley Stadium was being built and was only restarted in 2008 with the insistence of Sir Trevor Brooking that it be done with by 2010 - another deadline it was destined to miss.

 

It was John Peacock's Under-17 squad, or his "Burton Guinea Pigs", that got to use the facility first in August of 2012. "From a development point of view it's fantastic and the facilities are second to none” he told the BBC.

 

“In terms of the quality of the pitches and the environment it is conducive to learning and education. From a coach education perspective it is the same.”

 

So, it passed the standard set by the top dogs on appearance. But the real acid test will be in delivering the substance. The elite game has moved on so dramatically since 1966 that any solutions being employed now will only bear fruit in another decade or so.

 

The victories enjoyed by England’s teenagers are a good sign that youth players are competing with their Spanish, French and German opponents.

 

The proposed solution appears to be two-fold: placing coaches in a higher category of professional recognition, and; putting enjoyment before competition in coaching youth players.

 

Under the cloak of damaging expectation, our players are burdened by the fear of failure. Maybe encouraging pleasure over pressure from a young age will give them the freedom they require to win.

Kitted Out: The Importance of Replica Shirts in Football

(Image: wallbol.net)

The biggest clubs in Europe have a lot to thank their fans for when it comes to funding new signings, stadiums and cup runs. But it’s not just about making the cash registers ring; it is also extremely important to build a brand presence.

We are all familiar with the financial successes enjoyed by the likes of Manchester United, Real Madrid and AC Milan; but what exactly do clubs gain by forming partnerships with sportswear suppliers?

Not always about the money

According to sports marketing research company REPUCOM, its European Football Kit Supplier Report 2013 showed that the value to a club of having an extensive and reputable supply network goes far beyond simply selling shirts.

“A kit supplier plays an integral role in the positioning of a club from a marketing perspective” says Andrew Walsh, Director of Enterprise Services at REPUCOM.

“The distribution networks of the leading sportswear brands create a certain image perception and accessibility, which are crucial for building a global brand for a club.”

“It is largely down to market consolidation within a tough economic period and consumers have been watching their pennies a bit more closely. Therefore, those brands that can offer value and ease of access through stronger retail distribution - and of course a top image and street credibility - have a strong advantage over the rest.”

Face value

It’s quite obvious that a company latching on to the latest footballing superstar is an effective marketing tool. A handful of examples in recent times would be Lionel Messi, Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo. Image is everything, so the faces of the biggest players in the world being splashed across TV adverts and posters will do sales no harm. 

A certain well-known Englishman had a big part to play in the explosion of player endorsements in the modern game. David Beckham’s long association with adidas allowed the German manufacturer to attribute vast amounts of money to shirt and boot sales – it is also no coincidence that three of the clubs he played for after leaving Manchester United had kits supplied by adidas (Real Madrid, LA Galaxy and AC Milan).

“We have seen quite a few instances where expensive player transfers have been refinanced on the back of shirt sales” says Walsh. “For some clubs, with the right partnership (and ambition), a smaller up-front fee in return for a cut of merchandise income can be a very attractive long term prospect for them.”

What does it all mean?

REPUCOM’s report also showed that the average kit supply fee paid by manufacturers to clubs in the Premier League in 2012/13 was £6million, dwarfing that of the Spanish Primera Liga at just £3.4million. Andrew Walsh believes that this figure highlights the commercial appeal of the English top division.

“The league’s global reach makes it a very attractive prospect for the world’s top sports merchandise manufacturers” he said. “In turn, kit contracts are becoming an ever-more relevant source of revenue for the clubs, not only at the top level, but right down the divisions.”

This point is further emphasised when we look at the total value of deals being struck by English sides in that year. The total value of Premier League clubs’ kit supply contracts rose by 32% on the previous one; up to £117.3 million (€145.5 million).

That figure accounted for over 37% of the total revenue generated through kit supply deals across Europe’s top five leagues. This is made understandable, however, when looking at the actual volume of shirts sold.

The 2012/13 season saw the league‘s 20 clubs sell a combined total of approximately five million jerseys worldwide - around one million more than in 2011/12. Not only is this more than double the number sold by Germany‘s 18 Bundesliga sides, but is yet another indicator of the continuing growth of the English game’s popularity globally.

Volume is also reflected in the actual cost to the fan, with the study revealing that although the average price of a Premier League club shirt has risen roughly 8.3% year-on-year, English fans shouldn’t feel too hard done by; prices over here are by no means the highest in Europe.

The average price of a replica Premier League shirt was £47.60; the lowest average across the five European leagues - the others being in Spain, Germany, France and Italy. Primera División jerseys cost between £48.30 and £68.50 - an average of £54.60. The most expensive are found in the Bundesliga; costing fans an average of £59.10 per shirt.

TV and Football: Channels of Income

(Photograph: Gareth Copley/PA Archive/Press Association)

The early 1990s saw the advent of widespread televised football. The Premier League was formed and with it came the opportunity for companies to hit a whole new captive audience. It also allowed top-flight clubs the chance to begin generating some serious revenue.

The first ever TV rights deal brought £191.5million worth of advertising money to the newly formed league in 1992. Five years later and a new deal signed, that figure rose to £670million. A fairly pedestrian figure when compared to the mammoth deal struck with Sky Sports and BT Sport a few of weeks ago.

The new deal will run between 2016 and 2019, with the final figure somewhere in the region of £5.136billion. How this affects the clubs yearly figures will be of great interest to the footballing world. Last season, the top four teams each took over £95million in TV money. This equates to almost a third of their total revenue for the season, highlighting exactly why the importance of TV deals cannot be underestimated.

This is at the very top of the professional game, so what happens at the lower end? Surely fans that aren’t able to travel up and down the country each week would like the opportunity to see their club play from the comfort of their sofas?

What about us?

When comparing the Premier League’s latest TV package with the BT Sports deal to cover the National Conference in 2014 (£300,000), the latter provides more of a token payday. Home teams received £7,000 and the visitors £1,000. For some clubs in the Conference, that money cannot be baulked at, particularly those which aren’t full-time.

If you consider that a large percentage of clubs attract average gates of around 2,000 fans for home games, multiplied by the cost of a day out at a game for fans, match day income will seldom exceed £50,000. There are of course the exceptions to that rule when we consider the larger clubs, but £7,000 can be quite a chunk out of the weekly wage bill.

So with the growth of the non-league as a prospect for broadcasting deals, will the size and value begin to make a difference? The main point to note here would be that the league relies on getting fans through the turnstiles in order to generate cash.

Realistically, having the games available on the television (sometimes for free if the viewers are current customers of the provider – like with BT, for example) the likelihood that they will opt instead to pay to go to games would be reduced more and more.

The optimist amongst most directors of non-league clubs would probably like to think that fans want to support their side in the flesh, if not home and away, then most certainly the former. The reason for this is two-fold: to simply be at a football match for all of its beauty, and to play their part in assisting the club financially.

Where does it all go?

Of course, the only problem that the big clubs have is how to spend the money they make from TV deals. As looked at above, the latest deal will see each clubs approach, if not achieve, earnings from broadcasters of well over £100million per season. That’s about one Gareth Bale and a couple of Xabi Alonso’s.

Premier League chief Richard Scudamore said that the latest deal would enable the division to redistribute the astronomical funds “right down through to grass-roots football". With the highest earning players in the league getting over £300,000 a week, it is hard to see where the value will be added at the lowest levels.

"The stars that grace the fields of football in the Premier League are world stars,” he told the BBC. “It's a world market, and I don't set that market rate. It's set by the entire world market, and we, and the fans, want the best talent to come and play in the Premier League."

The last point is one which is hard to argue with. The real test will be whether fans will continue to pay the price for increased TV coverage and advertisers wanting to exploit it. In the non-league, this doesn’t really become food for thought, because of the gigantic gap between it and the top flight.

Manager Viewpoint - Dartford FC boss Tony Burman

(Image: (c) C White-Griffiths/SportShotz.co.uk)

It is a challenge for any manager to get his side to compete; from grassroots, all the way up to the Premier League. But there is a particularly tricky gap to bridge in non-league football where part-time meets professional.

Dartford FC made the leap from Conference South into the Premier at the end of the 2011/12 season after beating local rivals – and now league rivals for the coming season – Welling United in a sun soaked play-off for the second promotion spot.

Remaining a semi-professional outfit in what is a largely full-time league; very few people believed The Darts would be able to keep up with the likes of Luton Town, Wrexham and Co.

It has been manager Tony Burman who has done his utmost to move his side onwards and upwards, with the club’s interests and success very firmly at heart. Overseeing a resurgence following a move “Back to the Borough” in 2007, an impressive new ground in the town it belongs has made his job that bit easier.

As a player, Burman was bought by Dartford from Charlton Athletic in 1978 for £2,000, playing for the club for a decade. After spells with Leytonstone & Ilford (having moved there with manager John Still, now Luton boss), Bromley and Erith & Belvedere as player/coach, he came away from football.

Dartford manager at the time Bob Makin asked Burman to come back to do some coaching, but also ended up playing. This coincided with the club being sold in 1992.

With the club dropping out of the Southern League, he was asked by the directors at the time to become manager of the U18s, a year before the club was elected back into the Kent League. After winning promotion back to the Southern League and securing safety from relegation, he again moved away from football a year later.

In 2005/6 Burman returned to the club as a director, had interviewed candidates for the manager’s job but instead took the job himself a year before Princes Park opened its doors.

Three promotions later and an 8^th place finish in the top division of non-league, Dartford were confirmed as the best part-time team in the country at the end of the 2012/13 season.

I asked him what he thought was behind this success, what challenges he faced as manager and what he thinks is possible for the club in the future…

The Darts had a very successful first season in the Conference Premier – did you ever think it would be possible to finish as high as you have?

We were favourites for relegation if you had read the non-league paper, along with a few others. Teams may have been turning up thinking it was three points safely tucked away maybe, I don’t know.

Things went against us a little bit in the first three games of the season and were a little bit unfortunate. We knew that we had played well and lost. With some good fortune we beat Kidderminster on the Saturday (25^th August 2012), then on the Monday when we went to Cambridge we realised that it wasn’t an FA Cup tie – it was a league game. It was probably our first experience of playing at a big ground in front of a big crowd. Winning the game probably marked our explosion onto the league.

The next games seemed to go with us – I think it was a deflected shot from Nathan Collier in the last minute and it’s gone in (against Cambridge United) and that’s won the game for us. That’s how football changes so much, and I think all of sudden belief came into is as well. It didn’t matter who we were playing, and we had some big games in the period following up. We went to Luton and Grimsby and had really fantastic support, there’s no other way to describe it, and we got great results.

I think it started at Wrexham (22^nd September) when we went there and got a draw, but we thoroughly deserved the draw. The support there was brilliant again and I think it just snowballed from that moment onwards. I think that was the first time as well that the players got their phones out and before the game started taking photos of the stands!

It was where we wanted to be; we gave it our all and we had nothing to lose. It’s what our attitude was, it continued, and it wasn’t long before people were showing us a lot of respect rather than thinking they were just going to get three points.

What have been the main challenges in competing as a part-time team?

The main things have been trying to juggle the rest periods between games and training. I’m very fortunate to have had a squad of players this year – and previous years to be fair – that looks after themselves and do train very hard. This year we’ve had to cope with getting in at 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning. We didn’t have many overnight trips, but we might have two away trips – say one on the Saturday and another game on the Tuesday.

It was trying to get that rest and recovery period, juggling with work, being part-time and the guys getting up and being in the next training session. We give players quite a bit of time off from training to be fair, simply because we would be getting in that early in the mornings. We just tried to let the recovery period take care of itself and get them into a routine that they were used to.

We’d pencilled in about ten or eleven overnight stays, but in the end we only had two because it’s not what we normally do. We were used to getting up in the mornings so we’d travel at 8 or 9 o’clock, do a few hours and break the back of the journey, rather than on Friday afternoon which takes twice as long. All of that comes into it quite a bit. If we were getting in at 3am, some of the players were getting up at 6 or 7 o’clock which meant that Wednesday was completely out of it.

There were a few times when we didn’t come in on the Thursday, simply because of that. It wasn’t many times, but it was just when we had some tough games. We usually train on Mondays, but maybe a long journey on the Saturday and home game on the Tuesday meant we would try and give them as long a rest period as possible and not do the training simply because of that. This year it worked out but whether it will work out next year remains to be seen.

How have you managed the recruitment of players and what attracts them to The Darts?

Like we did last year, we’ve had to learn to be patient and not have to have everything done by the end of May. Players contracts in the full-time game run up to the end of July, so that’s when they stop getting paid and that’s when they would have spoken to lots of clubs and then make their decision because they’re not getting paid anymore. So you have to patient.

We have to be very, very careful that if we have any player that comes from a lower league or drops down that they’re the type of player that we want with us. They’ve got to be up for that challenge. The ones that are full-time we’ve got to be careful where we spend our money. The ones that come in from the lower leagues; you’re taking a gamble, but we want the hungrier type of players.

They may not have the same experience as the ones that are dropping down the leagues, but those are the ones that have got a lot of enthusiasm and they want to learn. They want to have a go in the league and they’ve got the hunger for it. That’s where we’re coming from, and you just have to be careful who you sign.

I’ve spoken to a lot of players already; they’ll come for one meeting, they’ll come back for a second meeting and if they walk out after the second meeting they won’t be with us. That’s has simple as that.

The attraction is that we want to do well. We want to win every game. A lot of people say “we’ll finish fifth from bottom and that’s fine”, but it’s not fine. You’ve got to have ambition, and while I’m here, we’ll always have that. We want to be competing in every game that we play. One year a part-time side will get in the play-offs I’m sure and they’ll have their good and bad runs at the right time.

We were very close to doing that this year, and I’d like to better ourselves every year but that’s a tough, tough call because it is a tough and very good league. But it’s where we want to be and hopefully in five years’ time we are established and our ambition now has got to be to try and play in the League. That’s the only way I see it.

What do you think have been the main factors behind the team’s success?

First of all, you’ve got to have a changing room that’s together and a club that’s together, and that’s been proved this year. I know it was all new but the players and the supporters have always been there. I feel that whether we win or lose, if the supporters can see players working hard then they’ll back them 100%. I’ve got to add the quality to that commitment and that’s where these other teams have got that quality and can go for the more experienced players.

Losing the two Toms is a major blow to us. They’ve gone on to better things and I’m trying to get players in that want to go onto better things by joining us, and if they have the same attitude as the Toms then we won’t go far wrong. The players that I’m talking to at the moment are 24 and 25 some of them, and if they match the attitude of the two Toms then we’ll be alright.

It takes time, and to do what they have done has taken three years – not just one season. People have got to be patient with that and hopefully we’ll pull the right people in and they’ll be as good as, if not better, than the players that have left us.

I can’t say to them not to go to a full-time club, because they wanted to improve themselves. They had jobs that let them do that. It was an opportunity for them to go full-time and I wouldn’t take that away from anybody or discourage it. It’s nothing to do with wanting to leave Dartford or that we treated them badly, but the full-time part of it came in to play and in the future I hope it does with us.

Our philosophy is that our players have got to work hard. If I can get that mentality into them then the supporters will appreciate that. Over the next few years we will have that commitment and work ethic carrying on, but we've got to make sure the quality improves as well.

You've guided the club to three promotions in five seasons - How big of a jump has it been between the  divisions?

The Isthmian North to the Premier is always a jump and you’ve got to improve, but the jump between the Conference South and the Premier is massive. I think it’s a big, big step and we did well last season – on adrenaline a lot of the time and our organisation – and we’ve got to continue to do that. Especially now that people know us; they’ll know what to expect and will want to try and stop us, so to me the difference is that it’s a lot more professional.

It’s where we want to be and we want to improve our standards and that’s what we've done by coming into this league. The gap is a lot, lot bigger and you've got to be together, and although we’re part-time we've got to think in a professional way. That’s what you have to do in this league.

You get comments like “it’s better than smashing the ball when you play on the deck”, but we haven’t tried to coach them in a different way to do that – it just happens. You've got to be organised, that’s what you’ve got to try and do. The decisions the players make, that happens out there every single game. Sometimes it’s good and the decisions they make come off and you win games, but we haven’t tried to change the way we play.

But when people see us play on the deck; we want to do that, but it’s important to smash the ball into the channels sometimes. The level we’re at, you have to play like that sometimes. But you’ve got to win games. That’s what we’re here for and if you win games you've always played well, and if you lose games it’s because we haven’t played the ball on the deck.

It might be the change in football; you might have a bit more time or whatever. We’re not saying to players that you've got to play in a certain way. The football has been decent, and you've got to see games out. The teams in this league, where they’re professional, they see games out for the 96 minutes. If they’ve got a chance to get something out of a game then they try their best to do it. That’s why you’ve got to be more professional in the way that you think.

What would you say to other clubs with similar ambitions?

We don’t go over budget. We have a good accountant who says “this is what we can spend” and “this is what we’re expecting to come in” and if it costs £10 then we don’t go out and spend £20 – it’s as simple as that. Our house is in order and I think that everyone is pleased that that is the case. Yes I do lose some players over it, but at the same time we give out decent money. It’s not the highest paid, but I think it is better that they know that it’s there.

The board have always backed me in near enough everything that I’ve have done or asked, and we do it within our means – it’s as simple as that. We budgeted for 10 overnight stays and only had two, but it allowed us to give the players a decent coach to travel on because we did it that way. I feel it’s important that while we’re travelling that we can eat the right food and the club would back me on that. I think the secret is basically to not spend beyond your means and that’s what we’ve got to strive to do.

I’ve had an increase on budget each year I’ve been there. It’s been fair – I’d always want more but it’s been fair and you have to work within that and that’s what we try and do. The players’ money is there at the end of the month and that’s due to a lot of work behind the scenes. The people who sponsor us, we can’t thank them enough. It’s so helpful when that happens. We’ve had some very good sponsors over the years and all of that is a must because we wouldn’t be where we are, that’s for sure.

How are preparations going for next season?

I’ve met with all of the players from last year and the majority of them have signed deals; I wanted to get that done first. I’ve had a short break and come back with some targets that we wanted to talk to. I’ve had 5 or 6 players now that I’ve spoken to and told them what we do, they’ve listened to me and I’m hoping that they’ll come back and sign deals before we come back for pre-season. In June there will be more players calling up wanting to talk to you because their contracts will be up, but you’ve got to be patient.

You can’t just think you’ve got to sign everyone because you’ll miss someone, because your budget is gone. We have to be patient – the season starts on the 10^th August and if we sign someone as we did last year like Harry Crawford leading up to the start of the season, then so be it. Hopefully by being patient we’ll get the right players in.

We’ve made our moves for certain lads, we’ve got 8 or 9 players (now 13 or 14) signed and I want a squad of 18, so I’m going to need another 10 players. And I’m confident that we’ll get them.

There has been mention of the club looking to go full-time at some point – Going in to the future, how likely do you think that is?

There has been a lot of talk. I’ve had a lot of discussions with the board and we put together some figures that we think would have put the club at risk at this moment in time, unfortunately.

I’ve also looked at whether we train on a Monday night and we have a split in the squad; we’d have a gradual thing where some players are signed full time would train Monday and Thursday nights, Tuesday and Friday daytime with the Wednesday off.

If we go full-time straight away we’d probably lose some really good players that can’t commit to doing the full time training and day-to-day running of it. There is a big issue with full-time players’ contracts because they run from the 1^st July to the 31^st June, so there are two or three months there where you have no revenue coming in but you still have to pay the players.

That’s a big ask for clubs in our position. There are a lot of things bolted on to players’ contracts when you are looking to go full time and a lot of issues that the club needs to sort out; things like medical insurance and a full-time physio. It’s not just the players - it’s the whole club.

You’ve got to be careful, but having said that, I think over the next five years it will need to happen. We’ve got to be looking at it, but looking at it and doing it are two different things and we looked at this year and it was completely out of the question.

We’ll look at it again next year but we’ve got to make sure we have that foundation. The foundation began seven years ago, but that foundation has got to be stronger now. I’m helping with the academy at the moment. We haven’t got an in-between side at the moment but we’re trying our best to get somewhere where the players can play at a good standard.

We’re trying everything we can to either develop an U21 league or start one and it hasn’t happened yet. But it needs to happen. That gap needs to be filled from academy to first team and then we’ll grow that way, and there will be the opportunity for players to come through and get to play in the first team. All those things take time, but the long term plan will be to become a full-time outfit and we would compete with the big boys in this league.