Latest Blog Posts
Ross Barkley’s Impending Everton Return Helps the Team All Over the Pitch
Everton have endured a rough start to the 2014-15 season, with results, air miles and late-game lapses all contributing to a current 17th-placed standing in the Premier League table. After fending off interest for any of their players during the summer, then retaining...
Greg Dyke: ‘Grassroots In Crisis’
Greg Dyke has this week declared grassroots football to be “in a degree of crisis” after the publication of the second part of the FA’s England Commission showed English football to be “miles behind” the likes of Holland and Germany. And harking back to an old...
Premier League Champions Mental Health
The pressure on Premier League academy football players to become professional is enormous. The expectations of families, friends and coaches weigh heavy on the minds of many 16, 17 and 18 year old lads struggling for their place at the top level. The rewards for...
Fun Warm Up Games
We have a new range of Mitre water bottles available to help keep your players hydrated during training. These fun warm up games are the perfect way to start any training session - devised by the current Watford U16's coach. Swedish Hand Ball Structure: -Set up the...
Aston Villa Fans Would Be Wise to Temper Benteke Expectations…for Now
Aston Villa fans will rightly feel they simply cannot catch a break when it comes to injuries. The news that Christian Benteke will return to the matchday squad—provided all is well in Friday's training!—was offset by the sickening revelation that Libor Kozak will be...
Passing to feet – Passing to space
Practice 1. Structure: -Set up the area as above suiting the needs of your players and numbers available. - For this practice you can use pop up goals. Rules: -The blues are attacking in the front zone with the whites defending. -If the whites score 3 times in the...
Performance Nutrition – What Should You Eat and Drink?
As we all know, proper hydration and nutrition is essential for good performance in football. Most of us have an idea of what’s required when it comes to eating right and staying healthy; however, where we often fall down is sticking to this plan – usually out of...
Playing Out From The Back
You can view another training session based around playing out from the back here. Practice 1. Structure: -To keep it as realistic as possible use half the pitch. -Good ball supply. Rules: -The game can start with a goal kick, coach sending it in to any white player...
Scotland may still be part of the UK but auld football rivalries die hard
By Jack Stacey of Discount Football Kits In light of the recent vote on Scottish Independence we’ve decided to preview the upcoming Scotland v England friendly that will be held at Celtic Park – and to take a wistful look back at the oldest football fixture in the...
Chelsea’s midfield can win them the match—and the title—over Manchester City
One of the biggest games of any Premier League season will always be when the favourites for the title clash, and that will be the scene at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday when Manchester City host Chelsea. Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images Last season’s league winners...
Possession In The Final Third
Practice 1. Structure Set up the area as above suiting the needs of your players and numbers available. Play around with various formations. Rules The attackers collect a ball and attack the goal. They obviously are trying to score in the goal. If the defenders win...
Non-League Day: Weekend Starting 06.09.14
Non-League Day is an initiative to encourage football fans to attend local amateur and semi-professional matches in a bid to support grassroots football. Founded by James Doe in 2010, and actually a whole weekend rather than a day, NLD has gained popularity with MPs,...
NO RUNNING: Walking Football’s Ironically Rapid Rise
Walking football is a new trend that’s quickly spreading across the UK. Image Right: derbyshireFA The rules are exactly the same as regular 5-a-side football – the only difference is that you’re not allowed to run. Peter Reddy of Aston University supports the emerging...
1v1 Coaching Drills
Along with these 1v1 drills you can also look at a variety of 1vs in a previous post. If you want to take your coaching to the next level and explore different coaching qualifications you can view our detailed guides. Drill 1. Process: -White player passes to the...
A detailed guide to the FA Youth Award
image right: www.norfolkfa.com Traditionally, progress up the coaching ladder had four stages. Level One through UEFA B and UEFA A, then onto the Pro Licence if you were lucky enough to be selected. However, there is now an alternative option since the Football...