From my experience of having a lad who has been in the academy system for the last 5 years I would say the following are pretty important for the coaches;
- Good contacts with academies
- Experience of playing at as high a level as possible (you will get told it's not a requirement but it is)
- Coaching experience
- To have or be working towards an FA Level 3/UEFA B License
- To have or be working towards some sort of sports science degree (this is becoming increasingly useful)
Most coaches at academies are also only part time, working a couple of hours a night maybe 3 times a week and maybe a few hours on a Sunday for games. Most coaches start on even less than this working within an academies development set up, so hours are even less. Academy coaching regimes change often so the turn over of coaches tends to be quite high.
Accrington Stanley are looking for coaches at the moment, I know a lad whose son is there and the facilities are poor, the standard average at best, no money and yet they still want the above qualifications. My advice would be to get friendly with academy staff first, maybe pop down to watch games on a Sunday at your local Academy or C of E, ask questions but don't be pushy and get as much experience and as many qualifications as possible. Good luck.
That seems fairly accurate, unfortunately. A lot of the game is definately 'who you know', which isn't ideal for people just starting out. It's a very difficult game to get into in this country, and it isn't really faesible to expect a full-time job from an academy.
Many clubs get their YTS players trained to Level 2 standard during their playing seasons, so should they be released there's already an opportunity for them to stay within the academy on a coaching basis. A few of the assistant coaches at the Academy have come up through the ranks themselves, only to be released to the lower leagues or non-league football - it's not uncommon for players at say Southport to supplement their income by coaching at whichever academy they played in.
In that respect, it's a very closed community. I know one of the coaches at Accy, who was offered the job on the back of a good performance in his UEFA B assessments, and he's another one who plays semi-pro and coaches as well. It probably helps that he has both played for, and coached at, very good teams in the past.
There's no quick way into the upper echelons system, which is both a good and bad thing - good in that you have to work your bollocks to make a success of yourself, and therefore those who do make it certainly have to have a lot to offer, but bad in that a lot of talented coaches move overseas to work full-time as it's more widely available and the pay is far, far better.
Here's a quick comparison - Garry Flitcroft was managing Leigh Genesis last season, and was earning - apparently - around £500 p/w. This is a team that as recently as 2001 finished 5th in the Conference. Flitcroft has a UEFA B License and a wealth of knowledge from umpteen years playing in the Premiership.
In comparison to this, I've recently returned from Sydney, where the head coach of an AMATEUR team can earn up to $18,000 per season... it just doesn't add up.
