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What Pushed Me to Create Euro Football Star
Hold all UEFA Coaching Qualifications including UEFA A & UEFA Youth Award Modules
UEFA Agent & UEFA Ambassador
Clubs worked at: Liverpool FC, Northampton Town FC, Leicester City FC & Paris St Germain
Roles held in Football – Head of age group, Head of Youth Phase, U23 Coach, Head Men & Women’s Coach, Technical Director of Football
Roles in football in UK, France, Australia, and US College System
Worked in Football around the world as an Author and Platform Speaker.
UEFA Coach, UEFA Player Agent, and Founder of Euro Football Star. Through my years working with big European clubs like Liverpool, Leicester City and PSG, and working with the English Premier League on the EPPP project which produced players like Jude Bellingham and Phil Phoden, I’ve learnt a huge amount about youth development in football.
But when I moved to Australia and started coaching, what I noticed pretty quickly was that people were really unhappy about football. Parents were angry at the system, angry at how much money they had to pay — and angry at how little their kids seemed to get out of it in the way of quality coaching and pathways. As for the players, they were disappointed at the lack of opportunity, their dreams fading. Often ending up dropping out of the sport they loved.
I could totally sympathise with the parents and the players. Coming from the highest levels of football in the UK, it was screamingly obvious to me that the football system in Australia has a serious problem with quality coaching and pathways.
I’ll give you an example of just how glaring the issue is. And how badly the system is letting the kids down.
The UK academy scouts tell me they can see almost zero skill gap between these kids and their European counterparts at this age. By 12,13 years old though, they can see daylight opening up between them. And by 15 and 16 years old, the skill gap is HUGE.
Why? Because no-one is testing these kids against the skill levels in Europe, where the academies are incredible, the coaching is elite, and the competition is fierce. We have nothing like it here. The system in Australia is like light and day to the system in the UK.
I got increasingly miserable and frustrated with what I was seeing. All these kids missing out. Parents getting ripped off. People being unhappy with football — a game that is already underestimated and underfunded in Australia Kids
—the next Kerr, the next Kewell— dropping out and choosing other sports.
The whole thing was driving me nuts.
So, rather than whinging any more about it, I ultimately decided to do something positive about it. I knew that thanks to my experience with the Premier League and for major UK and European clubs, I already had the football knowledge and network to create the pathway to the big leagues that was missing.
Being one of the most qualified coaches on the planet under UEFA and also being a UEFA Agent and Ambassador I decided to use my contacts and knowledge in the world game to make change in Australia and around the world.
And because I’d worked with the English Premier League on the EPPP program — a 3.2 billion dollar research and development program tasked with fixing the lack of homegrown talent in the UK—I know the power of doing things differently. Of having the guts to do something.
Create the pathway to Europe, where these kids can really shine.
Create a program so the kids are READY for the fiercely high standard of European trials.
Create an online, monitored and mentored program where kids are pushed to build skills and physical and mental fitness– no matter where they are in the world.
Create partnerships with academies in Europe so our kids get a fair go on the big stage.
Create partnerships with major player agents in Europe.
Create heavily subsidised scholarship opportunities to even the playing field.
Create an example for the Federation here in Australia of what can be achieved when you build a better system.
Create a wave of change.
Which is why, now that the system has been built and honed here in Australia and New Zealand, we’ve expanded it to North America and the Middle East too.
Because there is talent everywhere. But Europe is where football stars are made.
Join me on this incredible journey. Let’s show our local football federations just what our kids can do!
