Pathway · Step up
Academy Coach to Academy Head of Coaching
How to move from Academy Coach to Academy Head of Coaching: what to learn, what to prove and what formal steps, if any, are needed.
Qualification check for Academy Head of Coaching
Required
This move needs the right qualification, licence or registration for the new role. Leading a professional academy normally requires advanced licences and long coaching experience, as set by league academy regulations.
4 to 7 yearstypical timeline
3new skills to build
1qualifications to consider
+140%mid-point UK pay change, illustrative
The move at a glance
Academy Coach
Coaches players in a professional club's youth development programme.
Academy Head of Coaching
Leads coaching across the academy and sets how the club develops players.
Skills and knowledge to build
Experience and routes that help
Qualifications to consider
Tools to learn
What the new role asks of you
- Own the coaching programme and standards across age groups
- Recruit, develop and review academy coaches
- Link academy pathways to the first team
Practical steps
- Ask for a small piece of the new role's work before you apply, for example one of the tasks above.
- Close the top gap first: Leadership.
- Keep a record of two results that show you working at the next level.
- Talk to three people who do the job. Ask how they got in, and who they would recommend you speak to.