Elite Soccer

Elite Soccer Elite Soccer magazine features drills and sessions from coaches and managers in the English leagues.

⚽ Tomorrow, Elite Soccer Coaching Award enrollees will hear from Cardiff City head coach Brian Barry-Murphy, who is curr...
03/08/2026

⚽ Tomorrow, Elite Soccer Coaching Award enrollees will hear from Cardiff City head coach Brian Barry-Murphy, who is currently preparing his side for the upcoming Championship season.

Barry-Murphy began his playing career at his hometown club Cork City, going on to play as a defensive midfielder for Preston North End, Sheffield Wednesday and Bury.

He signed for Rochdale in 2010, where he eventually took on a coaching role with the first team in addition to his playing responsibilities.

Hanging up his boots for good in 2018, he became caretaker manager in March 2019 before being appointed the League One club’s permanent boss the following month after helping the club avoid relegation. He went on to spent just over two years in the role.

In July 2021, Barry-Murphy was announced as the manager of the Manchester City Elite Development Squad (EDS), the club’s bridge between the academy set up and the first team, where he spent three years.

In December 2024, he joined Premier League side Leicester City in the role of first-team coach, under head coach Ruud van Nistelrooy.

June 2025 saw Barry-Murphy appointed head coach of League One side Cardiff City. With a second-place finish, the Bluebirds secured automatic promotion to the Championship.

In conversation with Elite Soccer technical director Ben Bartlett, Barry-Murphy will explore his coaching journey so far, and the work he's doing with The Bluebirds.

🗓️ Tuesday 4 August
⏲️ 5-6pm BST / 12noon-1pm ET
🛜 Online

And that's our cohort 6 lineup!Our guest speakers will join us at various points over the course of our ten-week program...
01/08/2026

And that's our cohort 6 lineup!

Our guest speakers will join us at various points over the course of our ten-week programme, bringing the ideas and concepts we'll be discussing and working on to life by sharing some of their experiences.

🗓️ We officially kick off on Monday.

And there's still time to get involved! Link in bio.

⚽ Three valued Elite Soccer members.Sam Hudson is an individual development coach at Newcastle United, where he works wi...
31/07/2026

⚽ Three valued Elite Soccer members.

Sam Hudson is an individual development coach at Newcastle United, where he works with academy players in the club’s full-time training programme across multiple age groups.

Hudson’s move to Newcastle in July 2026 was preceded by four years at Portsmouth, initially joining the academy as the U18 assistant head coach. He spent eight months in the role before being promoted to the head coach job.

He completed the Elite Soccer Coaching Award, alongside colleagues at Portsmouth, in spring 2026.

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Jamie Scott is head of academy at Penn Fusion Soccer Academy. He took on the role earlier this year, having been at the club as academy and ECNL director – boys from 2019.

He spent the two years prior as head men’s coach at NCAA Division 3 side Immaculata University following six years as assistant women’s coach at La Salle University in NCAA Division 1.

He completed the Elite Soccer Coaching Award in spring 2026.

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Heidi Schuitman holds a Masters degree in interpersonal and public communication and taught at the collegiate level in Michigan for over 15 years.

She joined Union FC Indy in 2020 and has focused on coaching girls U12 and younger.

Schuitman holds completed the Elite Soccer Coaching Award Spring 2026.

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🎙️ We're very excited to have Sam, Jamie and Heidi share some of their work to learners on cohort 6 of the Elite Soccer Coaching Award, in our alumni dossier insight calls.

Kim Andre Pedersen has been head of women's football and sports director at Brøndby IF since July 2024. His remit includ...
30/07/2026

Kim Andre Pedersen has been head of women's football and sports director at Brøndby IF since July 2024. His remit includes long-term squad planning, recruitment strategy and re-establishing the club at the top of the Danish and European women’s game. He has already led the club through a major transition to full-time status.

Pedersen spent the five-and-a-half years before joining Brøndby with Stabæk Women, in roles including head of development, head coach, assistant coach, player developer and sports director.

He has also coached at men’s clubs including Skedsmo Fotballklubb, Viking FK, and FK Jerv.

Pedersen holds the UEFA A Licence, UEFA Player Developer A Licence, and has completed the UEFA Masterclass for Sports Directors. He has a BSc in sports science. He sits on the European Club Association working group.

🎙️ We’re extremely excited to have Kim as our fourth expert speaker for cohort 6 of the Elite Soccer Coaching Award 🎙️

Aligned to component 4 of the Award – What We Measure – Kim, in discussion with Elite Soccer technical director, Ben Bartlett, will discuss:

⚽Understanding the historical and cultural context at Brøndby
⚽ Measuring the success of the Brøndby programme
⚽ The elements of player development and how they become heightened to a greater or lesser extent at different times within a player’s pathway
⚽ Strategies for managing up to ensure the club understands how things are going and any strategic changes that may be necessary

🗓️ September 21 | 6-7pm BST / 1-2pm ET

Dr David Adams is Chief Football Officer for the Football association of Wales, where he leads the strategic direction o...
29/07/2026

Dr David Adams is Chief Football Officer for the Football association of Wales, where he leads the strategic direction of Welsh football, overseeing both the men’s and women’s national team head coaches and the high-performance strategy.

He was promoted to the role in 2021, having been the Association’s technical director for the two years prior, during which time he designed and implemented the ‘Welsh Way’ technical syllabus and the FAW’s coach education programme, and served as course director for the UEFA Pro Licence.

Dr Adams was a national team youth coach and coach educator with the FAW between 2004 and 2014. During this time, he was instrumental in professionalising the women’s set-up.

In 2014, he joined Swansea City as U23 manager, leading the team to back-to-back Professional Development League titles, before being promoted to first team assistant manager in 2015, going on to step into the interim head coach role later that year, helping guide the club to a 12th place finish in the Premier League.

He was head of coaching at the club for three years, overseeing the academy’s progression from Cat 3 to Cat 1 status within two years, before taking on the same role at Everton.

In 2017, Adams became Gary Monk’s assistant manager at Championship side Middlesbrough.

Dr Adams holds the UEFA Pro License, the Advanced Youth Award, a BSc in sports coaching, an MSc in coaching science and a PhD in coach effectiveness.

🎙️ We’re honoured to have Dave as our third expert speaker for cohort 6 of the Elite Soccer Coaching Award 🎙️

Aligned to component 3 of the Award – Coaching Players & Football – Dave, in discussion with Elite Soccer technical director, Ben Bartlett, will discuss:

⚽ Dave’s extensive experience with the FAW and the significant positive change he’s overseen
⚽ What his role as a technical director entails
⚽ Key learnings from his combined strong field coaching experience and leadership roles
⚽ The key elements of the next men’s and women’s national team cycles
⚽ The leadership approach of current Wales Men head coach Craig Bellamy

🗓 September 9 | 6-7pm BST / 1-2pm ET

Mirelle Van Rijbroek is a football technical strategist and specialist in talent identification, scouting, player develo...
28/07/2026

Mirelle Van Rijbroek is a football technical strategist and specialist in talent identification, scouting, player development, methodology, and football education.

Currently talent ID education lead at FIFA, a role she’s held since February 2024, Van Rijbroek has spent the bulk of her career thus far with national federations.

Six years as US Soccer’s director of talent identification saw her responsible for identification and monitoring for the U14-U23 women’s youth national teams, coaching education talent ID and development, international benchmarking and opponent scouting and analysis. Having left the role in 2023, she continues to work with the federation as a talent ID educator.

She also spent nine years with the KNVB (Royal Dutch Football Association) in her home nation as head of talent ID, talent development and elite performance for the youth national teams.

Van Rijbroek was chief football officer for WSL Football, at the time known as Women’s Professional Game, and has held roles at two NWSL clubs: as director of global scouting and recruitment at Bay FC, and head of football strategy, talent ID and player development at Utah Royals.

Her first career was a player, moving to Australia at the age of 22 to pursue her dream of playing soccer at the highest level.

While playing, and working at the same time, Van Rijbroek completed her UEFA C, B and A licences.

She went on to be a talent coach for the KNVB and got her first full-time role in the game managing Willem II’s women’s team – now defunct but then competing in the Eredivisie, the highest women’s football league in the Netherlands, of which they were founders – for two years.

🎙️ We’re privileged to have Mirelle as our second expert speaker for cohort 6 of the Elite Soccer Coaching Award 🎙️

Aligned to component 2 of the Award – Player Development – Mirelle, in discussion with Elite Soccer technical director, Ben Bartlett,
will discuss:

⚽ Her experiences across federations, leagues and clubs
⚽ What the game asks of players
⚽ How we understand the player as a whole, not just based on their current performance
⚽ How talent ID connects to player development and coaching

🗓️ August

Portsmouth born and bred, James Barlow is head of academy at his hometown club, having been promoted to the role in Febr...
27/07/2026

Portsmouth born and bred, James Barlow is head of academy at his hometown club, having been promoted to the role in February 2026 following four years as head of coaching, almost two years as U18 coach, and a year as senior academy analyst.

Previous academy experiences include youth development phase academy coach and futsal specific lead coach at Nottingham Forest and YDP coach at Burton Albion.

In a coaching career which encompasses football and futsal, Barlow has also spent time coaching with Loughborough Foxes, Loughborough University, Boston United, Loughborough College, the University of Nottingham and the International Futsal Academy.

Eight years of work with The Football Association included time spent as England deaf futsal U21s head coach, England U19s futsal coach, England futsal 19s and senior performance analyst, and a tutor for both the Football Level 1 and 2 and Futsal Level 1 and 2.

Barlow also spent five years as a sport lecturer at Loughborough College, two years as head of the futsal advisory group for British Universities & College Sport and time as a first team scout with Shrewsbury Town.

Barlow holds the UEFA A licence in football, UEFA B licence in futsal, the FA Advanced Youth Award (specialising in the youth development phase), an Elite Coach Development postgraduate diploma in from the Premier League.

Across the 25/26 season, a number of the coaches at Portsmouth Academy completed the Elite Soccer Coaching Award under his stewardship.

🎙️ We’re delighted to have James as our first expert speaker for cohort 6 of the Elite Soccer Coaching Award 🎙️

Aligned to component 1 of the Award – Playing Football – James, in discussion with Elite Soccer technical director, Ben Bartlett, will discuss:

⚽ James’ career progression from coach, to head of coaching, to academy manager
⚽ His work at Portsmouth Academy - a Category 3 academy in a city with a strong football culture
⚽ Aligning an academy programme with the first team and first team staff
⚽ Tips and processes that, in James’ experience, support coach and player development

🗓️ August 10 | 6-7pm BST / 1-2pm ET

27/07/2026

The third and final R in Elite Soccer’s three R approach to playing football: Resilient.

A rousing and responsive approach to playing football should be resilient across time, when the competitive temperature dials up and when the opposition adapt to what they believe they know about us.

More broadly, through our approach to football, we can ensure that alignment is not achieved by everyone mirroring the same template, but by supporting nations, clubs, coaches and players to navigate today, whilst futureproofing and making the game resilient and sustainable.

More in the article in bio.

Oliver Glasner was announced as head coach of Nottingham Forest earlier this month.He joined the club after two and a ha...
26/07/2026

Oliver Glasner was announced as head coach of Nottingham Forest earlier this month.

He joined the club after two and a half years at the helm of another Premier League outfit, Crystal Palace.

Glasner was appointed manager of Palace in February 2024.

The team ended the 2024-25 season with 49 points, their highest ever Premier League tally, finishing in the top 10 for just the second time in the Premier League era.

Glasner went on to achieve significant success for Palace, winning the FA Cup in 2025, the first major trophy in the club’s history, the 2025 FA Community Shield, and the UEFA Conference League in 2026, Palace’s first European title.

He will hope to achieve similar levels of success with Forest.

The Austrian shared this session with Elite Soccer in December 2025, during his final season with Palace.

He called it the team’s ‘go-to session on MD-4 if we are in rhythm and want to reinforce our habits’ and it encompasses his idea that:

‘Football should be played with courage and a winning mindset. The team must have a clear structure that suits the players’ strengths and allows them to express themselves freely. Every player should be willing to sacrifice for their teammates and the team, putting collective success above personal ego.’

25/07/2026

Andy Bevan joined us in August 2025 and took part in the February 2026 cohort of the Elite Soccer Coaching Award.

He continues to engage with the Award at a pace that works for him to develop and refine his dossier, supporting him in his roles at both Cheltenham Town Academy and semi-pro club Malvern Town.

Find out more 👇

P.S. you're a legend, Andy!

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