This summer I had the opportunity to complete the UEFA B Licence with the Scottish Football Association — a challenging, at times stressful, but hugely rewarding experience.
The UEFA B is one of the most respected coaching qualifications in world football, and the Scottish FA is renowned for its coach education. Legends such as Sir Alex Ferguson, José Mourinho, Fabio Capello, Brendan Rodgers, Marcelo Lippi, David Moyes and more recently Nuno Espírito Santo all came through their system.
The course focuses on 11v11 football, with an emphasis on tactical training sessions built around the most common modern systems (4-3-3, 4-2-3-1, 3-5-2 and 4-4-2). In preparation, I spent the summer delivering the four core themes — attacking wide, defending wide, attacking centrally and defending centrally — with both an U20s Boys’ team in the East of Scotland Development League and a U17 Girls’ team in Scotland’s elite performance programme.
One of the key tasks was a match analysis project: identifying an attacking and defensive weakness, then designing a training session to address each. My experience using Veo with our Varsity squads gave me a good foundation, but the course also exposed me to new analysis tools and approaches.
The programme covered more than just tactics. We had lectures on physiology, injury prevention, psychology and the influence of game models. Former Scotland international Gary Naismith spoke about the challenges of managing part-time clubs, while other tutors included ex-Everton striker Steven Naismith and ex-Finland manager Mixu Paatelainen. My own assessor had scored over 100 goals in the Scottish Premiership and Championship.
A huge benefit came from learning alongside other candidates. Many were coaching at high levels — from a sports scientist working with Celtic’s first team under Brendan Rodgers, to academy coaches at Kilmarnock, to staff from Right to Dream in Ghana. That academy has produced over 140 professional players, including Mohammed Kudus (West Ham), Mikkel Damsgaard (Brentford) and Kamaldeen Sulemana (formerly Southampton).
For me, the biggest takeaway was the level of tactical detail expected — in session design, the use of different systems and how to create realistic attacking and defensive scenarios. It’s given me greater confidence in planning and delivering tactical training and a stronger understanding of the pros and cons of different formations.
Accessing CPD opportunities of this calibre in Thailand is not always easy, so I’m keen to share the learnings from the course with colleagues at our weekly football academy CPL this year, so that we can continue to provide all our students with year-round, high-quality, age appropriate coaching.
