To get a football coaching job abroad, you need the right coaching licences, relevant experience, and – above all – connections, because most clubs prefer to hire coaches they know and trust. There are five proven pathways into the professional game: start at a grassroots club, join a professional club’s community programme or academy, join a first-team staff, take an assistant or head coach role at a smaller club or league, or win promotion with a lower-league team. The best first step is to visit the country you want to work in and meet people face to face.
This article is adapted from Coaching Abroad: How 8 Coaches Got Jobs and Succeeded Worldwide by Blaine McKenna, a UEFA A Licence coach who has coached in 11 countries on five continents.
Football can take you anywhere on earth. The eight coaches in Coaching Abroad have worked across Asia, Europe, Africa, Oceania and the Americas – from grassroots clubs in Beijing to the Chinese Super League, the AFC Champions League, and the national teams of the Philippines and Indonesia. Most of them didn’t play professionally. Here’s how they got there.
Do You Need to Have Played Professionally?
No. It used to be almost impossible to coach at the top level without a top playing career, but more and more coaches now break into the professional game without one. Former players have real advantages – game understanding, experience of top coaches, and above all a strong network built over hundreds of games.
But coaches without a playing career have one big advantage: they can start early. As Colum Curtis, who went on to coach in Cambodia’s top flight, put it: at 31 he was in his 14th season of coaching, while many professionals are still playing at 35. Starting in grassroots and youth football gives you the freedom to experiment, make mistakes and build your methods without the pressure of results. One isn’t better than the other – it depends on the individual. If you succeed, no one will question your playing background.
5 Pathways into Professional Football
These are the routes that took the coaches in the book into professional football around the world:
- Start at a grassroots club and show your value to staff at professional clubs to earn a move. Five coaches from one grassroots club in Beijing went on to work in professional football.
- Start in the community programme or academy of a professional club and work your way up. Scott Cooper went from Leicester City’s Academy to Buriram United in Thailand – and on to the AFC Champions League.
- Join a first-team staff before being promoted to Head Coach. Colum Curtis joined a top-flight Cambodian club as Assistant for four months – they won the league, and the impression he made led to a Head Coach job at another top Cambodian club.
- Take an Assistant or Head Coach role at a smaller professional club or league and earn a move to a bigger one. Simon McMenemy took a low salary for his first job as Head Coach of the Philippines – and the success that followed propelled him to bigger contracts and, later, the Indonesia national team job.
- Win promotion with a lower-league team and grow with the club into a higher league.
Worry less about the job title and more about where a role will take you. As Simon advises, forget about the money in that first job – it’s the platform that matters.
What Qualifications Do You Need to Coach Abroad?
Licences are essential, because many football associations require coaches to hold a certain licence to lead teams in competition. Get the highest licences you can and keep them valid – that increases your opportunities. Some coaches have also taken licences through other confederations, such as the AFC in Asia, when that suited where they wanted to work.
But qualifications only get you so far. An A Licence coach may look better than a B Licence coach on paper, but that’s not always true in practice. Many coaches go through the same licence pathway as you, so it’s your experience – and the track record it builds – that makes you stand out.
How to Stand Out and Add Value
Develop a skill that complements a Head Coach. You could be an analyst, fitness coach, translator, individual coach, set-piece coach or mental skills coach. If you know an area the Head Coach doesn’t, that’s a great selling point. Michael Yau learned Mandarin and worked as an analyst – which helped take him from grassroots football in China to the first team of Shenzhen FC in the Chinese Super League.
Before you take any role, voluntary or paid, ask yourself:
- Is this experience relevant to the goal I want to achieve?
- How many hours of coaching will I get each week, and at what age and level?
- Are there opportunities for promotion – and can I learn from the people around me?
- Do the organisation’s philosophy and values fit mine, and does it have a good reputation in the game?
Once you’re in, make an impression: arrive early, dress professionally, be enthusiastic, set up before players arrive, and deliver high-quality sessions. As Colum says, “I never say no to anything. Even if I didn’t know how to do it, I’d go and find out.”
Network in Person: “Create Travel Nets”
Applying for a job alongside hundreds of coaches without a connection is like buying a lottery ticket. Recruiters would much rather hire someone they know and trust. So build your network where you want to work:
- Choose a country or city and research the clubs there.
- Connect online – look up club staff on LinkedIn, and contact clubs by email or social media.
- Go there. Invest your own time and money in travel, without expecting a job, and meet people face to face. Use holidays to visit clubs.
- See the set-up for yourself before you commit. People can sell the dream in an online interview that doesn’t match reality.
Michael’s employers in China told him that meeting him in person gave him a real advantage over other candidates. Colum’s advice is blunt: save up, land in a capital city with your qualifications and relevant experience, and go for it. You won’t get a job sitting at home talking about it. For more on job hunting, see Soccer Coach Jobs | Football Coach Jobs.
Succeeding Once You Get There
Getting the job is only half the battle. The coaches who thrive abroad share three things: they make the effort to understand the culture (including learning the language), they build strong relationships with owners, staff and players, and they never let the quality of their work slip. Strong relationships with owners buy you time during tough moments – and in many leagues, “long-term” can be a matter of months. Find out why so many coaches struggle in Foreign Failures: Reasons Football Coaches Fail Abroad.
Coaching Abroad: How 8 Coaches Got Jobs and Succeeded Worldwide
In Coaching Abroad, Blaine McKenna and seven other coaches share the real stories behind their careers – from the 11th tier of English football to national team Head Coach. You’ll learn how to:
- Follow one of five pathways to get jobs in the professional game
- Choose the right coaching licences and education for where you want to work
- Use networking and social media to transform your career
- Design sessions, and coach and manage players, staff and owners across cultures
- Overcome the six most common mistakes coaches make abroad
- Adapt and get the best from life when living abroad