Skip to content

Sports

Football coach

Football coaches teach skills and tactics to individuals and teams, and motivate them to fulfil their potential.

Annual Salary

£19,000 to £29,000

Average UK salary in 2023 was £34,963
(source Office for National Statistics)

Working hours

20 to 37 variable

You could work: evenings / weekends / bank holidays; flexibly

0.5%
Future employment

There will be 0.5% more Football coach jobs in 2027.

Day to day tasks

As a football coach, you would:plan and run coaching sessions; work on game tactics; give feedback on performance and fitness, and set targets; offer guidance on nutrition and injury prevention; keep up to date with good coaching practice; motivate players to develop a positive mental attitude, confidence and self-discipline

Working environment

You may need to wear a uniform.

You could work in the community, at a school, at a college, at a university or at a sports arena.

Your working environment may be outdoors in all weathers, physically demanding and you'll travel often.

You can get into this job through:

  • a university course
  • a college course
  • an apprenticeship
  • volunteering
  • specialist courses run by a professional body
University

You could study for a foundation degree or degree in a subject like:

  • football coaching and development
  • coaching science
  • coaching and performance

There are also undergraduate and postgraduate courses that combine football coaching with other subjects, such as:

  • sports business
  • management
  • talent development

You'll usually need some experience in coaching to apply for a postgraduate course.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • 2 to 3 A levels, or equivalent, for a degree
  • a degree in a relevant subject for postgraduate study
For more information
  • equivalent entry requirements|https://www.gov.uk/what-different-qualification-levels-mean/list-of-qualification-levels
  • student finance for fees and living costs|https://www.gov.uk/student-finance
  • university courses and entry requirements|https://www.ucas.com/
College

You could do a college course, which could help you to get started in football coaching.

Courses include:

  • sports coaching
  • sport - football coaching
  • UEFA C Licence (this used to be called the FA Level 2 Coaching award)

If you hold a UEFA coaching licence, you could do a course in coaching game based football.

Apprenticeship

You could apply for a place on a Community Activator Coach Level 2 Intermediate Apprenticeship or the Sports Coach Level 4 Higher Apprenticeship.

These typically take 1 year and 6 months to complete and are a mix of workplace learning and study.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • some GCSEs, usually including English and maths, or equivalent, for an intermediate apprenticeship
  • 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) and A levels, or equivalent, for a higher or degree apprenticeship
For more information
  • equivalent entry requirements|https://www.gov.uk/what-different-qualification-levels-mean/list-of-qualification-levels
  • guide to apprenticeships|https://www.gov.uk/apprenticeships-guide
Volunteering and work experience

You can start as a volunteer at your local amateur football club. This will help to build up your experience and could lead onto training for coaching qualifications.

You can contact your county football association to learn more about volunteering opportunities.

You can also do online introductory courses while volunteering, through England Football Learning. These include:

Other routes

If you're currently coaching a football team, you could apply to do a coaching course or licence.

These start at foundation level and UEFA C Licence, and go up to UEFA Pro Licence aimed at coaches working in professional football.

You can also do courses which cover different age groups, abilities and types of football, such as futsal.

Requirements and restrictions

You'll need to:

More information

Career tips

Many paid coaching positions are part time, so the salary will reflect that. Salaries for coaches in English professional football are much higher than for those working in education, the community and for smaller football clubs.

Further information

You can find out more about a career in football coaching through England Football Learning and UK Coaching.

Showing jobs in:
View all vacancies in this region

As a community football coach, you could move into sports development or youth work after further training.

As a coach with a professional or semi-professional team, you might move to a bigger club to advance your career.

You could also complete higher level coaching awards, or specialise in a particular area like:goalkeeper or set piece coaching; sports psychology; mentoring new coaches

You can find out more about a career in coaching through The Football Association and UK Coaching.

Skills required and how your skills match up

What skills are required?

You'll need:

  • leadership skills
  • the ability to teach pupils how to do something
  • the ability to monitor your own performance and that of your colleagues
  • excellent verbal communication skills
  • knowledge of teaching and the ability to design courses
  • to be thorough and pay attention to detail
  • the ability to use your initiative
  • the ability to motivate and manage staff
  • to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device
My top 5 skills
Please sign in to compare your skills to this job. Sign in

To save or view your choices and results you must sign in or register (takes 1 minute).

Sign in Register