I am a chartered Sport and Exercise Psychologist, registered with the British Psychological Society and the Health Care Professions Counil. My area of specialisim is performance psychology, and I have been working in elite sport since 2016, in which time I have worked with organisations including British Judo, the University of Birmingham, England Netball, Huddersfield Giants and British Athletics. Whilst working in these environments, I have also attained a Masters degree in Sport and Exercise Psychology, and a Postgraduate Diploma from Manchester Metropolitan University (2015 & 2016 respectively).
My primary focus as a practitioner is on giving individual players, coaches and organisations the tools and skills to sustain peak performance through challenges and make the most of the opportunities presented to them. I have gained additional qualifications in Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy, Counselling and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, giving me an expansive perspective on the psychological and emotional demands of being involved in professional football. My role at Pro Football Support has given me an excellent platform to further expand my involvement in professional football and implement my approach of combining my practical role with academic backing and research.
I love spending time with my wife and our two dogs and two cats, who always keep us busy! Outside of this, I enjoy baking and discovering new cuisines, and I have become a keen gardener and bird watcher since the COVID lockdowns, and try to regularly spend time in nature.
Johan Cruyff – an inspirational player and manager who revolutionised the way in which football was played and later coached, always staying true to his own philosophy and style of play through his creativity and pure enjoyment of the game.
“To sum up what mamba mentality is, it means to be able to constantly try to be the best version of yourself” – Kobe Bryant.
I was born in Frankfurt, Germany to Austrian and English parents and am now living in England and married to a South African!
My area of expertise is the provision of football-specific field-based conditioning to the elite-level (professional) player.
I have gained experience working within professional football for over 22 years, in the Premier League and Championship, including, most recently, 12 years at Manchester United as Senior Sports Scientist and 10 years at Barnsley Football Club as Head of First Team Sports Science.
Whilst in these roles I continued studying in academia for 20 years, achieving an undergraduate degree in Science and Football (Physiology) (2005), Master of Philosophy in Football Specific Field-based Conditioning (2009) and Doctor of Philosophy in Training Load Quantification (2021).
I have been actively involved in, and had a passion for football, since an early age. Over the years I have developed a more detailed interest in the way we can improve professional players’ levels of fitness and performance by means of implementing field-based training programmes which are specific to the physical demands of the game.
My passion and love of football, through playing and coaching, inspired me to gain further knowledge and experience within the professional football club environment to enable me to help improve player physical performance output.
Working with Pro Football Support enables me to implement my philosophies across the professional football Club network, working alongside academies and senior teams.
I am a very family-oriented person who enjoys spending time with the special people in my life. I also enjoy socialising with friends which often involves sport and / or sporting occasions.
My interests away from football are keeping myself active and fit by regularly attending the gym, running, mountain biking, and, on occasions, kayaking. I enjoy being outdoors in the countryside and will often go for long walks with our dog.
Bryan Robson – Incredibly talented, hardworking midfielder and leader of club and country. Watching him perform with such high levels of fitness and drive, inspired me to become involved with professional football and help to optimally condition players.
“Hard work will always overcome natural talent when talent does not work hard enough” – Alex Ferguson
I have published several ‘Peer Reviewed’ papers focussing on Football Specific Conditioning within the Sports Science community.
I am a chartered Sport and Exercise Psychologist, registered with the British Psychological Society and the Health Care Professions Counil. My area of specialisim is performance psychology, and I have been working in elite sport since 2016, in which time I have worked with organisations including British Judo, the University of Birmingham, England Netball, Huddersfield Giants and British Athletics. Whilst working in these environments, I have also attained a Masters degree in Sport and Exercise Psychology, and a Postgraduate Diploma from Manchester Metropolitan University (2015 & 2016 respectively).
My primary focus as a practitioner is on giving individual players, coaches and organisations the tools and skills to sustain peak performance through challenges and make the most of the opportunities presented to them. I have gained additional qualifications in Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy, Counselling and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, giving me an expansive perspective on the psychological and emotional demands of being involved in professional football. My role at Pro Football Support has given me an excellent platform to further expand my involvement in professional football and implement my approach of combining my practical role with academic backing and research.
I love spending time with my wife and our two dogs and two cats, who always keep us busy! Outside of this, I enjoy baking and discovering new cuisines, and I have become a keen gardener and bird watcher since the COVID lockdowns, and try to regularly spend time in nature.
Johan Cruyff – an inspirational player and manager who revolutionised the way in which football was played and later coached, always staying true to his own philosophy and style of play through his creativity and pure enjoyment of the game.
“To sum up what mamba mentality is, it means to be able to constantly try to be the best version of yourself” – Kobe Bryant.
I was born in Frankfurt, Germany to Austrian and English parents and am now living in England and married to a South African!
I graduated with an MSc in Sports Nutrition and have been involved with professional football ever since. As an SENr accredited graduate I gained my first experience within the HTFC Academy as a Data Analyst whereby I collected, analysed, and drew statistical conclusions which would go onto effect the players personal reports and training. This experience opened the world of professional football and after a season I found myself a role at Pro Football Support.
I was initially brought onto the team to support athletic development through numerous software’s developed within PFS. However, my time here quickly found me heavily involved with football coaching, athletic performance assessments and, up until the last year, overseeing and managing the support we provide to several northern based category 3 football clubs.
During my time with PFS I have gained further experience working with elite level players in both category 3 and category 1 clubs. My current main roles at PFS include the management and overseeing of local Cat 3 clubs as well as seasonal performing of Premier League testing in which all premier league and category 1 clubs are assessed for performance outputs associated with elite football.
I am a relatively quiet person. I enjoy seeing friends and family when I can but mostly enjoy getting time on my own either in the gym, out on short hikes/walks in different places or snowboarding at every chance I get.
Joshua Bogdani. The past 2-3 years I have had the pleasure of knowing someone so dedicated to their craft. I have watched; first-hand every day, week and month, the hard work put in by Josh both in and out of the gym when it came to his nutrition, posing and attitude towards where he is now and where he needs to be. His mentality around training has changed dramatically as he learns more and more about himself and the sport he has chosen to pursue. In my 10 years of training and being around very talented individuals, I have never known anyone consistently train with such intensity even when others are not there to watch or push him.
“Yeeeaahhhh Buuuddddddyy” – Ronnie Coleman
I used to play dodgeball for England and can complete a Rubix cube in under 1 minute.
I have worked in professional football with an expertise in talent identification and development at both, first team level for 4 years and youth development level for 2 years.
I started my career as a first team scout at iScout consulting for Derby County (Championship), Notts County (League 2) and Grimsby Town (National League), achieving x2 play off places and x1 promotion within 4 seasons. As I wanted to progressive in my on-field coaching, I led Hull City’s development centres whilst volunteering in the under-12 to under-16 age groups, before previously working at Hull City Ladies as a coach/analyst.
Whilst in these roles I obtained a first-class hons (79%) in my undergraduate in Sports Coaching & Performance Science (2021). This was followed by a Masters by Research (2022), and more recently my current PhD studies (2023-2026) in skill acquisition.
I have always had a passion for football, and in particular high performance. I use my current skill set in conjunction to my academic background to create clear recruitment and development strategies.
My role acting as a first team scout required great attention to detail with talent ID, player profiling and opposition analysis reports. I further expanded my knowledge in python to excel in my data analysis duties.
More recently, my passion for football and innovation have combined as I look to constantly drive high standards. Personally, I have created the first validated and reliable psycho-social scoring tool to combat the deceiving effects of maturation status and relative age. Currently, I am working on a new innovative tool SportBoard, which allows players to develop away from training.
Pro Football Support are supporting my future career, funding my PhD and my UEFA B licence. The position here, as a researcher, allows me to network in professional clubs while enhancing standards for young players to aspiring to play professional sports.
Outside of work I like to split the time equally for myself and with my family. During my personal time, I enjoy keeping fit by regularly cycling, running swimming and attending the gym. With family, my time generally consists of trying new restaurants, finding activity days or going for long walks.
John Stones – Always had doubters during his time at Everton and Manchester City, but remained resilient which allowed his true talent to shine through.
Sergio Ramos – A key figure in a Real Madrid (now PSG) and Spanish team. Shows a real leadership and determination on the pitch, whilst works incredible hard off the pitch to maintain optimal performance.
“Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it” – Michael Jordan
I created the first validated and reliable psycho-social scoring tool, which is set to be published as a peer reviewed research paper.
My area of expertise is the provision of strength and conditioning to the youth athletes.
Over the last 10 years I have worked with professional and amateur athletes gaining experience in many different sports including football, rugby league, cricket, netball, and golf.
During this time, I studied and gained my undergraduate degree in Sport Science (2014) and Masters in Musculoskeletal Sport Science and Health (2018). Since then, I gained my Strength and Conditioning accreditation (CSCS) and my British Weightlifting coaching badge.
In my current role I lead the strength and conditioning provision for academy footballers, my focus is with 15-18’s but I do have contact with all age groups (U9—18). I am tasked with for improving the athletic ability of youth athletes, testing multiple times per year, reporting back to phase lead coaches and players. In a day-to-day scenario, I plan and implement gym sessions, return-to-play rehabilitation, and recovery sessions as well as on-field warm-ups and conditioning.
My previous work and roles working in gym’s and the leading the provision of youth development programs in the private setting has given me the skills to designi, implement, and deliver strength and conditioning programs to academy footballers.
Outside of work you could probably find me out walking the dog, paddleboarding and hiking in the Lake District and North Wales.
Times when I like to sit back and put my feet up I like to go out for a nice meal and a wine, catch a film (anything marvel or action are my favourite) or watching Newcastle United.
Alan Shearer – Legend and Captain of my boyhood club. He always had offers to play elsewhere and potentially win countless trophies, but played for a team where his heart is and gave everything for the club. Represents loyalty and hard work.
“Be humble, be hungry, and always be the hardest worker in the room” – Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
Over the last couple of years, my fiancé and I have raised over £10,000 for the Wellbeing of Women charity.
I come from a background of playing Rugby League, but have a real passion for football, coaching, and long term athletic development.
I qualified from the Manchester Metropolitan University achieving an undergraduate degree in BSc Sport and Exercise Science (2021) and then a further postgraduate qualification in MSc Sport and Exercise Physiology (2022). Since then I have gone on to work with academy football players at a championship club in the north west.
My current role is academy Athletic Development Coach, where I am based at Preston North End Football Club. In this role I plan and deliver gym-based and field-based athletic development sessions to academy players aged 12-19, aimed at improving several components of fitness such as; strength, power, speed, agility, and endurance. I have a keen interest in keeping up to date with the current literature into best practice and methods of training which I help inform my coaching, along with my rapidly growing experience.
Additionally, through Pro Football Support’s collaboration with the Premier League, I team lead Benchmark Fitness Testing sessions to Premier League/Category 1 academies across the country. I am also actively involved in ongoing projects taken out by Pro Football Support
Away from work, I play Rugby League competitively and enjoy staying fit by regularly strength training and running. Aside from fitness related interests, I value spending quality time with my family and friends and eating good food.
Rob Burrow – A player that I loved to watch growing up who had immense quality, both physically and technically. Even more impressive is the positive mental attitude he shows in his battle with MND, a trait that is hugely inspiring. A true sporting hero.
“The more I practice, the luckier I get” – Gary Player (Golfer)
My other research interest is the role of genetics in concussion risk, particularly in elite male rugby players. This formed the basis of my MSc dissertation which was part of an ongoing worldwide project (RugbyGene Project).