UEFA Pro Diploma Cohort and England Football Learning celebrate graduation at St. George's Park

The 25 strong cohort have met at points across the 18-months, from sessions at St. George’s Park to live game analysis at UEFA EURO 2024 in Germany. They now join an exclusive alumni group of just 600 UEFA Pro Diploma graduates.

Joining the notable alumni will be Arjan Veurink (England Senior Women Assistant Manager), Darius Vassell (England National Teams Casual Coach), John Griffiths (England Women National Assistant Coach), Karen Hills (Charlton Athletic Women’s First Team Head Coach), Melanie Reay (Sunderland Women’s Manager), and Samuel Meek (England Teams National Goalkeeping Coach), amongst many other notable managers, coaches and leaders.

As the highest professional game coaching course offered by England Football Learning, the UEFA Pro Diploma is designed to develop highly skilled and aspiring leaders, managers and coaches to create sustained success in football. It is delivered across seven modules during the 18-months in a mixture of face-to-face learning, independent study, and coach development visits to support learning across the duration. Modules focus on developing winning leadership and management strategies that learners can take back into their coaching environments across the Premier League, EFL, Barclays Women’s Super League, Barclays Women’s Championship and the international game.

To aid their learning, the cohort participated in regular theory and practical workshops where they were exposed to the latest technologies in the game to help them learn to cope with the latest developments of the game. Additionally, they also had chances to hear from inspirational leaders sharing insights and experiences from football and business. England women’s head coach Sarina Wiegman and former England men’s manager, Gareth Southgate were amongst those to meet the group.

Graduate and former Norwich Manager, Jack Wilshere, added: “The 18 months have been outstanding. I’ve done a few courses over the years, but this one I really enjoyed. I’ve been put in uncomfortable situations and learned how to be comfortable, and I can see that from where I started to where I am now, I’m a different person and coach and I’m really proud of that. But the most important thing for anyone on the Pro Licence is that we’re not just going to sit in a room for hours and suddenly be a better coach, you need to put what you learn into practice and try different things so that’s what I plan to do; continuing to expand my knowledge and try different things to better myself as a coach.”

Graduate and Arsenal Women First Team Analyst, Melissa Clarke-Reed, said: The 18-month journey has been absolutely fantastic. The one thing I’m taking away is all the connections made, there are friendships formed, colleagues that we’ve shared learning experiences with, and people that we’ll no doubt draw on in our careers after this. I think one of the best parts for me on the course was all the experiential learning, so putting yourself in real life situations as much as possible and getting live feedback from tutors and peers, it’s those experiences that I think really define the course.”

UEFA Pro Diploma Lead, Guy Whittingham, said: “It is our aim to support top level coaches in a way that helps them understand what it takes to win. We look to educate and influence them with the skills and knowledge to be successful in the game both now and in the future. This cohort has been fantastic and we’re looking forward to seeing them continue to develop outside the programme.”

For further information on the UEFA Pro Diploma, visit: https://learn.englandfootball.com/courses/football/uefa-pro-licence