Once you have made your football cv and covering letter, created an unforgettable highlights video and online profile easily found on the internet for scouts and coaches, you may be thinking that you want to take a more pro-active approach to getting into the club you want. After all, most players that make it are not scouted like the fairy tale story. They worked hard in front of the right people for a very long time before making it as a professional footballer.
If you haven’t yet made your Football CV download the template and kit from below, otherwise read on…
Ideas for who you can approach to join a Football Club
There are a host of different people and places to approach when you want to move clubs or join an academy, these are:
1. Your local football club
2. Your most local elite club. By this we mean club in one of the main UK leagues (Premier League, Championship, League 1, League 2 & League 3)
3. Football coaches
4. Football scouts
5. Your local FA (Football Association)
6. Private football clubs & soccer schools
Why It's Important To Approach Clubs
By approaching a football club yourself it shows determination and persistence. Most coaches and scouts want to know that a player really wants to play and is prepared to commit to the hard work and training that come with being a professional. So by approaching clubs you are showing your interest.
Who Should Approach a Club?
As much as parents like to help their children, it’s important that applications come from the child themselves, and if the child is under 16, that they also give parental contacts on the application for safeguarding reasons.
Remember that clubs and coaches are inundated with parents contacting them that think their child has a special talent, and words from a parent do not replace what the club or coach need to witness which is skill on the pitch.
It is responsible for a parent to help their child with an application, but can be overpowering if the application does not come from the player themselves.
