29 January 2020

It’s been fantastic to support The Football Association with its Level 5 for Technical Directors course this past couple of years and we’re proud to see our role and relationship grow with the 2020 cohort.

This bespoke course is all about supporting football’s Technical Directors with the many on- and off-field challenges they face in an ever-changing landscape and developing the skills they need to drive high-performance in their clubs.

In 2019, Leading Edge provided one-to-one leadership coaching (The FA uses the word ‘mentoring’) for Les Ferdinand (QPR’s Director of Football) and Heather Cowan (Tottenham Hotspur Head of Women’s Football) among others. It was a huge privilege for Owner/Director Patrick Marr to work with Les and for Team Coach Lesley Roberts to support Heather, and they’re both delighted to be involved again for the 2020 cohort alongside Team Coaches like Scott Alford, who delivered one of the module workshops last year.

About The Football Association

The role of a Technical Director in football is dynamic and it’s grown in prominence and number in recent years. To support current and aspiring ‘Technical Directors’ – a role that goes by many different titles – this course aims to create a journey of learning, developing skillful leaders within football capable of creating sustained success.

The FA Level 5 for Technical Directors course focuses on achieving success for football clubs through high-performance culture backed up by an aligned vision and strategy. The six course modules span 25 days across 20 months. Leading Edge Team Coaches are integral to the programme as leadership mentors, coaching delegates one-to-one in between modules around specific development needs and helping to transfer the course learning into the day-to-day role.

Hot off the heels of the first cohort’s graduation, Leading Edge were invited to extend support for the 2020 programme.

Team Coach Insights

Leading Edge Team Coach Lesley Roberts describes the prestige of working with The FA:

“Everyone knows The FA! As a Team Coach, it’s a real honour to be associated with such a well-known organisation, one that’s clearly taking a sophisticated approach to ensuring senior people in the game are high-performing and well-rounded leaders.

Being asked to mentor Heather Cowan was fantastic. Not only did I have the privilege of working closely with Heather to support her leadership development and bring her ‘classroom’ learning to her role, but I also got to be a part of what is a very exciting time in women’s football. The women’s game is fast-growing with many opportunities and some interesting challenges – partnering with Heather through this period of exciting development was a learning not just for her but for me too!

There’s such passion from the team at The FA, particularly from David Court who heads the programme. He’s absolutely committed to making sure delegates have the very best experience and he keeps in regular contact so that coaching supports themes that come up along the way. This way of working will always help to drive success and I’m excited to keep supporting The FA and existing/aspiring Technical Directors with this forward-thinking programme.”