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Football Strategy, Coaching & High Performance Leadership
Coaching Journey Experiences
With nearly two decades of experience in high performing environments in the UK, USA and Morocco, Gérard brings a wealth of knowledge in player development, strategic leadership, and coaching education. Having worked extensively within both the Elite Player
Performance Plan (EPPP) Academy system and the American youth soccer landscape, including at youth international levels in Morocco, Gérard is able to bring expertise in methodology and drive forward a club's sporting vision with new and innovative ideas.
Driving High-Performance in Sports Directorship
Elite Football Leadership & High-Performance Training
Gérard Jones is an experienced Sporting Director having worked in high performing environments in the UK, USA and Morocco at club and international levels, directly with the First Team Manager, VPs, CEO's, Ownership or Technical Director shaping all football operations, Game Model, Coaching Methodology, Football Strategy & Vision.
Gérard has either graduated from or is studying at some of the world's leading institutions when it comes to football, business & high performance! A Master of Science (MSc) graduate from Stirling University, Scotland's University for Sporting Excellence & Top 5 in UK for Sports Science research, Gérard has also graduated from Cambridge University's Impulse programme, ranked among the most prestigious universities in the world. Gérard studied in high tech innovation & how to commercialize innovative ideas.
As a leading thinker in role of a Sporting Director, Gérard has recently been invited onto an exclusive, industry-leading Sporting Directorship in Football course led by the Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA), the Belgian Pro League, and the University of Antwerp - focusing on all aspects of high performance, sportive management of a club, financial management, innovation, data and recruitment. This course provides access to CEOs, industry leading experts and training under the RBFA, Pro League & the University of Antwerp which are ranked among the leading institutions globally. The University of Antwerp is ranked among the Top 20 universities in the world in the 50 under 50, is among the Top 5 in Belgium and the third-largest university in the Flemish region, while the RFBA is regarded in international football as a leader in player & coach development with the men's senior national team ranked among the Top 10 in FIFA rankings due to recent notable tournament performances and held the No1 spot from 2015-2016 and 2018-2022. The Belgium women's senior national team is ranked among the Top 20 in FIFA world rankings. The Belgian Pro League is currently ranked 8th in UEFA's league rankings, reflecting its strong performance in European competitions over the past five years and collectively, these institutions contribute significantly to Belgium's esteemed position in the global football community.
The Sporting Directorship in Football course with the Belgium Association, Belgium Pro League & the University of Antwerp provide a unique internship opportunity to work alongside a Sporting Director at one of europe's most elite clubs.
Modules:
· The Sporting Director in a football club context
· Football club finances
· The sportive department and the role of the sporting director
· Developing and supervising the football philosophy & operational Plan
· Recruiting Talent, Transfers and agents
· Developing Talent & Player Performance
· Monitoring physical player performance via data and AI (artificial intelligence)
· Player Care (Off the pitch)
· Becoming a High Performance Leader
· Internship at an elite foreign Professional Club working with Sporting Director
Masterclass Guest Presentations:
· Olivier Simons, COO Charleroi
· Thibault Dochy, Chief Legal & HR Officer RSC Anderlecht
· Ian Graham, former Head of Data Department Liverpool FC
· Kieran Maguire, University of Liverpool, Author and podcast host ‘The Price of Football’
· Klaas Reynaert, CEO Cercle Brugge, former CFO RSC Anderlecht
· Kobe Schepers, Stadium Director KRC Genk
· Pierre Locht, CEO Standard de Liège
· Alex Kroes, Sporting Director AFC Ajax
· Chris O’Loughlin, Sporting Director Union Maheta Molango, CEO PFA, former CEO RCD Mallorca
· Bart Verhaeghe, co-owner Club Brugge
· Kris Van Der Haegen, Director of Coach Education RBFA & Women’s Assistant National Coach
· Dennis Henderickx, Sports Director Belgium Pro League
· Hasan Cetinkaya, Vice-President KVC Westerlo, former Sporting Director Fenerbahçe
· Vincent Mannaert, Sporting Director RBFA, former CEO Club Brugge
· Performance Analysts RBFA
· René Maric, Assistant Manager Bayern Munich
· Rembert Vromant, Sporting Director Cercle Brugge
· Sven Jaecques, CEO RAFC
· Football Agent
· Daan Buylaert & Sven Demeulemeester Lawyers, Atfield
· Bob Browaeys, Senior Manager Youth Development, RBFA
· Sergio Lara-Bercial, Leeds Beckett University
· Sven Demeulemeester, lawyer
· Chloé Leprince, Head Research Department, French FA
+ More
Gérard Jones has also studied The Masters of Sports Directorship (MSD) – joining an impressive list of of students including former World Cup Winners, Elite International Head Coaches/Managers, Club Head Coaches, professional athletes and world-reknowned Sporting Directors & Executives
The MSD is an elite 2-year online masters degree with Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU), among the largest, most sustainable and innovative universities in the UK. The MSD Course is ran through MMU's world-class Business School, a part of an elite group of schools worldwide that holds the international benchmark of excellence - Triple Crown Accreditation (EQUIS, AACSB, AMBA), whilst being ranked in the World University Top 50 Business Schools. MMU is also the Times Top 10 Universities in the World for Impact 2023 and recently announced a strategic partnership with Manchester United FC for sports coaching science research.
Modules:
- Leading for High performance
- Managing Strategic Operations.
- Harnessing Creativity and Innovation for Change
- Mastering Governance, Finance and Compliance
- Sporting Directorship in Practice
MSD Masterclass Guest Presentations:
- Jon Dutton OBE: CEO British Cycling (High Performance Agility, Resilience & Determination)
- David Weir: Technical Director Brighton & Hove Albion FC (Innovations at Brighton in Leadership, Recruitment & Performance)
- Kevin Thelwell: Sporting Director Everton FC (Sports Directorship in the Premier League & MLS)
- Ben Knapper: Sporting Director Norwich City FC (Sports Directorship Innovations in Elite Sport)
- Tom Young: Cognite Founder (Performance Psychologist, team dynamics & leadership)
Linbert Spencer OBE: Consultant Coach (Action Learning Leadership)
Craig Brennan: CEO Little Sports Group (Self-care and accountability)
Yvonne Harrison: CEO Women in Football (Leadership practice that fosters inclusion)
- Matt Roberts: BBC Sports Presenter (Concious Leadership in the role of Sporting Director)
- Daniel Gidney: CEO Lancashire County Cricket Club (Lessons Learnt)
Royal Northern College Music
- Neil Doncaster: CEO Scottish Professional Football League (Leading through a crisis)
- Susie Bruck: People Director Brentford FC (High Performance Culture)
- James Savage: Head of Sports Advisory Deloitte Sports Business Group (Lessons Learnt)
- Dr. Mark Batey: MSD Director & Creativity Expert (Principles of Creativity & Creative Spaces)
- Greg Baker: Performance Director Boccia UK (Leadership & Innovation)
Seth Amafao: Founder Pass Abu Dhabi (Leading Change)
Sam Bradley: CEO Parkour UK (Innovating with Purpose)
Additional Training:
Peer Learning Groups - sharing ideas across sports and domains, Reflexive Leadership, Reflective Practice
Notable Alumni:
- Didi Hermann (former Liverpool FC, Champions League & FIFA World Cup Winner)
- Nick Cox (Academy Director Manchester United)
- David Weir (Technical Director Brighton, former Manager & pro)
- Ben Knapper (Sporting Director Norwich)
- Tony Studwick (Head of Performance at FAW, former Manchester United & EPL Performance Leader)
- Dawn Scott (VP Performance at Washington Spirit, FIFA Advisor, former England & USA Head Sports Science)
- Greg Miller (Head of Coaching, Barnsley)
et al.
These experiences have equipped Gérard with cutting-edge expertise in high-performance football leadership, innovation, and strategic management.
Member of
Pioneering Sports Directorship Research & Innovations
Advancing the Science of Innovation, Creativity and Leadership in Sport
At the forefront of Sports Directorship, Gérard's research delves into transformational leadership, strategic operations, and innovative practices that redefine success in sports organizations worldwide
Gérard is seen here presenting as part of a panel at the Soccer Science Conference, Etihad Stadium in Manchester discussing Decision Making in Football - reference to scanning, practice design & methodology alongside Geir Jordet, Ben Bartlett and former England Manager Steve McClaren
Looking to collaborate on research surrounding coaches use of feedback, practice design or another topic?
Learn About My Action-Based Research
Unlocking Talent: Investigating Effective Coach Recruitment Strategies in Football
Football coaching faces a persistent challenge of high staff turnover, with recruitment practices often rooted in subjective opinions, perceptions, and tribalism, lacking objective data and standardised methodologies. The absence of dedicated coach scouting systems and limited use of technology and AI in recruitment processes have hindered clubs' ability to optimise their selection of coaching talent. In response, clubs are exploring innovative approaches to improve recruitment efficiency, enhance on-field performance, and address financial constraints.
This report, based on a mixed-methods study involved 16 survey participants and 10 interviews with coaches, managing directors, CEOs, and sporting directors across elite Premier League & MLS clubs, international teams, including individuals operating at development and grassroots levels provided actionable insights. Key recommendations include the development of digital tools to
scout and assess coaching talent systematically, integrating technology and AI into recruitment processes. Further research is necessary to refine these approaches and foster sustainable recruitment strategies for football organisations.
Transforming Leadership in Youth Sports
Leadership Report evaluating the role of the Sporting Director by drawing examples from ecological dynamics (Newell, 1991; Gibson, 1979; Button et al., 2020), to inspire curiosity in how I lead others by recognizing people's value and creating opportunities for them to lead through action and interaction with their environment using Transformational Leadership strategies (Arthur, Barstardoz & Eklund, 2017)
Game-Changing Innovations in Sports Directorship
Utilisation of innovative research design studies and the implementation of Feedback Frameworks such as the "Transitional Learning Model" used to enhance how coaches across Elite, Development and Grassroots domains become more effective and efficient in how they provide verbal augmented feedback to enhance athlete search and decision making (Jones et al., 2021)
Individual Strategic Operations Report
Strategic Business Operations report (2,500 words) evaluating the business performance of mobile learning in sports coaching, drawing upon leading research and practice in the area of operations management and high tech innovation. An exploration of the modern business drivers and competitive
performance, process design, performance and strategic decision-making in digital and mobile learning in sports coaching education.
Mobile/Digital learning is a $1T industry by 2027, with Google Searches seeing an increase in users searching for Sports or
Soccer coaching education courses by 220%.
Strategic Business Report reviews ULEARNBLY (CoachesClubhouse) which is a Finalist in the 2024 Great Britain Entrepreneur of the Year Awards - Midlands Startup of the Year, and graduate of both the NatWest Bank Accelerator Programme and Cambridge University's Impulse programme.
This report critically examined the operations function of my own ed-tech startup within the market space of coaching education, involving qualitative research with 36x coaches across Grassroots, Development and Elite Domains involved in Semi-Structured Interviews and discussions to identify recommendations for improvement in digital learning
Creating a Department of Methodology: Functional approach to high performance coaching within a football club
As part of my ongoing Dissertation on the Masters Sports Directorship with the Business School at Manchester Metropolitan University, I decided to investigate how we can create a Department of Methodology to enhance strategic operations within elite environments.
My interest in creating a Department of Methodology (DOM) lies in its potential to enhance high-performance coaching and operational leadership within a football club.
Rooted in the works of Otte and colleagues (2020; 2022 - see image), an investigation into how best to create a DOM is essential for guiding and aligning coaching practices within a football club to foster adaptability, creativity, and performance across all levels of player and coach development. The addition of specialist coaches and new methodologies purported to enhance athlete development in high-performance sport has contributed another layer of complexity to the multidisciplinary nature of performance preparation, as not all sporting organisations are aligned in how they operate and why they do what they do.
The growing complexity of football necessitates an evidence-based approach to coaching and leadership. There is a growing need for a framework and functional approach that aligns all areas across multidisciplinary teams into one consistent message that helps practitioners become more effective and efficient in how they enhance athlete performance. Studies highlight the importance of coherence between methodologies at various levels of player development (Partington & Cushion, 2013), with differences found in organisations based more on tribalism and socio-cultural influences that are often in conflict with one another (Potrac et al, 2012).
By creating clarity between youth departments, senior teams and all areas within a club, a DOM could ensure more consistency and efficiency in approach, maximizing the club’s ability to achieve both short-term results and long-term goals (Larsen et al., 2020).
Harnessing Creativity & Innovation for Change
Increasing Parent Engagement in Player Development at MLS Sporting Kansas City - Owned & Operated Academy Affiliate, Sporting City North
Research study to implement creative and new ideas to enhance engagement and athlete user experiences, whilst increasing revenues.
- Parents wanted to understand Game-based methodology more whilst also requesting a need for more individual training
- Opportunity to share resources & training to explain the 'why' behind coaching curriculum on a team basis + address needs & wants of parents by creating an individualised training program for all players called "Precision Training" > offered services for 1:1 & small group training
Setting the Scene
Understand the Context
• Identify the Problem
• Prepared but not Planned (things can change/emerge)
• Models Used/Learnings along the way (Journey)
• Reflections & implementations
Understanding Pain Points
Despite the communicated benefits of game-based training utilising a Constraints-Led Approach (CLA) which is individualised & considers the athlete's needs, parents of children in the club wanted more personalised 1:1 technical training & IDP work in addition to the coaching provided in team settings.
Parents in the Youth Academy Affiliate want their child to improve individually and didn't understand the benefits of "Game-based Coaching" as under their lens it appears all the players do is play games & not learn new skills or solve problems.
Gérard in his role as a Director of Coaching wanted to address the opportunity to engage and educate parents in the club coaching methodology, by sharing the science behind why we manipulate constraints & set challenges in game-like, inquiry based learning experiences to develop problem solving. This also presented an opportunity as parents preferred to pay for private training for their child outside of the club to specialist coaches which was a service the club didn't offer.
Parents Common Want: Personalized Learning. Want their child to improve technically, tactically & physically
Common Aspirations: For their child to play in College, play for SKC Academy or be on the best team possible
Common Identity: They didn't always understand or see the benefits of CLA & are comparing their child to others through a technical lens
Common Why: Want more personal, individualised coaching locally at affordable prices
Common Struggle: Can’t see immediate success of their child yet
Created an Individualised Training Program
1. Organised Parent Education "In-Person Workshop" attended by around 60 parents, where Gérard delivered presentations on methodology, CLA and curriculum and delivered a practical session using U10 players as demonstrations, and then as part of 'experiential learning', included parents in similar activities so they could experience what the players go through.
2. Created a new individualised training program called "Precision Training" where families can book specialist coaches within the club for extra 1:1 or small group training sessions as affordable prices. Precision Training service was created to also address the need and want of parents where they want their child to get extra individual coaching based on child's IDP in addition to what get in regular team training sessions
Outcomes:
- Parents Loved the Workshop & it changed their Perspectives & lens on what good coaching is, how players are developing technically, tactically & physical through a CLA
- Created a business opportunity to provide a service so families don't have to go outside the club, instead benefit from private training by club experts locally
- Aug-Dec: Generated around $14k in revenues (roughly 40% profit margin) based on over 80 sessions with around 50 players
- Parent Survey: 100% Happy! 90% rated program 4 out 5 Stars
Parents Loved the “Personalized attention and Coaching” and cited “extra touches, skill development, more feedback and an opportunity to get more coaching” as reasons for using the program!
Parents also described how they felt the training has
“Helped with footskills, confidence and other aspects such as shooting, passing, receiving and defending” & complimented regular team practices
We were able to share our "Why", educate and inform parents on Game-based, CLA approach whilst also creating a revenue generating program focusing on individualised coaching which what they wanted
Sporting Values that Guide Service
Through SKC's Values, Gérard was able to create additional revenue opportunities whilst also provided outstanding experiences for the players and a connection to the club