Coaches Insight: Pitch Sizes With Sigrid Olthof & Ross Brooks

In the fifth episode of 2025 our host Paul Barry is joined by James Barlow to discuss the role of coach development. James is currently Head Of Coaching at Portsmouth FC, is a UEFA A Licensed Coach & has The FA’s Advanced Youth Award.

In the fourth episode of 2025 our host Paul Barry is joined by Merfyn Roberts to discuss Managing Behaviour In Youth Football Coaching.Merfyn is an education consultant, specialising in behaviour management and applied learning, and has been an FA tutor for a number of years. His latest role at St George’s Park has been as the lead tutor for the Social Corner on the Advanced Youth Award.

In the third episode of 2025 our host Paul Barry is joined by Pete Sturgess. Pete is synonymous with Grassroots football development within England, in particular his focus on supporting junior coaches to provide enjoyable and inspiring football experiences.He has committed his whole career to improving the coaching of our youngest players. A former teacher and academy assistant director, Peter worked at the English FA as Technical Lead for the 5–11s age group (Foundation Phase).During his 17 years at the FA Peter was also privileged to be the Head coach of the England Futsal squad for 8 years leading them successfully into FIFA and UEFA competitions and today continues to influence the technical and tactical proficiency of the next generation as a FIFA Futsal Instructor.

In the second episode of 2025 our host Paul Barry is joined by Steve Sallis. He supports 20 Premier League and Football League Players with mental conditioning support. Steve delivers Leadership Seminars on the UEFA Pro and A’ Licence for the Scottish Football Association. He is the author of "Educating Football" which has received national and international press coverage, which includes interviews on the iconic ‘High Performance Podcast’ (12 Million Downloads), BBC Radio 5 Live, Talk Sport, The Daily Mail podcast and Love Sport Radio. Steve has featured on a Netflix documentary which entailed supporting world class athletes in need of cognitive and technical performance support.

In the first episode of 2025 our host Paul Barry is joined by Connor Horrocks. Connor is a British national who moved to Spain as a young child and developed a love for coaching. As an UEFA A Licensed Coach he challenged himself further by now coaching in South Korea.

In the tenth episode of 2024 our host Paul Barry is joined by Thomas Gronnemark. Thomas has made a career in coaching throw ins for professional clubs including Liverpool FC under Jurgen Klopp! Here we dive into the topic of throw ins especially in the youth phases of the game.

In the ninth episode of 2024 our host Paul Barry is joined by Temisan Williams. Temisan has experience coaching at 3 different premier league clubs and has completed the route of starting in grassroots to academy football.

In the eighth episode of 2024 our host Ross Brooks is joined by Shamus Beaglehole - YDP Coach at Leicester City. Take a listen to get some knowledge on how to plan your coaching sessions.

In the seventh episode of 2024 our host Ross Brooks is joined by Nathan Thomas - Head Of Coaching U13 - U16 at Crystal Palace. Take a listen to get some knowledge on how to manage players on a match day.

In the sixth episode of 2024 our host Ross Brooks is joined by Elliot Head - Head Of Foundation Phase (AFC Bournemouth). Take a listen to get some knowledge on how to manage this challenge in coaching.