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FA Women's High Performance Football Centre

The FA has partnered with University of Gloucestershire to set up 1 of only 9 FA Women’s High Performance Football Centre’s (FA WHPFC) in the Country.

The centres will provide an educational and community-based setting to recruit, develop and deploy coaches, who will lead and inspire player development specifically in the women’s and girls’ game.

Establishing a connection with the England talent pathway and FA WSL & Championships clubs, the centres will provide talented players with an environment to facilitate both their academic and football ambitions, providing a variety of services such as coaching, sports science, and sports medicine and scholarship opportunities.

The programme at UoG has been in full flow now since January 2018 and in turn has delivered successful programmes to students, grassroots coaches, and those coaches working in the Female Talent Pathway.

How can this benefit you as a student?

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The FA WHPFC has a bespoke placement programme for all students. Students will receive support in sourcing coaching specific placements as well as 1:1 mentoring to support them in their role.

Through the connections of the FA WHPFC we are also able to support students in finding other placements. Previous success stories have been, performance analyst, strength and conditioning & sports therapy at Bristol City Women’s First team & Gloucester City Men’s just to name a few.

The University’s Women’s & Men’s Football & Futsal Coaches also receive bespoke support, both on and off-pitch. This includes session and match day observation, a 1:1 development plan, video analysis support and ongoing mentoring.

Other opportunities students can gain access to are:

  • Bespoke coaching workshops
  • Bespoke mentoring
  • Coaching observations at Elite Women’s Football Clubs
  • Coaching observations at other Professional sporting environments
  • Seminars with key guest deliverers
  • FA Coaching Courses delivered onsite and around students studies.

All support is provided by the FA WHPFC Coach Development Officer, Steve Lilley.

Women footballers
FA Women's High Performance Football Centre

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Away from the University, Steve works with coaches in the female game who have the potential & ambitions to progress in the game across Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Somerset, and Oxfordshire.

Many of these coaches are working within the England Talent Pathway, through the Regional Talent Clubs and Advance Coaching Centres, or with Women’s Teams who complete in the National League.

Coaches receive a mixture of seminars, workshops, community of practices & most importantly bespoke 1:1 support to support them in the next step of their coaching journey.  

For more information please do not hesitate to email Steve: [email protected]

Our students’ experience

“BUCS Football has been a massive part of building by confidence & leadership skills as a coach, I have gained many skills that can not only be used in a football setting, but in life.

The support I’ve had from those around me during this last 3 years has been fundamental for my development & I’ve been able to progress from BUCS into professional environments & helped me build various contacts.”

Dene Field

“When I came to university, I didn’t believe I had a sport as I never thought I was particularly skilled in anything. But since meeting Abbie and completing my Level 1 coaching badge, working towards my Level 2, I have realised that my speciality sport is football.

Whilst being at university, I have also become a youth ambassador for Gloucestershire Football Association, supporting grassroots football. This has been an amazing opportunity and has helped me to develop myself as an individual. I can’t wait to see where football takes me in the future.”

Hayley Kevern

“I could not have achieved what I have without the experience and skills I gained at UoG and the support from people through the GFA.

I hope that others will follow in my footsteps to build a career in the industry that I love.”

Lottie Weeks

Contact us

For more information on the FA Women’s High Performance Football Centre, please email Steve Lilley.