E.S.S.R. Innovative FC 'Your Online Coach'

Online Coaching Syllabus and Football Development Programme

Designed & Produced by Dek Smith

Director ESSR Innovative FC

Please Remember to complete the section at the bottom of this introduction to complete your purchase Thank You

                 Introduction: Why Now?

Firstly, thank you for your interest in purchasing and becoming a member of my Online Coaching and Football Development Programme.

ESSR Innovative FC

I hope you gain a great deal of knowledge, and hopefully learn some new coaching skills, to aid your career in the world of football. Your annual subscription of GBP 15 will gain you access to my monthly coaching log and session plans throughout 2023.

Okay, so Why Now?

That is a great question, and one I’ve been asking myself for years.

I would like to take you back to 1988 when I was first asked to coach a junior team (U-15) in a small village in North Wales, U.K. Although I had played football in Manchester U.K. from the age of around six, I thought coaching football would be easy, and nobody was going to tell a 36-year-old football fanatic anything I did not alreay know!

How wrong I was, and after just a few sessions, I quickly realized I did not know how to transfer my football knowledge in an educational format to youth players, and they were expecting more.

I decided to seek help and started asking my friends and colleagues about coaching programmes. Most of them said the same thing: “Go ask your local library. “(No Search Google in 1988!)

So off I went to my local library, and I asked the simple question: Do you have any books on coaching, as I would like to become a football coach? The librarian looked through her rolodex system before checking out the sport book shelves. After about 25 minutes, she was delighted to inform me that she had found something which contained two audio tapes inside the book! Wow, I am in!

I started to feel excited that I finally had something to help me become a better coach. The book and audio tapes were from the S.F.A. Coaching Programme, which was ironic since I was in North Wales, and the only book about coaching was from the Scottish Football Association! However, I was simply delighted to have found something.

This was the start of my coaching career, and I set off on a mission to gain as much coaching knowledge as possible, and to sit as many coaching courses as I physically could. I asked the local junior league whether I could become a member and gave them the name of the team I was coaching: ‘Bagillt Juniors F.C’. That was it: I was in the system!

From this point on, I attended and became qualified for as many coaching awards as possible (theory and practical's); within two years, I was involved with North Wales Coast F.A., and coaching their junior teams. I was invited to become a member of the Welsh F.A. coaching staff, and from this point, I never looked back. The N.W.C.F.A. and F.A.W. provided me with opportunities to coach and further develop my coaching career. Over the next few years, I became involved in coach education as well as coaching, and being a fully qualified referee was also providing and fulfilling my appetite for the love of the beautiful game, in coach education and player development.

Spending six years with the N.W.C.F.A. and the F.A.W. allowed me to gain many coaching awards and provided a unique experience of coaching in Centres of Development and Centre's of Excellence all over the country, in addition to taking coaching roles on summer programmes in Sweden, France, and Denmark.

Within six years, my coaching career had risen from studying an audio library book to gaining all my U.E.F.A. coaching awards and sports science qualifications.

In 1995, I fulfilled my first international coaching role at the Gothia Cup in Sweden. This was the start of my International Coaching Career. Since then, I have been involved in international football, coaching and football development in many countries. In 1998, I became Director of Coaching for Ocean Strand F.C., and South Carolina U-14 Boys’ State Coach, besides Head Coach for International Football USA and Tour Director. I continued to pursue my coaching qualifications and was determined to gain all my UEFA coaching awards, finally sitting my UEFA Advanced A’ license in 2001,

Having traveled back to the UK to sit my UEFA awards I headed back to America in my new role as Director of Coaching for Coastal Georgia Soccer Association, and Georgia Staff Coach Instructor, plus Director of Coaching for Golden Isles Soccer Association. I enjoyed this role for several years, before I took the giant leap of moving from America to Rome, Italy, to set up English Soccer Schools in Rome (E.S.S.R.), working closely with clubs and schools, helping players to Learn English Through Football.

I became Head of Football for one of the leading international schools in Europe: St George’s International School, Rome - a role which I held for 5 years before the next giant leap in my coaching career: to India - one of the fastest growing football countries on the planet. I was invited to become Head Coach of a leading college and international school (M.A.I.S. and M.A. College). It was 2018, and my 2-year contract allowed me to witness the incredible growth of football in this amazing country.

Then Covid struck, which changed all of our lives. However, this time allowed me to look back and reflect on my 30+ years in coaching football, in many countries, with diverse cultures and lifestyles. However, I kept coming back to the same conclusion: no matter where you are, and where you’re from, and whatever background you come from, Football is the game which helps young players develop life skills and social friendships on an international level.

I know now is the time to make my experience and knowledge easy to access, through an educational online portal, to help share my thousands of sessions, and my football development brain. In this way, anyone who wishes to gain coaching knowledge, who seeks help and guidance in hundreds of coaching and playing situations, they will find ESSR Innovate F.C. like a breath of fresh air in a world where V.A.R. and the football pundits have taken over from the most significant role of all: ‘Coaching Football as a LIFE Skill’

I look forward to helping you and your players, through various online tutorials, tips, and advice, aimed to help your football coaching needs. ESSR Innovate F.C. is here to help you consolidate and build your own coaching syllabus, through direct or indirect online coaching seminars and consultations.

It is all here online, for you and your players at

ESSR Innovative F.C.

I hope this helps to explain Why Now?

I hope you enjoy this introductory portfolio to ESSR. Innovative F.C. and hope you will subscribe to the tutorials listed below 

1.   Why Now?

2.  Fundamentals on how we design and execute a football coaching session

3.  Full use and understanding of the Coaching Cycle

4.  How we set the themes, topics, and key points within our coaching session

5.  Understanding the learning curve and how we achieve success

6.  Coaching Logs and Players personal profile (how to design)

7.  It’s not about me, it’s about you and the ball (Coaching Mission Statement)

8.  The Complete coaching session in three steps to success

9.  Introducing Player profile objects and team mechanics

10. Team Management from the ground up?

11.  Knowing your role and where we fit in

12. Coaching by Numbers Dynamic coaching strategies

13. Zonal and understanding how it works for everyone

14. Session Planning (show and tell)

15. The Mechanics behind the Coach

16. It’s Just A’ Football, or is it?

Thanks for subscribing.

Happy Coaching!

Yours in the beautiful Game,

Dek Smith

E.S.S.R. Innovative F.C. Director