Community Football Coaching

Community football coaching combines the technical and pedagogical skills of football coaching with an understanding of how the sport functions in community settings to promote participation, wellbeing, inclusion, and social development. Football is more than entertainment; it is one of the world's most powerful tools for community engagement, used in programmes addressing youth development, mental health, social cohesion, and physical activity across every population and in every country. Community coaches work at this intersection, using the sport as a vehicle for broader goals alongside developing the technical ability of their players.

At the University of St Mark and St John, this four-year full-time programme includes a professional practice year embedded within the degree, giving you sustained real-world coaching experience before you graduate. You will develop your football coaching knowledge and skills at every level, from understanding the technical and tactical dimensions of the game to learning how to plan, deliver, and evaluate coaching sessions for different age groups, abilities, and community contexts. You will also develop an understanding of the social science of sport, community development, and the evidence base for using sport in health and wellbeing programmes.

The professional practice year is a defining feature, placing you in real coaching environments, community organisations, or football development programmes where you will build experience, professional networks, and the reflective practice that effective coaches develop over time.

You will graduate with a combination of technical coaching knowledge and community practice skills that is valued by football clubs, leisure trusts, schools, local authorities, and social organisations.

Graduates go on to careers as football coaches, community sports coaches, school sport coordinators, sport development officers, and education and welfare professionals within professional football clubs. Postgraduate study in sport development, coaching science, or physical education is an option for those seeking further specialisation.