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Academy Insights

Palace for Life will host special guests for an evening where we explore inside a professional football Academy.

Register here

Join us as we delve into life inside of a professional football club Academy, as we talk to the experts to understand what the Academy setting is really like and how budding footballers can increase their chances of getting there.

The free session is perfect for anyone who wants do develop their understanding of how an Academy works, or anyone who is a parent of a young footballer.

The evening will consist of a panel discussion amongst our special guests, which will open up into a Q&A session, where anyone in attendance can ask questions.

During the session we will discuss:

  • What life is like inside of a professional club Academy
  • What Academy coaches and scouts look for in young players
  • Simple things young players can do to improve

The panel will be made up of Palace for Life Director of Sports and Wellbeing, Gary Mulcahey, and Palace for Life Senior Football Development Coordinator and Crystal Palace Academy Foundation Phase coach, Stuart Jacob.  They also will be joined in the evening by guests, Phil Hingston and Geoff Noonan. You can see a bio on our guests, below.

Phil Hingston

After spells with Brentford FC and Dagenham & Redbridge FC, Phil joined Crystal Palace F.C in 2013 where he worked as a Sports Scientist in the professional development phase before going on to work with the first team under Alan Pardew and Sam Allardyce.

Since 2018, Phil has been working full-time as the Foundation Phase Lead Coach where he oversees all players and staff from the U8-U12 age groups as well as taking a team. Phil has helped develop the clubs coaching and playing philosophies during the transition to become a Category 1 Academy and through his time has seen a number of Academy graduates go on to have successful careers in the game such as current Premier League players Aaron Wan Bissaka and Tyrick Mitchell.

Geoff Noonan

Geoff Noonan has been a coach educator for over 20 years across a number of organisations. He worked at Fulham F.C. Academy for 12 years and was primarily responsible for the successful application for Category 1 status, with regard to the coaching programme including coach development. This has helped produce a number of professional players.

Geoff now supports coaches working within the Academy system, including those on the A Licence and Advanced Youth Award. He has also worked extensively in the grass roots game and delivered FA Courses to a wide variety of coaches at all levels for many years.

Stuart Jacob

Stuart Jacob is a UEFA licensed coach and has over 10 years experience working within football development. He has worked in a wide range of different roles within sport and football including a PE teacher, a scout at a Premier League club, an Academy coach and a football development officer.

Stuart has worked at Crystal Palace F.C Academy for 4 seasons, working in the youth development phase with the U13s and the foundation phase with the U9s. Stuart is currently the Senior Football Development Coordinator at Palace for Life, and the Crystal Palace F.C Academy U9s coach.

To attend the webinar, click HERE.

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