Neil ConnorAbout Neil
Academy leadership, coach development and programme delivery, informed by more than a decade working across the UK, Mexico and Asia.
Professional profile
Current role · September 2026–present
I lead English Football Academy (EFA), combining responsibility for football direction, coaching and player development with business planning and day-to-day operations.
EFA places the individual at the centre of technical, tactical, physical, psychological and social development. Its core values are Development, Respect and Ambition.
I bring experience across academy leadership, technical direction, senior-team coaching and coach mentoring. My work connects the football on the pitch with the people, methodology and everyday decisions that support a programme.
My experience has taken me across the UK, Mexico and Asia and has included academy coaching, coach mentoring, senior-team leadership, programme development and technical direction. That breadth shapes how I think: the quality of the player experience depends on the quality and alignment of the environment around them.
I am particularly interested in individual development plans, game-model design, tactical periodisation, coach observation and feedback, player pathways and translating a football identity into everyday practice.
Working across academy coaching, senior-team leadership and technical direction has given me a view of development from both the training pitch and the programme around it. I connect football ideas with the practical decisions staff make: what to prioritise, how to design the work, what to observe and when to review it.
For players and academies, I offer structured development reporting that brings together coach observations, player reflection and evidence from training and matches. The aim is to identify manageable priorities, agree practical actions and build a record that supports the next conversation. Physical-testing reports can sit alongside this work, with results interpreted in the player’s wider development context.
For coaches, I offer mentoring, session-plan review, observation and feedback. We work from the players, responsibilities and challenges in their own environment, connecting reflection to a clear development plan and changes they can trial in practice.
For clubs and coaching teams, I support methodology, curriculum and session design. This means connecting playing principles, coach language, practice design and review processes so that a football identity is reflected in the everyday player experience. Each piece of work begins with understanding the environment and agreeing a realistic scope.
Selected journey
September 2026–present
Lead English Football Academy, bringing together football direction, coaching and player development with business planning and day-to-day operations. EFA’s development-first approach considers technical, tactical, physical, psychological and social development, guided by Development, Respect and Ambition.
2021–September 2026
Founded and led a player-development academy, creating an ages 3–18 pathway, coaching methodology, game models, individual development plans and coach-development processes. My CV records growth from three to more than 120 players.
2021
Supported coaches through observation, feedback and action planning, including coaches progressing through UEFA C qualifications.
2021
Planned and delivered a season-long coaching programme, including tactical periodisation and technical and tactical development within the senior-team environment.
2020
Led an operational review and standards reset across an international academy programme, connecting expectations to clearer delivery processes.
Six-month international placement
Delivered youth coaching across ages 3–18, alongside football clinics and community programmes in Vietnam.
Earlier career
Developed coaching experience across youth academies and senior football in the UK, Mexico and Asia.
Downloads
Experience, qualifications and football leadership.
Download CV · PDF ↓A visual overview of my methodology, academy systems and selected work.
Download Portfolio · PDF ↓View Portfolio ↗Case Studies
Explore academy development, coach-development systems, budgeting, financial reporting and forecasting through selected experience and anonymised portfolio examples.
Explore The Case Studies ↗Experience
Examples of work across academy development, coaching, operations and performance.
Founded and led an academy with an ages 3–18 pathway and a four-coach team. My CV records growth from three to more than 120 players. Designed the ages 3–18 pathway, age-phase methodology, game models, IDPs and review processes needed to make growth sustainable.
Designed a Coach Competency Framework connecting observation, self-reflection, feedback and action planning. The purpose was not uniformity; it was a shared language for better conversations about coaching quality.
Reviewed an international academy operation and translated findings into clearer expectations, responsibilities and working practices. The focus was consistency between the intended programme and the experience delivered to players and families.
Used performance analysis and targeted practice to address attacking efficiency within a senior-team environment. The work connected an identified performance question with practice design and subsequent review.
Qualifications