Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce spoke at FACA Conference at Wembley.
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Sam Allardyce believes the importance of coaching England’s younger footballers has never been as important as it currently is.
The Blackburn Rovers manager was at Wembley on Thursday to speak at The FA Coaches Association Conference, when the new Future Game document for grassroots coaching was launched with over 600 coaches from around the country in attendance.
Whilst Allardyce has spent the last few years of his career as a boss in the Premier League with the likes of Rovers, Newcastle United and Bolton Wanderers, he had to work his way gradually up the career ladder in the days following his retirement from playing.
He worked with young players at Bolton and Preston before becoming a manager in his own right with the likes of Blackpool and Notts County, so he is hoping he can help inspire many of the coaches in attendance at Wembley today.
“It’s a fantastic turn out from all of the coaches on a very cold day at Wembley,” said Allardyce.
“I’m just here to try and answer some questions from the coaches who are here. I like to think I’ve done it at their level in many cases, as I worked with younger players in Centre of Excellences and Academies at clubs before becoming a manager.
“I know how important coaching qualifications are when it comes to developing youngsters and we need more coaches at grassroots level to ensure that players are at a good standard as they progress into more senior football.
“We need to produce more and more players of that standard and that is how we will do it.
“And it will also help younger players to enjoy football too, which is also very important.”
