Hungary for more

The Hungarian Second Division might not be the most obvious place to find a former Sheffield United and Leeds forward, but after guiding Ferencvaros back into the top flight last season Bobby Davison has now decided to take his coaching qualifications to the highest level as well.

Davison has joined 16 other coaches and managers in taking his first steps on the year-long UEFA Pro Licence and he now hopes this elite qualification will aid his development at the top level of the game.

"The key thing for me," he said, "is that whatever I learn over the course of the year it will ultimately help me in my job at Ferencvaros.

"Even though we’ve only completed our first week what we’ve learned so far has been fantastic. I know this is the qualification you need if you want to manage in the Premier League, but I’d recommend it to any coach that has just acquired their ‘A’ Licence. It’s brilliant."

Where the ‘A’ Licence focuses primarily on coaching, the Pro Licence allows candidates to learn about factors that surround the game such as employment law, the media and finance and Davison could be breaking new ground in Hungary when he completes the course next summer.

"In Hungary things are a bit different and they’re used to coaches and managers just coaching the team; they’re not used to managers getting involved behind the scenes. This course will help me become involved in all of these duties and hopefully that will help the club in the long run.

"There’s a lot of experienced coaches on this course," he continued, "and it’s great to be able to bounce things off each other. It also gives you ideas of how to work with staff back at your own club. We’ll all probably be in touch throughout the year, so I'm sure we’ll all help each other through it."

After securing a link with Sheffield United last year, Davison will bring Ferencvaros to England for three pre-season friendlies in July. The Hungarians, who are also coached by ex-Blades defender Craig Short, will face Sheffield FC, Lincoln City and Barnsley as they prepare for their first season back in the top division.

With 28 Hungarian titles to their name Ferencvaros are no strangers to success, but armed with the UEFA Pro Licence Davison hopes to write his own name into the history of Hungary’s most famous club.

"When I was playing I never thought about coaching until I came towards the end of my career and I’d tell any player to start their coaching badges as soon as possible," advised Davison, who enjoyed a spell as Colin Todd’s Assistant Manager at Bradford City.

"This is my first managerial role at the top of the game and although I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time so far, hopefully this Pro Licence will improve both me as a manager and Ferencvaros as a club.

"The Pro Licence has certainly opened my eyes."

Click here for a full list of this year's intake.

TheFA.com was granted access to the University of Warwick for the opening week of the Pro Licence and over the coming days we will publish interviews with both the new intake and the graduation group of 2009.