Adrian Boothroyd is a man on a mission, after his playing career was ended by injury at the age of just 26 he has been soaking up all the information he can and becoming one of the most promising young English coaches.

After spells coaching Peterborough Under-17s, Under-19s and Reserves, Adrian joined Norwich City as Youth Team coach under Nigel Worthington in 2001.

Next stop was The Hawthorns where Adrian joined as West Brom's Youth Development Officer before being appointed Technical Director.

He then moved to Leeds as First Team Coach before being appointed boss at Vicarage Road.

But Adrian was not just learning on the job, picking up pointers from the likes of Worthington and Kevin Blackwell, he was putting in the hours in the classroom, and by the age of 34 had already passed his UEFA 'A' and 'B' qualifications.

In the space of a month, Adrian has achieved two of his primary objectives - getting Watford into the top division in England, and gaining the highest coaching qualification possible, the UEFA Pro Licence.

Talking to TheFA.com Adrian reflected on what he made of the Pro Licence course at Warwick, revealing how much he got out of it.

He said: “I think it’s excellent because you get people from all clubs. There are lots of opinions, and sometimes you get people who don’t always agree but that’s great and really thought provoking.

“When you want to move football forward you have to give everyone the capacity to learn a little bit more than before, that is why I think it’s been excellent.

“It can be difficult to juggle because of the intensity of the job you do away from the course, because you have to win matches to stay in a job.

“But I think in this day and age the camaraderie amongst the older managers isn’t really there now, they used to go away after a game and talk about what happened at great length. Nowadays you have a drink perhaps when the game is over and that’s about it.

“It’s good to come here to Warwick and listen to the other managers and find out the experiences the other people have had – to be honest I’ve loved every minute of it." 

Although eager to garner as much technical information as he can, when asked about the level of detail that can be applied to football, Aidrian is quick to reinforce the basic elements of football that remain crucial to success.

“I think although the game can be technical, it is primarily about scoring goals and not conceding them. But the little one per cent you can use to give yourself an opportunity to win matches and develop your club is always going to be helpful."

It was those little elements that helped Adrian push Watford forward last year and take them into the Premier League, and he believes that taking time out to study for his qualifications kept him fresh during the long hard season.

“In the Championship it was game after game after game, it was monotonous to be honest.

"So it’s always important as a manager to take time out and get off the hamsters wheel for a while. You don’t always get time to do that. It is like a busman’s holiday in a way, but it is a great break from the day-to-day rituals of our profession."

After a fairytale season with Watford which ended with a triumphant Championship Playoff victory, Adrian can't wait to test himself against the very best in the Premier League.

He told us: “I’m really looking forward to next season, it is the elite league in the world in my opinion and you want to be up against the best teams every week.

"Thinking about the grounds we're going to play in and the people we're going to face - it's going to be very special.

"I don't know if I garnered any tips from Steve [Clarke] during the lessons, but we are going to have to squeeze every last drop of information from this course if we are going to be successful, because that is what we want to do.

“I think we will continue to surprise people and I’ve always said that about my team.”