England insight
Transforming lives
England Blind football head coach, Jonathan Pugh, tells The Boot Room about his dedication to the blind game and his ever evolving coaching approach.
Jonathan Pugh is in the unique position of helping to transform lives through football. As head coach of England’s blind football team, his work involves identifying potential and preparing it to perform on the world stage – it’s a role he feels privileged to be in.“We really can transform blind footballers’ lives by coaching them - we can help an individual with an ounce of talent to become one of the best players in the world. It’s a great opportunity and, in reality, it’s probably the only part of football where you can do that” explained Pugh.
Given the tiny pool of blind footballers playing football in this country, Pugh has no easy task. In Brazil there are 60 blind football teams to choose a national team from. England has three.
“Blind footballers are hard to find, we have a dedicated talent ID team working tirelessly to find them, but we still have limited numbers coming through the pathway. You don't see a great blind footballer playing in a Sunday league match - we've actively got to go out and find players.
“I think within the teams in this country we've got around 30 players signed who could play for England and we're trying to expand that.”
Our players look like athletes, they train like athletes and they are athletes now
Pugh’s association with England blind football spans over two decades. As the team’s sighted goalkeeper between 1995 and 2008 he made over 100 appearances for his country. After hanging up his gloves, he joined the England coaching staff and in 2014 was named head coach. Much has changed to the sport during his coaching journey.
“The difference between when I played and now is that there's been a massive increase in sports science. Our players look like athletes, train like athletes and they are athletes” he explained.
In the past few years the squad have come close to success, finishing fourth in the 2015 IBSA Blind Football European Championships, and picking up silver medals at the IBSA Blind Football World Grand Prix in 2018 and 2019.
The support provided by The FA, who have backed the squad since 2001, has played a huge part in helping the team achieve these finishes, explains Pugh.
“The amount of time we get together has changed massively. In the early days we had one day camps and met every one or two months. We now have three or four days of camp every month at St. George's Park, which is amazing. Our contact time with professional coaches is massive and that can only mean that the players are going to get better.”
Pugh’s transition from player to coach was a natural one. Having experienced the game on the field he had the confidence to pass on his knowledge to the next generation.
“I had been in the game for 12 or 13 years before retiring from playing. The FA needed someone with that experience to be able to continue the good work that was happening at the time.
“Having been on the pitch with the players I felt I had an insight into what the players needed to learn, as opposed to just being a coach who's got a badge and who just wants to teach people different things,” explained Pugh.
Due to the ever evolving nature of blind football, Pugh’s own coaching approach has changed.
“My coaching approach has changed each year I have been involved. It's now ‘less is more’ because the squad have a better understanding of the game. I don't need to say as much.
“In the past, I was physically commentating on what I wanted to happen: 'I want you to get the ball, I want you to dribble right and after five steps I want you to switch it to Dan who's running in...'.
“The games are too quick for that now - by the time I finish my sentence the game and pictures have changed and I'm giving the wrong information,” he added.
Although quieter on matchday, away from the pitch Pugh’s input is greater than ever.
“As the head coach you don't walk off the pitch and everything is forgotten. You're speaking to the players regularly and you're there as a listening post for them when they're having problems in their life.”
For Pugh it is all worth it. His aim is to help England to compete with some of the best teams in the world.
“My biggest challenge is trying to reinvent how we play and to make us relevant for whatever competition we're going to. We used to spend a lot of time looking at the best teams in the world and trying to copy them, but by the time we got to play them they had moved on again.
“What we're trying to do now is to think about the things that teams will be doing in the next 2 or 3 years and to try and build our relevance to that stage.
“It's hard to do because it means that the here and now games may not get the outcomes we're hoping to get, but you've got to use those games as a tool to get you to where you want to be in the future.”