Soccer Science is delighted to welcome you to The Etihad Stadium, the home of the current Premier League Champions. Constructed in the early 2000’s for the Commonwealth Games the ground now holds 53,000 spectators on match days. Despite it’s youth in comparison to many of the famous grounds across the country, the Etihad has already experienced its fair share of iconic football moments. From Sergio Aguero’s famous 93rd minute winner to steal the premier league title from local rivals Manchester United to Adebeyor’s controversial celebration versus his former club Arsenal. This venue is a hallmark of English Football and we’re delighted to have you with us today!
Learn more about the background of each of our speakers today
Steve McClaren
As a player, McClaren played over 300 professional games in a career lasting over 12 years.
Following his retirement from playing Steve was assistant manager at Oxford United before moving to Derby as assistant. In 1998 he became assistant to Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, where he was part of the backroom staff to win the infamous ‘Treble’ in 1999.
McClaren first management role was with Middlesborough, winning the clubs only major trophy in 2004 when beating Bolton 2-1 in the League Cup final. Impressively, ‘Boro were also runners up in the 2006 UEFA cup.
In 2006 he was appointed manager of the England senior team. Following his role in the international game, Steve returned to the domestic game with FC Twente where he won the Eredivisie. He later moved on to manage VfL Wolfsburg in Germany.
McClaren later returned to England to manage Nottingham Forest before returning to former club FC Twente.
In recent years, Steve has managed Derby County, Newcastle United and Queens Park Rangers.
With just shy of 1000 games spend in the professional dugout Steve brings a wealth of knowledge to the Soccer Science Conference.
Dr Adam Owen, PhD
Adam is a UEFA Pro License Holder and has amassed a wide array of roles and experiences within the professional game.
His playing career was spent predominantly in the Welsh system with spells in Scotland.
Owen’s first experience in coaching came while still playing at Wrexham FC before moving to Celtic to become a performance coach. Following his spell in Scotland, Adam moved south to become fitness coach at Sheffield Wednesday.
He later returned to Scotland, this time with Rangers, to become their performance director. During this period, Adam also gained experience in the international game working for the Football Association of Wales where he was part of the Euro 2016 backroom staff. Wales’ first qualification for a major tournament since 1958.
Adam has also worked as assistant manager at Sheffield United and Servette FC.
In 2017 he was appointed manager of Lechia Gdansk. Following this role he moved to China to work with former Wales boss Chris Coleman at Hebei China Fortune FC.
From China, Adam moved to the USA to take on the role of Technical Advisor to the Seattle Sounders.
Most recently, Dr Owen is working as the Technical Director to Lech Poznan in Poland.
Gerard Jones
Gerard Jones is the founder of popular platform Ulearnbly.
Jones’ coaching experience stems from work in community programs where he was the Director of Coaching at Arsenal Soccer Schools.
He later gained experience working in the academy of Rochdale FC before stepping into his first management role with non-league Eccleshill United.
Following this stint in management he returned to academy football to become Bradford City’s U21’s assistant coach.
He has also worked as the head of coaching at Bristol Rovers FC.
Gerard is well known for his coach education expertise. He has worked internationally, educating coaches across the world. In 2018 he joined the United States Soccer Federation as a coach educator before later moving to Morocco. In Morocco he worked for the Royal Moroccan Football Federation as an Elite Educator under the direction of Former FAW Technical Director Osian Roberts.
Lee Skyrme
Lee is a UEFA Pro License Holder currently working as the ‘B’ Team Individual Development Coach at Southampton Football Club.
Prior to his work at the world-famous academy, Lee held roles at the Football Association where he worked as the U15s Head Coach and the National Specialist Coach.
Skyrme has previously worked as the Lead professional development coach at Exeter City and Cardiff City Football Club.
During this period, he also worked as a coach educator for the renowned Football Association of Wales coach education system.
Dave Carolan
Dave Carolan is one of the most experienced practitioners in the game.
A pioneer in the sport science world he started his career working with Aston Villa in the late 1990’s.
From here, Carolan has gone on to work for a host of professional clubs in the English game such as Ipswich Town, Norwich City, Colchester United, Birmingham City, Derby County, Stoke City and most recently Millwall Football Club.
He also has experience working in a variety of academic roles.
Carolan is notable also for his popular app ‘I-DRILLS’ which offers support material for coaches and practitioners.
Jack Sharkey
Sharkey attended Bangor and Loughborough Universities before going on to work for Nike as a sport scientist.
His first experience in the professional game came at Burton Albion where he as Head of Sport Science. He has held similar positions at Queens Park Rangers and Aston Villa where he was part of the backroom staff to achieve promotion back to the premier league.
Most recently, Jack has been working as head of Sport Science for the Australian Womens National Team.
Ben Bartlett
Ben is currently the head of coaching at Fulham FC where he has worked since 2019.
Prior to this he held various roles at the Football Association in a period of over 11 years working predominantly in the coach education program, progressing to become a Senior Youth Coach Educator.
Prior to this he worked as the Director of Coaching for Chelsea Womens FC.
Callum Walsh
Another extremely experienced high-performance practitioner, Callum has worked around the world.
He started his career with Shrewsbury Town before becoming an academy coach at Liverpool FC.
His first experience in the first team environment came with Cardiff City as head of S&C where they gained their first promotion to the premier league. Walsh later went on to work for Wigan Athletic as Head of Athletic Development and Rehab.
From here, Callum took his talents overseas working for Athletic Paranaense, the Turkish Football Federation and Aspire Academy in Qatar.
He returned to England in 2018 to become Head of Performance at Huddersfield Town. Most recently he has worked as Head of Sport Science at Newcastle United.
Andy Goldie
Andy is currently Academy Director at Dundee United, one of the most innovative thinking academies in football!
A UEFA A license holder, Goldie has previously worked for the Scottish Football Association and UEFA.
Prior to this, he worked as a scout for Championship side Middlesborough FC and Hamilton Academical Football Club in Scotland.
Andy is a graduate of the University of West Scotland where he studied a degree in Sports Coaching.
Jamie McAllister
McAllister had a length playing career, amassing over 550 professional games including a cap for Scotland.
Following his retirement from playing he began coaching at Bristol City as the YDP U16’s coach before progressing to U23’s Manager.
Shortly after he was promoted to 1st Team Assistant Head Coach working with Lee Johnson.
Jamie is a UEFA Pro Licence coach and most recently worked as Assistant Head Coach at Sunderland FC, linking up again with Johnson. He will join our panel discussion on ‘Player Development’.
Mark Allen in conversation with Jonathan Northcroft
The Sunday Times Chief Football Writer, Jonathan Northcroft, will be in conversation with Swansea City’s Mark Allen about the role of the Sporting Director.
Mark Allen has an extensive career of football leadership after making the switch from the broadcasting industry.
He has previously worked as the Director of Academy at our hosts Manchester City before taking on the role of Director of Football at Rangers.
In 2021 he was appointed Academy Director at Swansea City before quickly progressing to the Sporting Director role he now occupies.
Bryn Law
Bryn has over 20 years of experience in football media and will be hosting the 2022 Soccer Science event.
He spent over 20 years on our television screens reporting for Sky Sports, making regular appearances on the renowned Soccer Saturday show.
During this period, he also worked as a media trainer for the Football Association of Wales delivering content on the UEFA A and Pro License Courses.
Most recently, Bryn has worked as a commentator for Leeds United Football club, featuring in the Amazon Prime documentary ‘Take us home’.
Lee Johnson
Prior to stepping into coaching, Johnson had a successful playing career with over 400 games played, predominantly for Yeovil Town and Bristol City.
The midfielder made the switch to coaching in 2013 with Oldham Athletic before moving to Barnsley.
Lee enjoyed success with Bristol City notably defeating Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United side in a league cup upset before going toe-to-toe with Manchester City over two legs.
Lee has recently left his role as Head Coach of Sunderland AFC. Today, he will be talking about the role of the modern Head Coach.
Geir Jordet
Geir Jordet is a world renowned specialist on the topics of scanning and decision making in elite football. Geir will be presenting on “Awareness & Scanning in elite football” as well as joining in on the “Decision making in elite football” panel discussion.
Douglas Wright
Douglas is an experience performance analyst currently working for Premier League side Crystal Palace.
He will be speaking on behalf of our partners ‘Be Pro’ about Technology and Player Development.
A huge thank you to todays sponsors for their continued support of the Soccer Science Conference. We encourage you to speak with them at our exhibition. Further details on all of our sponsors can be found on their websites which can be accessed by clicking on their logos.
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