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Professional Player to Coach Scheme

Full time Coaching Soccer Coach

Job Description

Step Into the Game: A Career-Changing Coaching Opportunity 

  • Contract Type: 23-month fixed-term
  • Salary: £29,500 per annum
  • Role & Development Programme: The successful candidate will divide their time between Wigan Athletic FC Academy Coach employment and the Premier League Coach Development Programme
  • Location: Stadium Way, Wigan, WN5 0UN 

Join the Professional Player to Coach Scheme (PPCS)

Wigan Athletic, in partnership with the Premier League, PFA and EFL, is offering a 23-month, full-time Academy coaching role to support the development of the next generation of football coaches as part of the Professional Player to Coach Scheme 2026/27. The scheme is open to all, and we particularly welcome applications from individuals from Black, Asian and mixed heritage backgrounds, as they are underrepresented groups amongst the coaching roles that exist across the professional game.

What’s Involved?

You’ll split your time between Academy coaching at Wigan Athletic and the Premier League’s accredited Coach Development Programme. You’ll gain experience across development phases and work with multi-disciplinary teams.

Your development journey will include: 

  • Mentoring and bespoke support 

  • Immersive learning experiences 

  • Peer learning  

  • Access to FA/UEFA qualifications (based on development need and subject to availability) 

  • An understanding of game states and changing systems within games, balancing age-appropriate learning versus long-term player development. 

  • Use of academy-wide Microsoft OneDrive to support and capture player development (player profile) and training data. 

On successful completion of all programme elements, you’ll be awarded a Diploma in Professional Football Coaching from Leeds Beckett University.

What We’re Looking For   

  • U11/12 academy cell lead and PDP assistant coach. 

  • Responsible for the training, coaching and games programming (planning, reviewing and executing), for two age groups within the foundation phase (U11/U12). 

  • Assisting with professional development phase sessions and individual development programs under the direction of the professional development phase lead coach. 

  • Collaboration with multidisciplinary team (strength and conditioning, sports science and medicine, analysis, IDP coaches, phase leads and operations), to produce short-term training cycles, containing details which the candidate brings from their own playing career, to maximise individual development within a group setting. 

Essential Criteria 

  • PFA member

  • Registered on, or completed, the UEFA B Licence as a minimum

  • No prior full-time 1st Team or Academy coaching role at a Premier League or EFL club 

  • FA Safeguarding Certificate, Emergency First Aid, and Enhanced DBS (to be completed before role commencement

  Desirable criteria

  • Experience of coaching in one or more of the following environments: grassroots, community, education, development centre or part-time academy football settings 

  • Experience of coaching a team or group of players regularly 

  • Experience of holistic youth development activities within, or beyond, sport 

  • UEFA A Licence or FA Advanced Youth Award 

You’ll bring:

  • A drive to coach in the professional game 

  • Passion for player development & developmentally appropriate learning environments 

  • Commitment to fulfilling the duty of care for children, young people, and adults in healthy, high-performance environments 

  • Resilience and commitment to high-performance environments 

  • Excellent communication and relationship-building skills 

  • A desire to be a role model and ambassador for diversity in the game 

Wigan Athletic Football Club
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