Football Coaches Australia presents ‘The Football Coaching Life Podcast’ S3 Ep 2 with Gary Cole interviewing Steve Corica

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Corica FCA

Steve Corica is Head Coach of A-League Men at Sydney FC, where he narrowly missed out on three A-League Championships in a row, losing to Melbourne City in the Grand Final last season. What a remarkable start to his first senior head coaching role!

He played his junior football in Innisfail in North Queensland, before heading to the Australian Institute of Sport and playing just under 500 professional games in Australia, England and Japan.

Steve’s preparation for coaching began while he was playing, and he started to gain his coaching licences before taking on an assistant role with the Sydney FC Youth Team.

He served a seven-year apprenticeship at Sydney with the Youth Team and then as an assistant to Vitezslav Lavicka, Frank Farina and Graham Arnold before taking on the Head Coach role in 2018. He learned from each of these coaches and also learned, like most ‘he didn’t know, what he didn’t know’ when taking on the Head Coaching Role.

Steve believes that team and club culture are key to success. He understands that while he is the driver of the culture, that buy-in from all of the players is integral to behaviours being demanded from the playing group of one another.

Steve’s ‘one piece of wisdom’ was ‘to be yourself’. Know how you want to play, the style of football you want to play. Be strong when you do get setbacks, but believe in what you’re doing, stay strong and keep believing in the style of football you want to play.

Please join me in sharing Steve Corica’s Football Coaching Life.

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Tottenham Hotspur deliver player development workshop for Football NSW

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Image credit: Football NSW

The workshop focused on sharing knowledge and insights regarding player development, bringing together more than 120 coaches from across NSW with those from Tottenham Hotspur.

 

Experience, insight and education

Valentine Sports Park hosted the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) workshop, uniting Football NSW coaches and members of Tottenham Hotspur’s coaching staff to encourage discussion and learning opportunities about player development.

Tottenham’s player development pathway – from the academy to the first team – has produced some of the most respected names in Premier League history, including Harry Kane and Ledley King.

Under the leadership and guidance of Tottenham Hotspur Player & Coach Pathway Co-ordinator (and UEFA A Licence Coach), Jimmy Martin, as well as members of Tottenham’s coaching staff, Shannon Maloney, Kevin Moffatt and Tyler Blackwood, the workshop was a unique opportunity to learn from some of the most experienced coaches in the game.

“Coach education is a vital part of developing football across NSW, and having more than 120 coaches attend this workshop highlights the appetite within our football community to continue learning and improving,” explained Football NSW Head of Football, Edward Ferguson.

Ferguson continued to outline the value of learning from an organisation like Tottenham Hotspur, a team who have helped grow some of the game’s most exceptional talents. The lessons taken will consequently help to inform future approaches to coaching in NSW.

“The focus remains on creating better learning environments for players, encouraging decision-making, creativity and long-term development.”

What the workshop involved

The workshop encouraged coaches to dive into all aspects of player development: the technical, tactical, physical and mental aspects which contribute to the English academy setup.

Furthermore, Maloney, Moffatt and Blackwood – all of whom helped deliver a practical session for attendees – showed how a club’s playing identity can work alongside challenging training environments for players.

Game understanding, creative problem-solving and technical proficiency underpinned the main themes driving the workshop. In an age where individual expression on the pitch appears a dying art, Tottenham Hotspur coaches remain committed to encouraging players to feel confident adapating to a range of in-game scenarios.

Football NSW coaches were also able to attend a Q&A session with King, who spoke about his playing experiences for both club and country.

 

Final thoughts

As Australia continues to nurture the current and upcming generations of talented footballers, workshops such as this are a vital, fundamental part of the journey.

The fastest way to be among the best is to learn from them. The aim now is for Football NSW coaches to take the lessons learned, and apply them to football development in their own academies and teams across the state.

Why the A-League’s collective bargaining negotiations matter

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Image Credit: A-Leagues

The Australian Professional Leagues (APL) and Professional Footballers Australia (PFA) remain at odds over a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA), with players recently rejecting the league’s latest proposal ahead of the new A-League season.

The APL has made financial sustainability its priority in CBA negotiations. After several challenging years, the league is looking to keep club costs under control while still offering a slight increase to salary caps and minimum wages. It’s a cautious approach designed to give clubs greater financial certainty.

The PFA believes caution alone won’t grow the game.

The PFA has rejected the proposal, arguing it does not go far enough to support the long-term growth of the game. The players’ union says greater investment is needed if the A-Leagues are to remain competitive, retain talent and increase their commercial value.

These negotiations are taking place at an important time for Australian football.

Australian football has become increasingly successful at producing players for Europe and Asia, but that success comes with a trade-off. Clubs often lose their best talent, with the A-Leagues providing an ideal platform for players to showcase their ability. However, rather than being the final destination, it has increasingly become a stepping stone to bigger opportunities abroad.

While this pathway has produced a large share of the next generation of Socceroos and Matildas, it has also left A-League clubs in a constant cycle of rebuilding, with success on the pitch often followed by the departure of their brightest stars. As a result, player recruitment and retention have become central issues in discussions about the long-term growth of the domestic game.

The issue of player retention was also highlighted this week by Matildas captain Sam Kerr.

Kerr said many Australian players would consider returning to the A-League Women if the league offered stronger professional conditions and salaries. While her comments weren’t directly about the CBA, they highlighted the same issue confronting the men’s and women’s competitions alike.

With negotiations stalling, the outcome of the CBA is likely to shape not only player conditions, but also the financial framework and competitive direction of the A-Leagues for years to come.

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