The LCA will provide a range of services, including employment and legal support, a wellbeing and healthcare offering, and personal and professional development programmes to its members.
Over the past 10 years, with increased investment in club infrastructures in men’s and women’s football and the successful implementation of the Premier League’s Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP), the number of coaching and performance roles within the professional game has significantly grown, whilst those roles have also become both more complex and more specialist. Through consultation between the LMA and the Premier League, the LCA replaces the Professional Football Coaches Association (PFCA), which has served the coaching community since 1992.
Based at the National Football Centre at St. George’s Park, Burton upon Trent, the LCA will deliver and grow a wide range of member services. Membership will be open to all coaches and football technical staff in the English men’s and women’s professional games, at senior and academy levels. The LMA and Premier League will be initial funding partners of the LCA, with the LMA providing strategic support and resource.
The LCA will reflect the energetic, innovative and progressive nature of domestic coaching, uniting and strengthening a significant professional community. It will enhance the quality and perception of coaching and technical support throughout the game whilst providing important personal support to the game’s growing and talented coaching workforce.
LMA Chief Executive Richard Bevan said: “English football has one of the most exciting cohorts of professional practitioners in world football, which is playing a hugely important role in the success of the domestic game at club and international levels in both men’s and women’s football.
“The launch of the LCA, with the support of the LMA and the Premier League, marks an important step in how the game supports its workforce. It will have a significant impact on those who develop talent and foster high performance in our game.”
Visit www.leaguecoaches.com for more information.
