ABOUT FUTURE IN FOOTBALL

Head Coach
Rob Polkinghorn

UEFA A Licensed coach and FA Advanced Youth Award

Rob started out working in the community programme with Tottenham Hotspur as a part-time coach, quickly becoming the Essex full-time coordinator and head coach. Aside from his role within community football Rob also began to work part-time with the Tottenham Hotspur Academy, alongside highly regarded coaches John Mcdermott and Chris Ramsey. It was in this environment that he started to shape his player-development philosophy.

Rob spent over thirteen years with Tottenham Hotspur in a number or different roles, 9 seasons in the Academy working with players aged 9 to 12. In his time at the club he worked with numerous players who went on to play professional football - both in the national and international arena. While in this elite environment Rob continued to gain multiple coaching qualifications, achieving both the UEFA A license and Advanced Youth award.

In 2014, Rob started his current academy, Future In Football, to create opportunities for all players to access the quality of training available at academy level. Since it’s inception, many players have made the jump to the next stage - some at grassroots football level, and some at the professional level, both in the UK and the US.

In 2015, Rob was given the opportunity to move to Chelsea. His experience with this club showed him a different approach to developing elite players across the ages of six to fourteen. Chelsea have an excellent track record and are well known as one of Europe’s top academies.

In 2016, Rob was given the chance to work closer to home with Southend United, while leading the u16s age group. In the three seasons Rob was with Southend United, twelve players went on to play in the first team, and three were sold to premier league clubs.

In 2018, Rob started a local football club. It began as a group training session for his son but quickly grew to over 180 players attending regularly. By the second season, the club had over ten teams. The combination of Rob’s coaching philosophy and training methodology helped the club become highly regarded in the area, and a number of players went on to train, and sign, with professional clubs.

"Seeing a young player learn something new and grow in confidence both on and off the pitch gives me a great sense of achievement. I'm lucky to have seen many players go on to do great things in the game and it fills me with pride. There is nothing quite like seeing someone enjoying their football - it means I must be doing something right!"