Over 200 Coaches and Players Inspired by Mike Phelan Coaching.
- Saints Southwest
- 14 hours ago
- 10 min read
More than 200 coaches and young players came together in the South West for two standout football development events led by Mike Phelan, Saints Southwest, Devon FA and Mike Phelan Coaching.
Across two days, the collaboration brought elite-level learning to both sides of the game: those who coach and those who play.
The programme began with an Accredited Coaches CPD Masterclass at Devon FA Headquarters in Newton Abbot, attended by 127 coaches from grassroots, academy and development settings. The following day, 82 ambitious U9 to U14 players took part in an Elite Player Training Camp with Mike Phelan and Matt Burton from Mike Phelan Coaching.
Together, the events created one of the largest coach and player development initiatives delivered in the region, with 209 attendees involved across the two opportunities.
A major step for Football Development in the South West
The landmark events reflected a growing appetite for high-quality football education across the region.
For coaches, the masterclass offered rare access to ideas shaped inside one of the most successful environments in the professional game. For players, the training camp gave a chance to experience the standards, intensity and detail often associated with academy-level sessions.
The partnership between Saints Southwest, Devon FA and Mike Phelan Coaching gave the programme a clear purpose. It was not built around one-off inspiration alone. It focused on practical development, shared learning and raising expectations across local football.
That balance mattered.
Grassroots clubs play a huge role in the game. They introduce children to football, support young players through key stages of their development and often provide the first meaningful coaching experiences for volunteers and aspiring coaches. When those environments improve, the effect can reach hundreds of young people over time.
By bringing coaches and players into the same wider development programme, the events recognised that progress happens from both directions. Players need better challenges, clearer feedback and supportive standards. Coaches need access to fresh ideas, honest reflection and examples from the highest level.
A Partnership Driving Football Forward
The success of both events highlighted what can be achieved when organisations work together with a shared ambition to develop the game. The partnership between Saints Southwest, Devon FA and Mike Phelan Coaching reflects a commitment to providing opportunities that have traditionally been difficult to access within the South West.
By bringing world-class coach education and elite player experiences into the region, the partnership continues to raise standards for coaches, players and clubs alike.
Mark Titchard, Managing Director, Saints Southwest
"To see over 200 people engaging across the two events was fantastic and demonstrates the appetite for high-quality football development here in the South West. At Saints Southwest, our mission is to develop potential for all, whether that's a seven-year-old taking their first steps towards academy football or a grassroots coach striving to improve every session they deliver.Working alongside Devon FA and Mike Phelan Coaching allowed us to create something genuinely special, and this is only the beginning. We're committed to bringing more opportunities like this to coaches and players across our region."
Matt Burton, Mike Phelan Coaching
"It was brilliant to spend two days working with such enthusiastic coaches and players. The quality, attitude and willingness to learn was outstanding.Mike and I firmly believe that learning never stops, whether you're a coach or a player, and it was great to see so many people embracing that mindset. We're excited to continue building opportunities alongside Saints Southwest and Devon FA."
Coaches learn from one of English football’s most respected figures
The first event, hosted at Devon FA Headquarters in Newton Abbot, centred on the Accredited Coaches CPD Masterclass.
It attracted 127 coaches from clubs and organisations across the South West. Attendees came from a range of settings, including grassroots football, academy pathways and player development programmes.
The evening gave them the chance to learn directly from Mike Phelan, whose career has taken him through some of the most demanding environments in the game.
Phelan spent more than two decades coaching at Manchester United, working alongside Sir Alex Ferguson during a period of major success. He later served as Assistant Manager under Ole Gunnar Solskjær. That background gave the masterclass real depth, with insight drawn from daily work inside elite dressing rooms, training grounds and matchday environments.
The session explored several key themes, including:
Building elite training environments
Session design and coaching methodology
Developing players through effective coaching
Creating high-performance cultures
Leadership and communication
Lessons from the professional game
These topics spoke directly to the challenges many coaches face each week.
A grassroots coach may not have the same facilities as a professional club. An academy coach may work with different pressures than a volunteer running an evening session after work. Yet the principles of good practice still apply: standards, clarity, care, detail and consistency.
That was the value of the masterclass. It connected elite football thinking to environments where coaches could actually use it.
A practical focus on better coaching habits
Strong coach education is rarely about copying a professional club session exactly.
The better question is usually: what principle sits behind the practice?
For example, an elite training environment is not only about perfect pitches and expensive equipment. It can also be about how players arrive, how quickly a session starts, how clearly a coach sets the task and how well standards are kept throughout.
That thinking can transfer into almost any club setting.
A session on a local pitch can still be organised, demanding and enjoyable. A coach working with mixed ability players can still set clear pictures for what success looks like. A team with limited contact time can still build habits around communication, decision-making and effort.
The CPD Masterclass asked coaches to reflect on these details.
The best coach education events do more than provide drills. They challenge assumptions. They encourage people to ask better questions about their own practice:
Are players active enough during sessions?
Is feedback clear and specific?
Do practices connect to the game?
Are players solving problems, or only following instructions?
Does the environment support confidence as well as challenge?
Are standards consistent from week to week?
These questions are useful because they apply at every level. A professional academy may ask them with analysts, full-time staff and structured reviews. A grassroots coach may ask them on the drive home after training. Both can improve by paying attention to the same fundamentals.
As an Accredited CPD Event, the masterclass also gave attendees official recognition towards their ongoing coach development. That added further value for those building their learning records and continuing their journey through the game.
Daniel Dixon, Devon FA
"Developing better coaches ultimately creates better experiences for players, so events like these are incredibly important.We were delighted to work alongside Saints Southwest and Mike Phelan Coaching to deliver an accredited learning opportunity for our coaching community, followed by an inspiring player development event. The engagement across both days shows the strength and passion for football development across Devon and the wider South West."
Young players experience elite standards on the pitch
The following day, the focus moved from the classroom and coach education environment to the players.
A total of 82 talented U9 to U14 players took part in an exclusive Elite Player Training Camp led by Mike Phelan and Matt Burton from Mike Phelan Coaching.
The camp was designed for ambitious young players from grassroots backgrounds who wanted to test themselves in a more demanding setting. For many, that kind of experience can be an important part of development.
Young players often benefit from stepping into a different environment. A new coach, a new group and a higher tempo can make them listen more closely, adapt faster and take more responsibility for their own performance.
The camp gave players the chance to experience that challenge in a supportive way.
Sessions of this kind are not only about technical detail, although ball mastery, passing, movement and decision-making all matter. They are also about behaviours. Players learn what it means to train with focus, respond to feedback, compete fairly and recover quickly from mistakes.
Those habits can stay with them when they return to their own clubs.
For U9 to U14 players, the development years are crucial. They are old enough to understand more detail, but still young enough for the game to be shaped by enjoyment, curiosity and confidence. A positive elite-style experience can show them what higher standards feel like without taking away their love of playing.
Why the player camp mattered beyond one day
A single training camp cannot define a player’s journey. It can, though, give them a clearer picture of what progress looks like.
That picture matters.
Young players often hear broad advice such as “work hard” or “keep improving”. A high-quality coaching session can make those ideas more concrete. It can show them how to scan before receiving the ball, how to adjust body position, how to communicate early, how to react after losing possession and how to make quicker decisions under pressure.
Small details build bigger habits.
The presence of Mike Phelan and Matt Burton added another layer to the experience. Players were not only taking part in drills. They were learning within a culture shaped by professional standards, adapted for their age and stage.
That distinction is important.
Children do not need adult pressure placed on them. They need age-appropriate challenge, clear guidance and a learning space where effort is valued. The best elite player experiences manage to raise the level while still keeping the game enjoyable.
For parents and clubs, camps like this can also support a wider development picture. Players return with fresh motivation. Coaches see renewed energy in training. Teammates may benefit when those players bring improved habits back into their regular environment.
Development works best when experiences connect rather than stand alone.
The value of joining coach and player development
One of the strongest features of the two-event programme was its joined-up approach.
Coach development and player development are often treated as separate areas. In reality, they influence each other every week.
Better coaching creates better learning environments. Better learning environments help players develop. Players who are challenged well then raise the level of sessions, which pushes coaches to plan with more care and detail.
That cycle is at the heart of long-term football progress.
By staging a CPD Masterclass for coaches and an Elite Player Training Camp for young players on consecutive days, Saints Southwest and its partners created a wider sense of momentum. The events were linked by a shared message: standards matter, and they can be raised at every level of the game.
That message fits the South West well.
The region has a proud football community, with clubs, volunteers, coaches and players covering large areas and varied settings. Access to elite-level insight is not always as frequent as it might be in bigger football centres. Bringing a figure such as Mike Phelan to Devon helped narrow that gap.
It also reinforced the value of partnership.
Devon FA brought local football infrastructure and credibility. Saints Southwest brought regional delivery experience and a strong connection to player development. Mike Phelan Coaching brought elite insight, personality and professional detail.
When those strengths came together, the result was more than a guest appearance. It became a meaningful development opportunity for the region.
What coaches could take back to their clubs
The most useful CPD leaves a mark on the next session a coach delivers.
After the masterclass, coaches had the chance to return to their own environments with ideas they could test straight away. Some may have looked again at how they start training. Others may have reviewed how they build intensity, communicate expectations or design practices that better reflect the game.
A few practical takeaways stood out from the themes covered:
Set standards before the session begins
Players sense the tone early. Arrival, organisation and the first activity can shape the rest of the session.
Design with the game in mind
Practices should help players recognise pictures they will see in matches, not only complete isolated tasks.
Use communication with purpose
Clear messages matter more than constant talking. Players need space to think, decide and try again.
Build culture through repetition
A strong environment is not created by one team talk. It comes from repeated behaviours that players and coaches understand.
Reflect honestly
Good coaches review their work. They ask what helped the players, what slowed learning and what needs to change next time.
These ideas are simple to understand, but they take discipline to apply. That is why development events can be so valuable. They create space to step back from weekly routines and look again at what really affects player learning.
A landmark moment for Saints Southwest and Regional Football
For Saints Southwest, the success of the two events marked an important moment in its wider commitment to football development.
Welcoming more than 200 coaches and players across the programme showed both demand and trust. Coaches gave their time to learn. Players brought energy and ambition. Families and clubs supported their involvement. Devon FA and Mike Phelan Coaching helped create a platform with genuine value.
The numbers tell part of the story:
Event | Attendance | Focus |
Accredited Coaches CPD Masterclass | 127 coaches signed up | Coach education and professional insight |
Elite Player Training Camp | 82 players | U9 to U14 player development |
The larger story is about standards.
When a region creates opportunities like this, it sends a clear message to its football community. Development is not reserved for a small group. Learning should be accessible. Ambition should be supported. Coaches and players should be given chances to grow close to home.
That is especially important for young players. Not every child will enter an academy pathway, and not every coach will work in the professional game. Yet every young player deserves thoughtful coaching, and every committed coach deserves access to learning that stretches them.
Events like these help make that possible.
They also show that elite experience can be shared without losing sight of grassroots values. The professional game can offer lessons in preparation, standards and culture. Local football can bring passion, relationships and long-term care for players. The best development work respects both.
The impact now moves back into clubs and sessions
The true effect of these Mike Phelan events will be seen in the weeks and months that follow.
It will show in how coaches shape their next practices. It will show in how young players carry themselves in training. It will show in the conversations that happen at local clubs when people return with new ideas, fresh energy and higher expectations.
For the 127 coaches, the CPD Masterclass offered a chance to learn from elite experience and reflect on their own methods. For the 82 players, the camp provided a memorable opportunity to train under demanding, supportive guidance.
For the South West football community, the combined programme showed what can happen when strong partners come together around a shared aim.
Saints Southwest, Devon FA and Mike Phelan Coaching delivered more than two busy events. They created a platform for better learning, stronger environments and long-term development across the game.