Thread 03 · Coaching journal

Learning to coach, in public, from day zero.

On 21 July 2026 I started working toward the UEFA coaching pathway in the Algarve: no licence, no sessions coached, nothing but a five-season plan and a first conversation. This page is the public record. Every claim is true, every number starts at zero, and the point is to watch it grow.

Day 31

Sessions coached 0

Matches analysed 0

Licences 0 / 3

Countdown to the goal · five seasons to the touchline 1.6% of the way there

1,796 days left

The road

S1 2026/27

UEFA C (Grau I), AF Algarve

Volunteer with the youngest groups, first sessions, learn the vocabulary, watch and analyse matches for free.

S2 2027/28

Bank the hours (the UEFA B gate)

Six months coaching while holding the C, the first public analyses, and the Grau II application in May 2028.

S3 2028/29

UEFA B (Grau II)

The Grau II course and its estágio. Specialise in analysis, and start moving toward a national-level club.

S4 2029/30

Earn the UEFA A (the Grau III gate)

A full season coaching as a UEFA B holder in national youth football, portfolio public, then apply for Grau III.

S5 2030/31

UEFA A (Grau III), if it lands

Take the UEFA A if the national season and selection allow, and apply internationally. Dubai does not wait on it.

Journal

2 entries so far. Newest first, most recent open. Tap any line to read it.

Day 14 Two ends of the plan 2026-08-03 ›

2026-08-03

I am in Dubai to visit family. While I was here, Phoenix United FC announced a partnership with Silves FC. I am from Silves. I started this journal at Silves FC two weeks ago with nothing to offer but time, and the plan I wrote that week has Dubai at the far end of it, five seasons out.

So my hometown club and a club in the city I happened to be sitting in have gone and found each other, for reasons that have nothing to do with me. I messaged one of the Phoenix United founders the same day I saw it, and we are having a coffee on Wednesday. Silves know I am only back at the end of September and they were fine with it, so nothing here comes at the cost of what I started there.

I am going in with exactly what I had at Silves and nothing more: no licence yet, no sessions coached, the UEFA C ahead of me this season, and free match analysis for anyone who wants it. That was enough to get a yes once. On the plan, Dubai is a season-five problem. It is season one, day fourteen.

Day 1 Day zero 2026-07-21 ›

2026-07-21

The plan starts today with the first conversation at Silves FC. I went in with a simple offer: a spare pair of hands for the youngest groups, free match analysis, and full commitment to the UEFA C at AF Algarve this season.

It was short, about five minutes, mostly about what I want and whether I have ever coached a team (I have not). The answer came back better than I expected: there is room to help with a U13 group this season. Now I wait for the season to start.

Ten years of operations work, zero coaching experience, and no idea what half the vocabulary means yet. Writing that down so I can scroll back to it in five seasons.

What will live here

Philosophy

One page on how I think the game should be coached, rewritten every season, old versions kept visible.
Session library

The best session plans with diagrams, and what actually happened when I ran them.
Analysis

Match reports and tactical pieces, published once there is something worth reading.
Qualifications

UEFA C (Grau I): enrolling for 2026/27. Everything else follows the road above.

Updated weekly · The raw log stays offline, this is the version worth reading