Fleetwood Town International Football Academy

ABOUT FTIFA

Fleetwood Town International Football Academy provides a unique opportunity for all participants to experience what it is like to be a professional football player. Our aim is to empower all participants, develop their character, and provide opportunities to fulfil their potential through a life-changing experience in a unique, challenging, and motivating learning environment. Our pathways provide players with aspirations of playing at the highest level possible with the platform to realise their goals.

Looking for a Chance to Go Pro?

FTIFA UK - The perfect opportunity to pursue your dreams of professional football! ⚽️

Our elite player development programme is based at Fleetwood Town’s £10 million state-of-the-art training facilities, Poolfoot Farm.

Players will be immersed in a full-time training and games programme that aims to develop and educate each individual on the game's complexities.

Sign up now, and follow us on YouTube @Fleetwood_Football_Group
of playing pro football.

Who We Are

THE FLEETWOOD TOWN STORY

Originally formed in 1908 Fleetwood Town Football Club moved through the lower leagues of the amateur game with many ups and downs. With significant financial investment that breathed life into the club, our climb up the divisions began. By 2014 we had achieved 6 promotions in 10 years and were playing at the highest level in our history, League One of the English football league, just two promotions away from the Premier League.

Fleetwood Town FC now have partner clubs around the world, and an ever increasing and global fan-base. We have maintained our status in League One for over 10 years, and are now the longest serving club in the league.

Fleetwood Town have a rich history of producing talented players that go onto achieving high levels of success, such as Jamie Vardy (England national team and Premier League winner), James Hill (Bournemouth FC Premier League player) and Amari’i Bell (Luton Town Premier League player).

ACADEMY COACHES

Coaches and Academy Heads of FTIFA

Michael Horsfall

International Academy Manager & Safeguarding Lead. Mick has 11 years experience of coaching at Fleetwood Town FC. He has worked between the ages of Under 9s to Under 18s while supporting some of our academy graduates. Mick is a UEFA B licence coach in football and futsal with a wealth of experience of working abroad.

Mike O'Neal

Lead FTIFA Coach & Academy Scout. Mike has a wealth of experience in coaching and scouting at various different clubs which include Liverpool FC, Fleetwood Town FC, and Blackpool FC. Mike is currently the Chairman of Kendal Town FC and also holds the UEFA B Licence.

James McGow

James McGown is a UEFA B-licensed coach and FA Advanced Youth Award (AYA) practitioner, currently working as a Youth Development Phase coach at Fleetwood Town FC. James' coaching philosophy prioritises the outcomes top academies are built for: technically and tactically capable players with the confidence, discipline, motivation, and resilience to keep improving.

Alfie Wright

Alfie Wright is a Fleetwood Town FC Academy U18 goalkeeper who also supports academy goalkeepers from U10 to U19 as part of a player-coach pathway. Alfie is working through coach education while training full-time, building the practical coaching hours and reflective experience that underpin elite coaching progression.

OUR MANIFESTO

Our manifesto is centred around the belief that football is not a linear, one dimensional game. This is why we not only believe in the path less travelled, but actively promote and provide less-traditional pathways into professional football.

Develop the person, challenge the player. This phrase is what all FTIFA Coaches live by! We want to create and develop talented and skillful football players, but more importantly, we want to inspire our players to be the best possible people that they can be.

We understand that football is a game of opinions, and that coaches may have completely different views of a player, but that these individual opinions do not define the player’s ability or worth.

Talent is not limited to a specific region. Players from all over the world have the ability to realise their goals of playing at the highest level of professional football that they can!

Gone are the days of the only players making it into professional football being the ones who were scouted at a very young age by leading professional academies. Former Fleetwood Town FC and England National Team player, Jamie Vardy is living proof of this. In the modern game, players can go on to have highly successful careers, even if they did not start out as being child-prodigies.

Although our programmes offer many real opportunities into professional football, there are still numerous barriers in place that could prevent the progression of any player’s career. Injury, visas and not fitting a particular coach’s system, are just a few of the many others. This is why at FTIFA, we believe in providing off-field educational opportunities too, such as at our Education Partner, SGI, in the UK or the FTIFA Cape Town Soccer and School programme. We have also partnered with US college experts who provide assistance for our players who wish to pursue scholarships to study and play in the USA.

FTIFA UK - PRO EXPERIENCE

FTIFA Pro Experience provides an elite player development programme based at Fleetwood Town’s state-of-the-art training complex, Poolfoot Farm, home to the first team and academy. Players will be immersed in a full-time training and games programme that aims to develop and educate each individual on the complexities of the modern-day game.

A Proud Partnership!