Murphy brings new coaching philosophy to Edinburgh

FRANCE has Clairefontaine, England's Lilleshall has produced many stars of the game, and a Scottish football Centre of Excellence may be founded in Edinburgh if a local coaching expert realises his dream.

Richard Murphy is a coach at Salvesen Boys' Club's under-14 side and will this month begin after-school skills sessions that he hopes will eventually grow to become an institution from where a Scottish Thierry Henry or Joe Cole might be groomed.

Murphy has taken on a franchise of Just4Strikers, a football coaching programme designed to improve the all-round game of youngsters, but focusing specifically on passing, dribbling, control and shooting.

The project currently runs in Aberdeen under former Hibernian and Manchester United goalkeeper Jim Leighton, and in Dundee under current Dees manager Jocky Scott.

"It's for everyone, from goal-scoring strikers to the defenders who never venture past the half-way line," he says.

"I want to see classes of all abilities, so that I'm not holding back their progress or putting them off. Players of increased ability, I will help to progress, and if it means that, through me, kids are becoming involved in club football then that's great.

"We have about 15 signed up already and there's probably sufficient demand for us to run a girls' class, too, which is great."

Murphy has already secured the use of both the grass pitch and the indoor recreation centre at St Margaret's School in South Queensferry, and he hopes to utilise the new 5G surfaces at Portobello and Sighthill Powerleagues.

Weekly hour-long sessions are available to footballers of any ability between the ages of 4-16 and will incorporate a warm-up, light ball work, a session concentrating on game-related skills, then small-sided games.

"It's not just a case of coming along – you'll have to book in. There will be control over the numbers and, hopefully, a consistent group coming every week. The wide philosophy is about one-to-one coaching."

Murphy is keen to point out that sessions will be geared towards complementing football training already received at clubs or in schools, and he stresses the importance of young players learning in a fun environment with the confidence to express themselves.

"I can guarantee that kids will improve their self-esteem," he says. "It's all about praise and encouragement – there will be weekly awards and different skill levels to achieve.

"Any young person being discouraged from expressing themselves is something I don't like to see. There's no point at getting on to them if things aren't going well – that's the way I want to do it. I take pleasure in seeing kids develop their skills and confidence.

"Recently, I saw a statistic that a quarter of children in primary one and two are obese, and that a third who leave primary school are obese. If this project is also helping kids to get fitter, then their self-esteem will be sky high as they see themselves improve both on the field and on a personal level. My aim is to help them see football as a career."

Richard's father, William, played for Dundee United in the early 1970s and can claim to be part of the inspiration behind his son's focus on the more technical side of the game. When I was younger, my father would take my pocket money off me if I couldn't kick the ball with my left foot." says Murphy.

"It's something basic that seems be lacking in players today, and we maybe need to look at the way we're coaching the game."

Anyone aged 4-16 can participate in theprogramme, which will begin at venues in and around Edinburgh this month on weekdays from 3.30-6.30pm. The cost of a month of weekly hour-long sessions is a flat rate of 23.

• THERE are a number of other football coaching courses available in Edinburgh & the Lothians:

Play to Learn: www.play2learn.info

Edinburgh Leisure Football Coaching: www.edinburghleisure.co.uk/detail-50

SOCATOTS: www.socatots.com/edinburgh&elothian

Brazilian Soccer Coaching: Tel. [phone]

Man Utd Soccer School (9-10 April in Edinburgh): www.manutdsoccerschools.com