Course details: The UEFA A Diploma

This page provides a detailed overview of the UEFA A Diploma, which will give participants a clear understanding of player and team development and coaching at the top amateur level. The course offers insight into technical policy, as well as dealing with external factors affecting a team's performance and being accountable to a club's management.

On the training pitch, coaches learn about designing game-oriented sessions, focusing on opponents, pressure and intensity, preparing detailed match plans and creating a winning team mentality.

UEFA A Diploma requirements

- A valid UEFA B licence
- Completed at least one year’s experience, after graduating with the UEFA B licence, as a coach in 11-a-side football

Course length

The A Licence helps coaches develop a winning team mentalityAFP/Getty Images

The UEFA A Diploma requires a total minimum 180 hours of education. A minimum 140 hours will be spent studying guided interactive content, with a minimum 40 hours made up of work experience in a club environment. The course is delivered approximately 50/50 between on- and off-pitch activity. The UEFA A diploma course is spread out as a minimum over six months.

Four pillars of the UEFA A Diploma

The coach

- Working predominantly as the head coach of top amateur teams or in some cases as a member of the coaching staff at the professional level
- Working closely with coaching staff and support staff
- Being involved in developing and applying a club’s technical policy
- Ensuring the right balance between the players’ football, professional and private lives
- Working with players from different cultural backgrounds, of different ages and experience
- Dealing with all other factors affecting the team’s performance: media, parents, players’ agents, fans/supporters, scouts, sports ethics, etc
- Being accountable to the club’s management: president, technical director, club board, etc

The player and team

- Planning, executing and supporting individual player development, including their own objectives, and complying with the club’s technical policy
- Involving the players in the learning process and enabling them to take responsibility for themselves
- Working on the team’s development in cooperation with all support staff, i.e. technical, medical and performance staff
- Managing all aspects of the team’s performance
- Creating a winning mentality and a performance culture in a positive environment

Courses are split 50/50 between on- and off-pitch activity©Getty Images for UEFA

The training environment

- Preparing and conducting individual and team training sessions at top amateur level
- Working with individual players and the team and understanding how the training session design can affect performance
- Designing the game-oriented training sessions in terms of opponents, pressure and intensity
- Planning, delivering and reviewing training sessions in accordance with the club’s coaching philosophy
- Embracing and adopting an interdisciplinary approach to physical preparation and development, wherever possible in cooperation with other members of the multidisciplinary team, e.g. performance analysts, fitness/sports scientists, medical and other performance staff

The match

- Preparing a team for and coaching them during top amateur level matches
- Using the game to develop each player and the team, but also to create a winning team mentality
- Preparing the match plan in accordance with the club’s playing philosophy, taking the opponent team into account
- Analysing the matches as an evaluation and learning tool for individual players and the team as a whole.

How do I enrol for a UEFA A Diploma?

Contact your national football association for the latest course information, availability and eligibility.