Simon Davies
Academy Director
Tottenham Hotspur F.C
Simon has been Academy Director at Tottenham Hotspur since 2023, after joining the club in 2022 as Head of Methodology. Prior to joining Spurs Simon worked at Anderlecht as assistant manager to Vincent Kompany.
Prior to joining Anderlecht he spent 10 years at Manchester City Academy in various roles including u21 coach and head of coaching.
Simon’s coaching career started at Wrexham where he was u14 coach. His first full time position was with Chester City where he was head of youth and then first team manager.
As well as his role at Spurs, Simon continues to work with FAW and The Irish FA as a coach educator, supporting A Licence and Pro Licence candidates.
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Academy Director
Tottenham Hotspur F.C
James Beevers
Psychologist
Premier League
James works as a consultant to Premier League, Alpine F1, government departments, corporates and charities. He is a mentor with LWD and Coaching, and leads our activities in Development Needs Analysis, including Hogan Assessment.
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Psychologist
Premier League
Sam Gisborne
Academy Manager
AFC Bournemouth
Joined AFCB in 2017 in the Operations Dept and worked up to be Assistant Academy Manager in 2021 and then Academy Manager in 2022.
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Academy Manager
AFC Bournemouth
Dan Bolas
Academy Manager
Coventry City F.C
Academy Manager at Coventry City F.C for past 5 years. Previous roles in the Academy at Wolverhampton Wanderers and Aston Villa. Completed the Elite Coach Apprenticeship Scheme in 2016. Graduated from University of Portsmouth MSc Sports Management following the completion of the two year EAM programme.
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Academy Manager
Coventry City F.C
Dr Joseph Dixon
Consultant
Premier League
Dr Joseph Dixon is a Chartered Occupational, Sport & Exercise and Coaching Psychologist with over 20 years’ experience working in business and sport.
Currently, he combines roles working as Performance Psychologist for Coventry City Football Club, Lecturer in Sport & Exercise Psychology at Staffordshire University and, with a range of sporting and corporate clients.
He has worked as a consultant for the Premier League since 2018 supporting a range of programmes and currently leads the Academy Leaders programme.
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Consultant
Premier League
Andy Cole
Business Psychologist
Premier League
Andy is a Business Psychologist who works with academy leaders and professionals, and on our coaching and leadership programmes.
Before starting his own practice in 2010, Andy led training and development for household names in retail and entertainment.
Andy also works as a helping professional for people with addiction problems and poor mental health.
He is interested in supporting neurodivergent people in work and is undertaking research about improving coaching experiences for adults with ADHD.
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Business Psychologist
Premier League
Mike Rigg
Academy Technical Director
Birmingham City F.C
Mike Rigg started his career in football as the Football in the Community officer at Chester City FC in 1987.
The following years took Mike into roles at Wrexham, The FA of Wales, Sheffield Wednesday, Blackburn, Man City, QPR, The FA Fulham, Burnley and Al Jazira (UAE).
Thoroughly enjoyed the highs and many lows of live in professional football and now currently tackling the tasty challenge of EPPP and Audit into Cat 1 at BCFC.
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Academy Technical Director
Birmingham City F.C
Kevin Thelwell
Director of Football
Everton F.C
Kevin Thelwell is an English football coach who is currently the Director of Football of Premier League club Everton FC. Previously, Kevin was the Director of Football at Wolverhampton Wanderers, having previously held the position of academy manager and then later Head of Football Development and recruitment at the club, having held similar roles at Derby County and Preston North End. Prior to this, Thelwell was Director of Coach Education for the Football Association of Wales Trust where he was responsible for the UEFA Advanced Licence and Pro Licence courses.
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Director of Football
Everton F.C
Dr Claire-Marie Roberts
Performance Director
Coventry City FC
Former Olympic standard swimmer with eight years of experience at the Premier League. Claire-Marie has led football development, strategic investment in men’s professional academies, and professionalised coaching. Recently, she focused on match official development and improving officiating standards through an Elite Referee Development Plan, since then has been appointed as Performance Director at Coventry City FC.
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Performance Director
Coventry City FC
Professor Roger Kneebone
Professor of Surgical Education
Imperial College London
Director of the Imperial College Centre for Engagement and Simulation Science (ICCESS). He leads a multidisciplinary team advancing human health through simulation and collaborates with experts across various fields. His current research explores the intersection of science, medicine, and the performing arts. Roger also heads the “Performing Science” project, funded by Imperial’s Learning & Teaching Strategy.
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Professor of Surgical Education
Imperial College London
Dr Daniel Parnell
CEO
Association of Sporting Directors
About Dr Daniel Parnell
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CEO
Association of Sporting Directors
Leading Edge Performance
Leading Edge Performance
Leading Edge Performance
Leading Edge Performance are proud to partner with elite sport teams and diverse global and national businesses. Known for high performance insights and World-class Team who passionately focus on solutions with real-world transferability.
Their ability capture and identify latent Human Intelligence that acts as a force multiplier to any change or development intervention is unparalleled.
"We design and deliver solutions to leadership, team or change challenges"
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Leading Edge Performance
Leading Edge Performance
Piers Martin
Head of Leadership and Workforce Development
Premier League
Head of Leadership and Workforce Development at the Premier League. Chair of UK Deaf Sport and DeaflympicsGB, Senior Independent Director of Surfing England, and Director of Podium Performance Group.
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Head of Leadership and Workforce Development
Premier League
