The Football Association of Ireland’s Coach Education department has launched the latest programme of UEFA Coaching Diplomas including the prestigious UEFA Pro Diploma for the 2023-2024 cycle.

The latest UEFA course offerings from the FAI run from the UEFA C Diploma all the way through to the UEFA Pro Diploma, the highest coaching qualification in Football.

All UEFA courses, open to coaches from Grassroots to the professional game, are aligned with modern learning and development of Education and training with applications timelines tied in to the education calendar each September.

The latest round of UEFA courses now available for application with the FAI are:

• UEFA C Diploma (12 courses in 2023)
• UEFA B Diploma (4 courses in 2023)
• UEFA Youth B Diploma (2 courses in 2023)
• UEFA A Diploma (2 courses in 2023)
• UEFA EYA Diploma (1 course in 2023)
• UEFA Pro Diploma (1 course over 2023/2024)

Welcoming the launch, FAI Director of Football Marc Canham: “The latest offering of UEFA courses from the FAI’s Coach Education department will ensure that all coaches, male and female, continue to have access to learning and development opportunities that allow them to develop their coaching skills and expertise. Our coach education team endeavour to create inspiring learning environments for all our learners which is benchmarked against European and World football and based on best practice in education and training.

“We hope all learners on any FAI course has an impactful learning experience that supports their own development as a coach and ultimately continues provide the best playing experiences for all those that play football In Ireland at all levels.

“Our Head of Coach Education Niall O’Regan and the coach education team consistently strive to develop best in class coach education programmes at all levels of our game and grow the standard of coaching within Irish football which underpins our stated aim in the FAI Strategy 2022-2025 to increase the number of qualified coaches at all levels with a particular focus on female and age specific coaches and to continue to develop our Coach Education pathway to increase participation, development and retention of coaches at every level of the game.”

The FAI’s Head of Coach Education Niall O’Regan added: “This is an exciting time of year as we move to closing out the courses that commenced in 2022 and plan towards the new cohorts of coaches entering the UEFA Diploma courses for 2023 including the eighth edition of the UEFA Pro Diploma to be hosted by the Association.

“The FAI have invested significantly in Coach Education and meeting the needs of the coaches with the appointment of full-time National Coach Educators who are responsible for the delivery of the UEFA B courses and above. “We have also appointed 11 Regional High Performance Coaches who are responsible for the delivery of National D Licence courses up to the UEFA Licences.

“Grassroots coach education for our entrant coaches is delivered as part of the role of the regional Development Officers and there has been significant growth in the return of coaches due to the positive first experience of our grassroots coaches”

The FAI have worked closely with UEFA on sharing their approaches to fellow Associations on best practice in Coach Education with the Association recently hosting three UEFA Share (Specific, Holistic, Association-centred, Reality Based and Empowering) workshops for delegates from 19 countries.

Frank K. Ludolph, Head of UEFA’s Technical Development Football Division, remarked: “The FAI is running a very comprehensive coach education programme with an innovative and modern approach to teaching and learning. The programme is in line with the UEFA Convention requirements and goes beyond.

“On a regular basis, the FAI is hosting UEFA Share seminars in this particular area and is always willing to share their own best practice, thereby also inspiring other European national associations.

“The exchange is always very fruitful. I witnessed this myself at a recent seminar in Dublin. A big thank you from UEFA for being such a reliable partner and compliments for the work done for the good of the game.”

All UEFA Licence course enquiries can be directed to Niall O’Regan though [email protected]. Coaches can register for all FAI courses online via the ‘book a course’ option on this website.