Simon Clifford
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Simon Darcy Clifford is an English football coach and businessman, known for introducing Brazilian training techniques into the UK through his Brazilian Soccer Schools. Clifford has worked in football for over 30 years, from youth to senior squads and from
non-league Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...
to
Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
teams, with various clubs and individual professional players. Currently, Clifford teaches young football players through his coaching company, Integer Football, which is based in
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
, England. He has worked with many young players, including future professionals like
Micah Richards Micah Lincoln Richards (born 24 June 1988) is an English Association football, football pundit and former professional player who played as a right-back. Richards began his senior career with Manchester City F.C., Manchester City and made 245 a ...
, who went on to play in the Premier League and for England’s national team., and Tottenham Hotspur's Archie Gray.


Early life and career

Brought up in Loftus in the
North Riding of Yorkshire The North Riding of Yorkshire was a subdivision of Yorkshire, England, alongside York, the East Riding and West Riding. The riding's highest point was at Mickle Fell at . From the Restoration it was used as a lieutenancy area, having b ...
, he moved to
Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
to study at the age of eighteen. It was there that he later started his teaching career in a primary school. He began training the children of the school using techniques derived from
Brazilian football Football is the most popular sport in Brazil and a prominent part of the country's national identity. The Brazil national football team has won the FIFA World Cup five times, the most of any team, in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002. Brazil an ...
. Shortly after, he began an after school club that would become the first of a now worldwide chain of soccer schools. In 1997, he borrowed £5000 from a teachers' union to fund a trip to Brazil, where he spoke with former Brazilian players, and watched Brazilian coaching methods whilst spending time residing at the training ground of São Paulo FC. Having held discussions with Brazilian midfielder and friend
Juninho Juninho, Portuguese for "little Junior", is a common nickname in Brazil for those whose full name includes Júnior. It is often combined with an epithet, sometimes a demonym (a word derived from their place of origin). The following association foo ...
during his time at
Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...
, Clifford created a syllabus to use for his coaching.


Brazilian soccer school and SOCATOTS

In 1997, he started a Brazilian-style soccer school for youngsters in
Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
, teaching Brazilian skills as well as introducing his students to futebol de salão. Clifford became the first coach to bring over and popularise futsal in the United Kingdom. Clifford then started training young footballers with his new methods, preferring to concentrate on improving ball skills and close control and an even greater emphasis on fitness and physical strength. The Brazilian Soccer Schools have been endorsed by many in football, including Sir Trevor Brooking, Tord Grip and
Michael Owen Michael James Owen (born 14 December 1979) is an English former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker for Liverpool F.C., Liverpool, Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid, Newcastle United ...
. In 2001 Clifford introduced his pre-school coaching programme SOCATOTS. Visiting clubs such as Everton F.C.,
Manchester United F.C. Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional football club based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. They compete in the Premier League, t ...
,
Newcastle United F.C. Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Since the formation of the club in 1881 ...
and West Ham United F.C. in the late 1990s, Clifford aimed to help develop futsal within these clubs, and subsequently English football. Players such as
Micah Richards Micah Lincoln Richards (born 24 June 1988) is an English Association football, football pundit and former professional player who played as a right-back. Richards began his senior career with Manchester City F.C., Manchester City and made 245 a ...
and John Bostock were some of the most successful graduates in the early years. A number of young players today have a background in futebol de salao, including Charlie Patino, Charlie Webster and Archie Gray, with all three captaining the England national team at their respective age groups. Clifford sold the Brazilian Soccer Schools and SOCATOTS franchise to then Southampton FC chairman Rupert Lowe in 2012.


Career in professional football

Clifford entrred the professional scene when recruited by Sir
Clive Woodward Sir Clive Ronald Woodward (born 6 January 1956) is an English former rugby union player and coach (sport), coach. He was coach of the team from 1997 to 2004, managing them to victory in the 2003 Rugby World Cup. He also coached the 2005 Britis ...
in December 2004, with the long term plan being to become his assistant coach at
Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
. Woodward met with Clifford before they went into football together to learn from the methods he was using and to look at the work he was doing with the soccer schools. Clifford was appointed Head of Sport Science and head coach of the U21s, working with a crop of youth team players that included Gareth Bale, Nathan Dwyer, Theo Walcott and more. After falling out with the coaching establishment at Southampton and leaving his role, he returned to the non-league club he owned, Garforth Town, as manager. In 2003 Clifford purchased the
Northern Counties East Football League The Northern Counties East Football League is a semi-professional English football league. It has two divisions – Premier Division and Division One – which stand at the ninth and tenth levels of the English football pyramid respectively. ...
club Garforth Town. At the time of the purchase, Clifford expressed the desire to take the club, then at the ninth level of the football pyramid, into the English Football League within twenty years. The club gained two promotions during Clifford's first two full seasons as manager. Within the six years, they managed to reach the EvoStik Premier League - the highest level in the clubs' history. Clifford signed several well-known players including: Lee Sharpe,
Sócrates Sócrates Brasileiro Sampaio de Souza Vieira de Oliveira (19 February 1954 – 4 December 2011), simply known as Sócrates , was a Brazilian footballer who played as a midfielder. His medical degree and his political awareness, combined with s ...
and Careca. In April 2009, Garforth reached the final of the West Riding County Cup to face Bradford Park Avenue. Garforth won 5-4 on penalties to claim the cup. After three seasons of managing Garforth Town, Clifford made the decision to step aside as manager of his club. In September 2008, Clifford was approached by a South African consortium looking to purchase Newcastle United Football Club, with the party offering the 38-year-old a role as Technical Director as well as shares in the club. In 2017, Clifford began working within HN Sports agency, and in 2019 moved over to Blue Sky Sports football agency. Clifford has worked with Blue Sky Sports since its inception, in the role of elite performance coach.


Integer Football

In 2015, Clifford started his latest venture with the creation of Integer Football - a one-to-one training programme. In September 2024, Simon and Integer Football featured in a Sky Sports documentary on Archie Gray; Simon was interviewed regarding his work with Archie, and Gray's development. Recent notable successes for Integer Football graduates include: Archie Gray becoming the youngest Leeds United player to reach 50 appearances, Ryan Edmondson winning the A-League in his debut season in Australia and Kian Spence being named Barrow's Young Player of the Season.


Notable graduates

Notable players that have graduated from Simon Clifford's BSS system and syllabus include
Micah Richards Micah Lincoln Richards (born 24 June 1988) is an English Association football, football pundit and former professional player who played as a right-back. Richards began his senior career with Manchester City F.C., Manchester City and made 245 a ...
(ex-
Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...
and
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
defender), John Farnworth (British Football Freestyler), Ryan Edmondson ( Central Coast Mariners), Stanley Mills (
Oxford United Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...
) Ryan Fraser (
Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
and
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
), Renny Smith ( Oxford City), Harry Leonard ( Blackburn Rovers FC), Archie Gray (
Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...
), Robbie Gotts ( Barrow AFC), Charlie Webster ( Burton Albion), Liam Kitching ( Coventry City) and Oli McBurnie (
Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital city of the Canary Islands (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife) and the m ...
). Notable coaches have also graduated from Simon Clifford's system, including: John Herdman (
Toronto FC Toronto Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matc ...
), Michael Beale (Former assistant coach at Al-Ettifaq) and Beverly Priestman (Former manager of Canada Women's National Team),


Work in TV, film and media

Clifford has been involved in a number of TV and film productions, working with directors and actors in various roles. He worked as Technical Coach for the two lead actresses of ''
Bend It Like Beckham ''Bend It Like Beckham'' is a 2002 Sports film, sports comedy-drama film directed by Gurinder Chadha from a screenplay by Chadha, Paul Mayeda Berges, and Guljit Bindra. The film stars Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightley, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Anu ...
'',
Keira Knightley Keira Christina Knightley ( ; born 26 March 1985) is an English actress. Known for her work in independent films and Blockbuster (entertainment), blockbusters, particularly Historical drama, period dramas, she has received List of awards and no ...
and Parminder Nagra. Clifford also performed the same role in the film '' There's Only One Jimmy Grimble'' with Robert Carlyle and
Ray Winstone Raymond Andrew Winstone (; born 19 February 1957) is an English television, stage, and film actor with a career spanning five decades. Having worked with many prominent directors, including Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, Winstone is known ...
, as well as more recently on ''Kicking and Screaming'' with
Will Ferrell John William Ferrell (; born July 16, 1967) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is known for his leading man roles in comedy films and for his work as a television producer. Ferrell received various accolades, including ...
. He choreographed, coached and advised on the film ''
The Damned United ''The Damned United'' is a 2009 sports drama film directed by Tom Hooper and adapted by Peter Morgan from David Peace's bestselling 2006 novel '' The Damned Utd'' – a largely fictional book based on the author's interpretation of Brian Cl ...
,'' starring
Michael Sheen Michael Christopher Sheen (born 5 February 1969) is a Welsh actor. After training at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), he worked mainly in theatre throughout the 1990s with stage roles in ''Romeo and Juliet'' (1992), ''Don't Fool wi ...
. More recently, Clifford was choreographer and coach for Julian Fellowes'
Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
series The English Game. Clifford has also worked on his own TV documentaries, DVDs and books, individually and in collaboration with others. Such work includes Learn to Play the Brazilian Way, Soccer Superskills With Jay-Jay Okocha,
Michael Owen Michael James Owen (born 14 December 1979) is an English former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker for Liverpool F.C., Liverpool, Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid, Newcastle United ...
's Soccer Skills, Soccer Super Skills, A Whole New Ball Game (
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
) and Boys To Brazil (BBC).


Other work

In May 2011, Clifford was made an official Yorkshire Patron for his work promoting the region around the world.


References


External links


Brazilian Soccer SchoolsSimon Clifford@Garforth Town AFCSOCATOTS concept
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clifford, Simon English football managers 1970 births Living people Sportspeople from Middlesbrough Alumni of Leeds Beckett University People from Loftus, North Yorkshire Southampton F.C. non-playing staff Garforth Town A.F.C. managers People from Halton Moor Sportspeople from the City of Leeds English football coaches