7 Soft Skills Every Football Professional Needs

In today’s issue of Football Progression Path, I’ll share the 7 essential soft skills for a football career and provide key actions to help you develop them.

You might have excellent coding skills, you might be brilliant at scouting new talent and writing reports. But having the best technical skills in the world will not matter if you’re unable to have emotional intelligence, a development focus and personal skills.

Most aspiring, new or current analysts and scouts purely focus on developing their technical skills. Without spending anytime aiming to develop their soft skills.

Your soft skills will set you apart and help you build personal connections with managers and colleagues.

7 key soft skills you need to work in football:

1. Communication
2. Listening
3. Working Under Pressure
4. Organisation
5. Growth Mindset
6. Self-Motivation
7. Critical Thinking

Communication & Listening

Whether you’re an analyst or scout you need to effectively communicate ideas and insights.

Being able to translate data or thoughts into “football language” will make you more valuable.

Football is a game of opinions, you also need to effectively listen and digest information from senior and experienced people - This will also help you develop!

Actions:

Active Listening Practice: Listen actively without interrupting. Ask clarifying questions and summarise to confirm understanding.

Encourage feedback: Get feedback on your communication style from peers, mentors, or supervisors. Valuable insights can help refine your approach.

Working Under Pressure & Organisation

Football is incredibly fast paced. You need to have experience and be comfortable in turning around work quickly.

You must be ready to deliver your insights and thoughts with short notice.

There is a lot of information to store and digest effectively. From presentations, to last minute meetings. Recalling and using this information quickly and effectively is key.

Actions:

Simulated Scenarios: Practice high-pressure situations to learn how to manage pressure effectively. You must be ready to deliver your insights and thoughts with short notice. Example - produce a piece of portfolio content in x number of days.

Prioritisation Techniques: Manage workload effectively under pressure by identifying urgent tasks. Think about things you need such as video, data, or time to learn.

Growth Mindset & Self-Motivation

Any potential employer wants to know how you have grown and developed throughout your career.

What areas do you need to develop for the roles you’re applying for? How are you going to develop them?

Think about the things you have done outside of work to aid your development - such as courses, workshops, studies, networking.

Actions:

Embrace challenges: As opportunities for growth. Seek tasks that push your limits and promote learning.

Learning Goals: Set specific, measurable learning goals. Break them into smaller milestones to track progress.

Find Your Why: Identify your motivations and passions in football. Connecting with your purpose boosts commitment.

Critical Thinking

Football is a game of opinions. You need to have one and be willing to share it. Have it backed up with experiences or data.

Always question why things are done, and the way things are done.

Look to improve processes.

Actions:

Enhance Decision-Making Skills: Consider alternatives, weighing pros and cons, and basing decisions on evidence and critical thinking rather than intuition or impulse. How would it look in a completely different way?

Analyse Data Effectively: Master statistical analysis techniques, data visualisation tools, and performance metrics to identify patterns and insights. Look into learning Tableau and coding.

Developing these soft skills will help you stand out in the world of football. When combined with the necessary technical skills, you’ll become more successful in your football career.

Thanks for taking the time to read this week’s edition.

Liam

Whenever you’re ready there are 2 ways I can help you: ​The Online Portfolio Blueprint - My flagship course for helping new, current and aspiring football professionals. We give you the blueprint on how to grow your knowledge, network and opportunities in football by writing online through an online portfolio. ​Pro Scout Edge - Our scouting tool has been created by professionals and tested by experts in football. It’s the ultimate online scouting database you need for your scouting journey. It forms an all-in-one system for player and team scouting, with templates, dashboards and more.