Simply Winning with David Horrocks
David is - wait for it - An academic, having studied a PHD in Psychology, Director of Sensible Soccer and a Research Consultant at Manchester United Football Club. It's fair to say he is a busy man but these days his life is much less busy and much more settled than it has been in the past. As a Lancashire lad growing up in Burnley, like many lads he was an aspiring footballer. His dad managed to get him into a local Catholic school which had a good reputation for being a 'good football school' despite the fact that he wasn't Catholic at all. Actually his Dad met the headmaster of the school in the local pub (where most of us Northerners form many friendships). Back in those days football wasn't the way it is now, the money was nowhere near and they didn't offer academy places to the youth, though many clubs did have Under 16's sides and David was lucky enough to play for Burnley and Blackburn at that level. He was also offered a YTS (Youth Training Scheme for you youngsters) at Blackpool but he turned that down and stayed on at school to study A-Levels. Trying to balance a football career with full time studies didn't really work well for him and he found himself fledgling at both rather than excelling at one or the other. He had basically compromised and this was a wake up call for him. He went on to get a job in a local paint factory and then in the Warburton's bread factory (best bread ever btw - northern lasses opinion and nobody paid us to say that!) and he played football for Accrington Stanley (who are they? - another 80s reference, when did we get so old?). His friends by this point where at Uni so he was basically living the student lifestyle whilst trying to carve out a football career, again, not the best combination. What sport had done for him though was allow him to meet a load of people he probably wouldn't have otherwise met and this enabled him to get a 'proper job' in an IT firm and he stayed in this industry for about 12 years, that's where he met our Michelle - what a lucky fella! He was still paying football at this point but was approaching his 30's and realised that when football was no longer an option for him he didn't want to be stuck in that particular day job. This revelation led him to start studying coaching which then fed his interest in the psychology side of sports so he went on to study that via an Open University Course whilst he worked part time in community clubs and schools. One of these clubs at the time was of particularly interest to the academy scouts (academies now exist by this point) who came along to see the players and spotted the coach (we love this part of David's story). So he then went to work at Bury FC and met their Head of Psychology who inspired and encouraged him to go to University and finish the degree where he did his dissertation entitled Talent Development and Serial Winning (Manchester United Football Club) which ended up getting published - you might say he got noticed. After this he worked for quite a few football clubs then was poached to golf for a few years where he went on world tours and led a very busy and hectic life. Then something amazing happened, something that he describes as the best thing that ever happened happened, his son Jordi (now 7) was born and that lifestyle became unsustainable as he didn't want to be away more than he was at home. Next step, lecturing at Universities, consulting in various sports and setting up his own company www.sensiblesoccer.co.uk, a business that distributes football supplies to clubs, schools and the general public.He also became a Research Consultant at Man Utd FC which sounds like such an interesting role and involves David and therefore the club being at the forefront of sports technology - you are going to have to listen to find out more!