What is player care?
A critical tool for proactive clubs looking to protect their assets.
Player Care is the holistic oversight, organisation and delivery of a hassle-free experience for every player on a professional club’s books in a way that balances the needs of both the club and player.
Player Care professionals generally have responsibility for many of the non-sporting and non-medical aspects of a player’s time at a club.
At The Player Care Group, our revolutionary approach is data- and experience-driven. It is built on three main areas of focus:
1. Operational Player Care
2. Personal Developmental Player Care
3. Welfare and Player Care
For first-team players, where the focus is on allowing athletes to play to the best of their ability with minimal distractions, we normally recommend Player Care strategies focused on 80% support and 20% education. For Academy players, where the emphasis is on developing life skills and giving young athletes a basis to thrive, we flip that approach to 20% support and 80% education.
The 18 elements of effective Player Care
Pre-signing
Onboarding
Family programme
Ongoing support
Player and staff buy-in
Internal team comms
Team scheduling and travel
Home match experience
Away match experience
Player appearances
Fan mail and signed items
Safeguarding integration
Match logistics
Education and development
Mental health signposting
Offboarding
Player Care staff recruitment
Department management
Why is Player Care important?
Effective and well-designed Player Care strategies are a rapidly developing tool a club can develop to protect on-field performance, maximise financial benefits, and minimise unnecessary exposure to financial risk.
A good Player Care protocol will keep your athletes’ focus on the pitch. It will reduce transition periods, strengthen team spirit, protect marginal gains, increase commercial activations, and reduce the risk of underperformance from your club’s biggest assets.
The Player Care Group has been trusted to audit some of the world’s biggest clubs. We’ve worked with more than half of Premier League clubs. And now our expertise and support is available to you, with honesty, confidentiality and sensitivity guaranteed.
Working in Player Care
If you’re looking for a role that’s challenging, ever changing & people based, perhaps you should consider a career in Player Care. Below are a few top tips for working in the industry.
Analyse your skills: Everyone has skills that are related to Player Care, you just may not know it yet! Look at what you’ve done so far, whether it’s pulling out working with difficult customers in a retail/service environment, administration skills in your office job or even something you’ve done in your school/university societies or teams. With Player Care being such a new industry, there aren’t many experienced Player Care professionals so showing that you have the right personal skills may be as useful as direct experience.
Focus on either 1st Team or Academy: The roles in Player Care have the same name but are vastly different in the skills and duties between 1st Team & Academy. Are you someone who thrives on helping young people be the best person they can be, or do you prefer to work in 1st Teams where the role is more support based than education? There isn’t much movement in staff between 1st Teams & Academies so it’s best to pick what you’d prefer and focus on that rather than trying to use one as a stepping stone to another.
Get educated: This can mean by doing one of The Player Care Group’s education courses, or by researching the industry in general and being able to speak well about the role in any potential interview. There are limited academic papers or articles on the subject, but have a look at a few of the links below to give yourself a better idea of the industry and what it entails. We now have over 50 course graduates working in full time roles in football - and while we don’t guarantee a role, the courses will give you a better understanding of Player Care in order to be able to talk critically about it in an interview.
Listen to others: In 2022, we hosted our Player Care Conference online, with some leading figures from playing, coaching, academics and of course Player Care speaking on a range of topics. You can watch this back here to really see if Player Care is right for you.
Look around the world for roles: Most people will be limited by language or visas in some countries, but if you have more flexibility on either then look further afield to see if you can secure a role in an up & coming market. “By not willing to move anywhere, you’re turning down 99% of jobs you haven’t even been offered yet!” Professor Lisa Delpy Neirotti, Director of Sports Management Program at The George Washington University.
Stay informed: The Player Care Group has a blog as well as a monthly newsletter with related Player Care articles, exclusive interviews, course dates and other opportunities - be sure to sign up on our contact page, as well as registering your information on our recruitment database. We work with clubs to help them place staff and will look at the database for candidates if they require certain key skills such as languages.
Get in touch: Feel free to email contact@playercaregroup.co.uk or contact us on Instagram, LinkedIn or Twitter for more information!
