The Grassroots Football Coach

Send us a text

To mark Black History Month 2024, this special episode of The Grassroots Football Coach is dedicated to celebrating Black History Month.

Black History Month is a national celebration which aims to promote and celebrate achievements by Black people and their contributions to the British society.

First celebrated in this 1987, this year the theme is “Reclaiming Narratives,” and marks a significant shift towards recognising and correcting the narratives of Black history and culture. 

In this episode, Mark 'Rivo' Rivers & Richard Brant are joined by FA Regional Coach Development Officer for Diversity & Inclusion, Abdoullah Kheir. On the pod, Abs talks more about his experiences in the game and alongside Rivo, they discuss the opportunities now available to support coaches from diverse backgrounds. 

Music by Darren Fellerdale

Send us a text

To mark Black History Month 2024, this special episode of The Grassroots Football Coach is dedicated to celebrating Black History Month.

Black History Month is a national celebration which aims to promote and celebrate achievements by Black people and their contributions to the British society.

First celebrated in this 1987, this year the theme is “Reclaiming Narratives,” and marks a significant shift towards recognising and correcting the narratives of Black history and culture. 

In this episode, Mark 'Rivo' Rivers & Richard Brant are joined by FA Regional Coach Development Officer for Diversity & Inclusion, Abdoullah Kheir. On the pod, Abs shares his journey growing up in Kingston as 1 of 5 black families, he also talks about his experiences in school and sport as a youngster.

Abs also discusses his role models growing up who include John Barnes, Mark Bright, Ian Wright and also more recently from a coaching perspective, Pete Augustine, Paul Davis and of course Mr Rivers himself!

Part 2 is released next Thursday!! 


Music by Darren Fellerdale

Send us a text

Throughout UEFA Euro 2024, Mark "Rivo" Rivers and Richard Brant will be discussing the tournament in Germany, from looking ahead to the festival of football to dissecting and reviewing England's performances as 24 teams bid for European glory.

On this episode, Rivo & Rich review the final where a late goal from Mikel Oyarzabal 4 minutes from the end clinched victory for La Roja. We breakdown the goals in the 2nd half including Cole Palmer's wonderful finish and discuss the difference of shooting and finishing.

The duo then take a look back at Gareth Southgate's 8 years in charge of the Three Lions, from the thrilling penalty shoot-out win vs Colombia in World Cup 2018 to reaching back-to-back European Championship finals. They also look at the impact Gareth has had on football in this country and how he reconnected the nation to fall in love with England once again.

They then take a final look back at the Euro's in Germany, some of the highlights and moments of the tournaments plus how the young stars shone in Germany.

Music by Darren Fellerdale. 

Send us a text

Throughout UEFA Euro 2024, Mark "Rivo" Rivers and Richard Brant will be discussing the tournament in Germany, from looking ahead to the festival of football to dissecting and reviewing England's performances as 24 teams bid for European glory.

On this episode, Rivo, Rich & Marley look back at England's Semi-Final victory vs the Netherlands with Ollie Watkins scoring after 89:59 and taking England to Berlin! They talk about the outstanding performance of Kobbie Mainoo and how substitutions have impacted the game since the introduction from 3 to 5 changes. 

They chat about Gareth's vital experience in tournament football and the critical moments of quality from players throughout England's journey which has led them to the final. They also look back at Spain's 2-1 victory over France with 16 year-old Lamine Yamal scoring one of the goal's of the tournament.   

They then look ahead to the final on Sunday in Berlin and discuss where the match can be won for Gareth's Three Lions and the dangers which Spain possess.  Also hear about the connection Marley has with England Semi-Final hero Ollie Watkins! 

Theme Music by Darren Fellerdale, Inspirational Music by Onoychenkomusic (Pixabay)

Send us a text

Throughout UEFA Euro 2024, Mark "Rivo" Rivers and Richard Brant will be discussing the tournament in Germany, from looking ahead to the festival of football to dissecting and reviewing England's performances as 24 teams bid for European glory.

On this episode, Rivo & Rich are joined by the returning Marley to look back at England's penalty shootout success vs Switzerland. They breakdown the game, talk through the substitutions made and the impact Bukayo Saka had on the game. Plus Rivo & Marley talk about the mentality needed to take a penalty in such a high pressure situation and why it's important for players to believe in their process. 

They then look ahead to the Semi-Final ties and give their thoughts on who will make it to the final in Berlin on Sunday 14th July. 


Music by Darren Fellerdale

Send us a text

Throughout UEFA Euro 2024, Mark "Rivo" Rivers and Richard Brant will be discussing the tournament in Germany, from looking ahead to the festival of football to dissecting and reviewing England's performances as 24 teams bid for European glory.

On this episode, Rivo & Rich look back at England's late late show vs Slovakia and discuss performance vs results at the elite level. Rivo talks about Jude Bellingham's mentality and quality of strike plus importance of being able to play in different positions with recent example of Bukayo Saka playing 3 different positions in 1 game. 

Rivo & Rich then look ahead to the Euro 2024 quarter-finals and look across the pond to couple of ties in the Copa America's last 8 too plus the pair discuss the differences between a BBQ and a picnic.  

Music by Darren Fellerdale

Send us a text

Throughout UEFA Euro 2024, Mark "Rivo" Rivers and Richard Brant will be discussing the tournament in Germany, from looking ahead to the festival of football to dissecting and reviewing England's performances as 24 teams bid for European glory.

On this episode, Rivo & Rich are joined by a special guest as they look back at England's draw with Slovenia which saw the Three Lions top their group. They also look back on the group stages including Georgia's fantastic victory and they look ahead to the Round of 16 starting this weekend. 

Send us a text

Throughout UEFA Euro 2024, Mark "Rivo" Rivers and Richard Brant will be discussing the tournament in Germany, from looking ahead to the festival of football to dissecting and reviewing England's performances as 24 teams bid for European glory.

On this episode, Rivo & Rich look back at England's draw with Denmark which keeps the Three Lions top of their group. They focus on the balance of the team, what changes Gareth may make and the similar challenges which grassroots coaches will face on a weekly basis. 

Send us a text

In this episode, Mark 'Rivo' Rivers & Richard Brant are joined by former Reading, Newcastle United & West Ham Utd goalkeeper, Shaka Hislop for the 2nd part of the special. 

Shaka begins with his first stint at West Ham Utd under Harry Redknapp where he says under Harry's leadership, players like Joe Cole, Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard & Paolo Di Canio were encouraged to be creative and not afraid to make mistakes. Shaka also talks about the infamous Di Canio scissor kick strike in 2000.

Harry then took Shaka to Portsmouth in what would turn out to be a promotion winning season taking Pompey back to the Premier League.

Rich makes Shaka relive the 2006 FA Cup Final where, during his 2nd stint at West Ham Utd,  the Hammers were seconds away from beating Liverpool in normal time before Steven Gerrard's iconic strike.

Shaka also talks about his honour in representing Trinidad & Tobago at their very first World Cup in 2006 and receiving the call up to play just minutes before their first game vs Sweden and keeping a clean sheet!! Next game was England where Shaka kept the Three Lions at bay for 83 mins before two late goals win it for England.  

There's also Shaka's take on the modern day GK, who he thought was the best player he ever played with, his career as a pundit on ESPN in America and find out if Shaka could beat Rivo in this week's quiz. 

Music by Darren Fellerdale  

Send us a text

Throughout UEFA Euro 2024, Mark "Rivo" Rivers and Richard Brant will be discussing the tournament in Germany, from looking ahead to the festival of football to dissecting and reviewing England's performances as 24 teams bid for European glory.

On the eve of the tournament and with Rivo in the States with Arsenal, Rich caught up with Referee Development Officer Adam Parry to look ahead at the Group Stages. 

We will also hear from Rich & Adam on their tournament predictions and Rivo makes a brief appearance dialling in from Atlanta. 

Music by Darren Fellerdale