Richard Allen - Ex Head of England Talent ID explains what English clubs are taught to scout

About this episode

In this episode, Marcelo and I speak to Richard Allen.

Richard Allen is the former Head of Talent ID for the FA as well as Head of Recruitment for Tottenham and Academy Director for QPR. He was responsible for creating the original Talent ID courses that govern how we scout in England today. These courses range from teaching scouts at the grassroots level what they should look for and how academy directors should manage their heads of recruitment and their scouting departments.

We ask the question: have academies in England got this right? Expect to learn how English recruitment works, the English talent ID model, the psychological and social factors which helped Harry Kane get scouted and much more.

Could you develop your child into a footballer if you followed the 'perfect' formula? Sean Conlon, the founder of We Make Footballers and a Scout with Chelsea believes some people can.

Follow our journey to discovering what it really takes to become a footballer. How much is down to luck, genetics or being born into a football family.