A Football Players Typical Training Day

A typical day at the training ground.

9.30am

Arrive at Training Ground. Get your kit from the Laundry Room, which includes underwear, socks, shorts, t-shirt, sweat top. If it's cold, add rain jacket and long pants to the list. If it's really cold, woolly hat. Also grab Cleaned boots from the Kit man.

9.45am

Into your assigned changing room to put your kit on. Into the Players lounge area at the training ground for a cup of coffee/tea. Hang out and shoot the breeze with the players. Read the newspapers, watch T/V and talk to the players and training ground staff about what the newspapers and media have been saying about any of the players, team or coaching staff.

10.00am

Into the treatment room to chat with the physiotherapist, or Doctor if needed, about any medical problems. Many players would have a massage every day, although I never felt it necessary. Any little injuries would be wrapped up and dealt with before the training session.

10.15am

Occasionally a little tap on the shoulder from the coach or assistant manager to visit the Boss (Manager) upstairs. Always an unpleasant experience as it normally meant things were to be discussed like being dropped for the next game or concerns over your performance!!

10.20am

Sign the never-ending stream of balls, shirts, pictures, magazines, and books etc that are left at the training ground for football fans.

10.30am

"Lets go". Coach calls the players out to the training field. All still very light-hearted and relaxed, with lots of joking around and chatting amongst the players. 30 - 45 minutes of warming up. Jogging, stretching, fun games and gradually increasing the intensity of the exercises in preparation for the training session. Still very light-hearted, with loads of chatting and laughter.

11.15am

Ready for intense running, sprinting, jumping and action on the football field. Small games in teams, keeping the ball, lots of passing exercises. Starting to sweat a bit and definitely no more joking around as the training session becomes serious.

11.30am

Manager arrives on the training field about this time. Players get split into first team squad and second team squad. The real training starts now with shooting practice, shadow play, team games and tactics discussed for the next 1 1/2 hours.

12.30pm

Manager departs and the players all re-group with the Fitness Coach to do a 15 - 30 minute warm down. Similar to the warm up, where the session is more relaxed and the players all start joking and having a laugh again. Lots of Stretches and jogging. Probably some stomach/back strengthening exercises to finish off.

12.45pm

Get Lunch in the Lounge area. Cup of Coffee/tea or juice.

1pm

Changed and depart. Reporters wait outside the training ground or in the press room and normally on a Friday a mass of interviews are conducted by the press. The better players, goal scorers, and any players in controversy will be asked to do interviews. Players playing against old teams quite often asked to do interviews also. Media includes local press, national press and T/V Cameras.

1.30pm

Finished. Not a bad life really….

2.00pm

Sometimes stay back for 30 minutes to lift weights. Would only do this 2 or 3 times a week, depending on the frequency of games. My personal routine included a general legs (quads, calves and hamstring exercises). It’s important to keep good balance in the workout and make sure that all muscle groups get worked. I would also do some upper body for my back, arms (biceps and triceps) and shoulders. I only did 3 sets of 10 repetitions for each muscle group, although because I was very lean I used to lift heavy weights.