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Liam Henshaw

Retail supervisor to first team scout

Published about 14 hours ago • 2 min read

Hey Reader,

​Craig Bradley is a first team scout at Derby County.

Five years ago he was a retail supervisor in his forties, with no football on his CV at all.

He ran a session inside the Recruitment Room on Thursday, and one bit is worth telling you about.

The way he got his first club role.

He didn't apply for it.

He noticed something.

He lived in Plymouth. Plymouth Argyle had scouts at every grassroots game he went to.

He had never once seen one from Exeter City.

So he went to Exeter with exactly that.

You don't have a scout here. I can be that scout.

That was his proposal. No degree, no badges worth mentioning, no football CV.

Unpaid at first. Paid within six months.

Now before you say that's a one-off, it isn't.

​Alexander Wilkinson ran a session inside the Recruitment Room last month. Former Premier League and Eredivisie scout.

He did something similar.

He was scouting for SC Heerenveen, a Dutch club, and he specialised in Premier League 2.

At the time there was no video and no data for that league. If a club abroad wanted to know what was in England's under-21s, someone had to be in the ground.

So he was. Three to five live games a week.

He became the go-to for Premier League 2. Five years at Heerenveen, then Luton Town, through the season they went up.

Two people. Two very different starting points.

The same move.

They found something a club needed and didn't have, and they offered and specialised in that.

Now Craig mentioned the types of messages he gets every week on LinkedIn. Let's compare them....

"I've got my talent ID badge. Can I have a job?"

He was honest about it. His own early messages were the same.

His words: no wonder I got ignored.

Nobody is looking for someone keen. There's no shortage of keen.

They're looking for something they haven't already got.

So the question isn't how do I stand out.

It's what does this club not have.

A region nobody there is covering. A league they can't see. A market they can't afford to watch.

Answer that, and you're not asking for a job anymore.

You're the answer to a problem they already had.

That gets you opportunities.

Liam

Work out what you've got to offer

Craig and Alex both told their stories inside the Recruitment Room. That's the point of it. People doing the job now, telling you how the door actually opened, and giving feedback on the work you're building to open yours.

→ Join our next intake

Doors open again in October with 15 spots available, first come first served. After that, we open again in January.

Liam Henshaw

Join The Recruitment Room: sign up here​

Football Recruitment Roadmap: read here​

More Writing & Advice: read here​

Podcasts I've Done: watch here​

Unit 145786, PO Box 7169, Poole, Dorset BH15 9EL
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Liam Henshaw

Helping new, aspiring and current football professionals progress in football.

I am a data analyst and scout working in professional football. Subscribe and join over 5,000+ newsletter readers every week!

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