Jobs4Football meets Richard Horlock

Meet the former futsal player and coach who is currently making his name as an assistant coach in Thailand, with goals of becoming a Premier League manager in the future.

Whilst working as a teaching assistant, Richard Horlock also became a technical coach for Bath futsal academy, and this is where his passion for the game of futsal came about as he would start regularly playing in the National League for a few years before deciding to move to Croatia to continue his career as a player, whilst also taking on a coaching role.

He said: “Croatia is a completely different world when it comes to futsal coaching, and I was lucky when I say that I worked with three to four world class coaches, and I’m not throwing that word around they really are at the top of the sport.”

“From the training environment to the level of detail to the level of work they put in everyday, it gave me a completely different outlook on coaching, and I sometimes played and coached in front of 4,000 fans, which was surreal because I was only 24 at the time.”

“I came from English futsal where the level probably isn’t as respected in the sport in comparison to Croatia, so to be from there and end up coaching top international players from surrounding countries and Croatia is a big achievement. It was a big challenge but one I really enjoyed and learnt a lot from.”

Whilst playing in Croatia, Horlock received numerous international callups to represent the Scotland Futsal Team, and in terms of coaching he was part of the MNK Alumnas setup that became Croatian Champions and UEFA Cup group winners, before then going on to be U21s and academy coach at Dinamo Zagreb in 2014.

After three seasons working in Eastern Europe, Horlock came back to the UK and worked a number of high profile roles including being the assistant manager for Wales National Deaf Squad. He then went on to be part of the education department for the U18s at Tottenham Hotspur whilst also lecturing on the degree programme in 2017, which has since seen a number of people, taught by Horlock on the course, now working analytic and science roles in the Premier League and Championship.

His final role in England was as a performance and analysis coach at Stevenage Football club, before trading Hertfordshire for the Thailand capital and Bangkok FC.

“One of my friends from university is a very famous footballer from Thailand, and he heard of this opportunity through his contacts, and he asked me if I would be interested because it gave me the chance to work at first team level and gain experience, so I jumped at the chance, and it has gone on from there.”

He joined the third tier side in 2019, and it’s here where he admits that his coach at the time, Sebastien Neumann, became his biggest influence when it comes to the tactical side of football, and to this day Horlock still applies methods of ‘Neumannball’ in his current role.

Since joining Bangkok FC, Horlock has also worked the assistant coach role for League 2 side Sukhothai FC and current club Suphanburi FC, who play their games in Thailand’s top flight division, but despite being in the same role Horlock has admitted that he has had to adapt to different requirements from each club.

“Each club in Thailand I have worked at have wanted something different, so one club was more fitness based and linked fitness to their style of play, another club focussed on analysis and the data side, and this current role is more focussed on being an actual first team coach, so it has been great to put all these skills together and it has helped me develop a lot.”

Despite only being 32, Horlock has already obtained an abundance of experience in coaching along with his UEFA B Licenses in futsal and football at both senior and youth level, whilst currently awaiting approval for his UEFA A License. As well as this, he is also an AFC A License Candidate and has a background in sports science roles in two continents however, he has sights set even bigger for the future as he eyes up becoming a manager at Europe’s highest level.

“I’m naturally progressing towards a head coach role in the future, but I know it’s a big decision going from assistant to head coach because you immediately are thrown into the spotlight and will have to make the right decisions. I’m being patient but for sure that will happen in the future, and I think I’m experienced enough to know when I’m ready in terms of knowing what I need to learn to get to a level I expect.”

“I want to go to the highest level and that’s the Premier League and top leagues around Europe, and of course at this stage it would seem crazy and impossible but some of the things I’ve already done were equally as impossible at the time.”

Whilst having these big ambitions, the 32-year-old also understands the responsibility he has on himself at the moment whilst working in Asia and highlights his time in the continent as a ‘massive achievement’. He also admits that wherever he ends up in the future he wants to prioritise educating and sharing knowledge with staff and colleagues.