Jobs4Football meets Dean Ellis
Jobs4Football spoke to Academy Scout, Dean Ellis. Dean has years of experience working in the talent identification arena as well as recruitment at both academy and senior level. Dean is currently in his final year at the Open University, studying Business Management in Sports and Football.
Throughout school, Dean played football to a county level and supported Manchester United like his father. Dean wasn’t involved with scouting until he attended a game at his local club, A.F.C Fylde. “I was a season ticket holder at Fylde, and I had this conversation where I exchanged information with the Head of recruitment. I had told them what I knew about the club and he asked me if I wanted to scout for them and it all started from there.” Dean has managed his time well with the completion of his FA Level 1 & 2 in Talent identification and Level 1 & 2 in technical scouting as well as performance analysis.
I was intrigued as to what Ellis wanted to achieve from the fulfilment of his university degree and how he would apply it to his future career. “It has helped me gain a better understanding of not just football, but the idea of business itself. I have enjoyed the leadership models throughout because I see myself taking on a leadership role down the line someday.” Dean’s course is perfect for melding the love & passion for football and studying business, the course shapes the student to the preferred role they would ideally like to work as in sport.
Dean had found Jobs4Football through LinkedIn, looking for jobs online and has been looking to update his CV, through the mentoring programme we provide; Dean will be gaining expertise on the business of football and a professional outlook on his personal capability. “I conversed with Nick on the improvement of my CV initially, because I feel that it is a bit dated and also had interest in an online CV profile to become searchable online. I would like some direction and help with the likes of how an interviewing process is conducted at clubs and how to stand out from others. I am eager to get involved with Jobs4Football and pave my future.” Jobs4Football’s career mentor package offers access to an experienced football recruitment specialist who can help you achieve your professional goals by giving you objective advice and support based on your experience and needs.
He isn’t a stranger to coaching either, in his spare time Dean has been a coach for Kirkham Juniors U6’s. “It’s a local grassroots team, my eldest son wanted to take up football so we put him into a local club. I knew quite a lot of the committee members as well; I offered my help and that led to me taking over a bit really. I have my introduction to coaching, and am going to be completing my UEFA C licence later in the year, I thought it would be good to get a better understanding of the game tactically. I have found it’s better to stay open to opportunities like coaching, because it helps me see the game from a different perspective. I have experience in opposition analysis and player identification, so I am reasonably proficient in any avenue in scouting.”
Currently, his role is academy scout for Blackpool FC, I was intrigued as to how Dean got to work with The Seasiders. “I was at Morecambe (FC) originally, that was on a volunteer basis. I applied for the Blackpool job early on last year and didn’t hear anything back, and then it was through LinkedIn that the Head of recruitment reached out to me and asked if I was still interested, I spoke to Morecambe and they said go for it. Blackpool is more local to me, and I would say that I am more knowledgeable on the Blackpool footballing geograpohic location as well.”
Throughout lockdown, Dean focused on building his repertoire via the PFSA by completing self-development scouting and analysis courses whilst in addition learning Spanish through 1 on 1 lessons which will no doubt add huge value to his profile at a later date. In the future Dean understands that making small steps in the industry will benefit himself long term and that a move into a full time scouting/recruitment role would definitely be a positive one.
As a candidate, Dean is well versed in the footballing industry and is consistently looking to improve his scout knowledge, experience and coaching resume to his holistic profile.