WHEN it comes to seeking academic qualifications Burnley’s development squad coach Michael Jolley may have a head start given his degree in economics from Cambridge University.

Eleven years after swapping a career in financial trading for one in football he recently completed the gold standard in terms of coaching qualifications, passing the Uefa Pro Licence course.

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Achieving that took Jolley the best part of three years and it ended with a 10,000-word written report and a presentation on a subject of the candidates choosing. It might sound more Cambridge than St George’s but the courses, and in particular the Pro Licence, are now teaching people more than simply how to coach players on the training pitch.

“It was a challenging course,” said Jolley. “I think these courses have probably evolved from when they first came out and they’re at a stage where they do stretch you and make you think about how you work and how you can improve the work you’re doing.

“It was a long process but I thoroughly enjoyed it and I think I’ve come out of it better off.

“I started out in coaching 11 years ago with the level one and I’ve worked through that to the level two, the Uefa B, the Uefa A and now the Pro, so it’s a long and very arduous journey, but I’m relieved to have got it finished.

“The important thing is not to think it’s all done now, it’s to keep learning and keep applying what I’ve learnt.”

While a lot of work in the earlier courses might have focused on formations, fitness and 4-4-2, the makeup of the Pro Licence proved to be very different as it prepares candidates for taking, potentially, a top job.

Jolley has been at Turf Moor for two years and is currently in charge of the club’s under-21 development side, but he took plenty of the Pro Licence experience that could benefit him and others at Burnley.

“It’s really about preparing the candidates for management, so a lot of the work is about dealing with press, dealing with players, managing upwards, the football aspect as well, tactical stuff, it really covers every aspect of coaching and management,” he said.

“A lot of people who go on the course aren’t managers at the moment and may never become managers but I think it is designed to prepare people for management so that if that day comes then they’re as ready as they can be.

“But the course can be applied in my current job with the under-21s at Burnley now.

“Up to and including the A licence it’s very football specific, it’s about coaching on the grass, dealing with the players and trying to get the game played the way you want it.

“This was a much broader course in respect of its managing and dealing with agents, press, directors, owners, supporters.”

He added: “Most people that do the course have either been ex-players or spent a lot of time in the game and might not have had the experience of dealing with agents. It’s very interesting and it’s a vital part of the way the game is going now.

“Not just for managers either, a lot of members of staff have to deal with agents at some point. The young players I work with now mostly have agents so I deal with them and the course and the process has helped shape my thinking on how I would do that.

“I did find it beneficial, my background is a little bit different as I’d come from outside into football so I’d perhaps a good start in dealing with those other aspects, but it’s certainly been a big help to see how other people operating and I’ve tried to bring that into what I do at Burnley.

“The core part of the course was a series of residentials where we went along and had different speakers and worked with the same cohort of people.”

However the final year-and-a-half of the course had Jolley recalling his University days as he put pen to paper, or finger to keyboard, to produce a dissertation-style report on his chosen subject of Sustained Success in Football Management.

As managers continue to come and a go at a remarkable rate –- Sean Dyche has not yet been at Burnley for four years but is now the 11th longest serving manager at the 92 Football League clubs –- it is a subject that most in the profession would be keen to find the secret too.

“I spoke to 12 of the 19 1,000 game managers,” said Jolley.

“They’ve been in the game an awful long time and have great experience. I reported back to the panel and the things they thought were successful in terms of staying in the game.

“I think a lot of wisdom has gone out of the game and I wanted to tap into that.

“I’ve never been a manager so I can’t speak from experience, so the next best thing is to speak to people who do have that experience.

“I spoke to over 12,000 games worth of football management.”

He met the likes of Harry Redknapp, Joe Royle, Dario Gradi, Lawrie McMenemy, Ron Atkinson, Brian Horton and Alan Buckley to try toand delve into their experiences and find out how they had sustained such long careers in football management.

“It’s guys that got really good experience and some have operated at the highest level but it’s also guys that have worked lower down and understand what it takes to operate when you haven’t got a lot of resources,” he said.

“One of the big things that came out was the importance of good characters and that’s something that has been borne out at Burnley, getting the right environment and getting the right people in place.

“You’ve got your own ideas, nobody is a clone of somebody else, but there’s no doubt that in the two years I’ve worked with Sean Dyche I’ve learnt a hell of a lot.

“A lot of the experienced people I’ve spoken to in the game have endorsed the kind of work Sean does.”

And having a seasoned manager such as Dyche, as well as his staff, at close hand to discuss ideas with, proved invaluable to Jolley during his research before he produced his report and a presentation to a panel.

He said: “Every time I did an interview I was able to come back to Burnley and speak to the manager about what had been discussed and we’d kick it around with the staff, Ian Woan and Tony Loughlin as well, so it was a great way of doing it, being able to put it into context and ask the gaffer what he thought of things.”