About
Research
Email: paul.ford@stmarys.ac.uk
Biography
Paul is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Sport, Exercise and Applied Science, having joined St Mary’s University in 2020. He is a theme lead in our SWIFT Research Centre. His primary teaching responsibilities are on the MSc Performance Football Coaching and MSc Sports Coaching, as well as assisting on the BSc Chelsea Football Club Foundation Coaching and Development. He is a national teaching fellow of the Higher Education Academy, UK. Paul previously worked in this role at Liverpool John Moores University where he gained his PhD and University of Brighton.
Research
Research profile
Paul’s research specialisms are skill acquisition, motor behaviour, motor learning and control, expert performance, coaching
Paul’s research specialisms are skill acquisition, motor behaviour, motor learning and control, expert performance, coaching science, soccer science, and youth or talent development. He has received significant amounts of external research funding to support his work. Dr Ford has published multiple peer-reviewed journal articles and chapters in edited books, as well as one edited book. Paul has supervised several PhD students to graduation and currently supervises a small team of PhD students. He has shared his research at both international and national conferences, sometimes supervising students to conference awards. Dr Ford has been an Associate Editor at peer-review journals and contributed to two Research Excellence Frameworks. Paul has been general secretary and conference organiser since the inception of the Expertise and Skill Acquisition Network (ESAN) Conference, which held its 10th edition in 2023 at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. He is visiting research fellow at the Institute of Sport at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. His research profile can be viewed on ResearchGate.
Current research interests include:
- measuring decision making in match-play
- identifying deliberate practice in sports training.
Consultancy
Paul holds High Performance Sport Accreditation (HPSA) in Skill Acquisition from The British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES). He co-created and co-leads the BASES Skill Acquisition Special Interest Group. He has been a consultant for and provided support to multiple professional sports organisations, including in coach education, ranging from Real Madrid FC to UK Sport. He worked for 10 years as an age-group coach in the youth academy of a Premier League football team. He continues to provide support to professional sports organisations. Paul can be contacted via his email address about any consultancy, education or support matters.
Peer-reviewed articles this year
- Roca, A. Pocock, C. & Ford, P. R. (2024). Exploring decision-making practices during coaching sessions in grassroots youth soccer: A mixed-methods study. Science & Medicine in Football, Pre-print.
- Andrew, M. Ford, P. R. Alder, S. E., Champ, F. M., Brownlee, T. E., Datson, N. & Causer, J. (2024). Talent development in female soccer: Developmental activities of professional players in England. Journal of Sports Sciences, Pre-print.
- Andrew, M. Ford, P. R. McRobert, A. P., Whitehead, O., Foster, N., Miller, M. T., & Hayes, S. J. (2024). Using a coproduced educational workshop to change the focus of verbal instructions delivered by professional youth soccer coaches: A case study. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy.
Selected highly cited peer-reviewed articles
- Williams, A. M. Drust, B. & Ford, P. R. (2020). Talent identification and development in soccer since the millennium. Journal of Sports Sciences, 38, 1199-1210.
- Ford, P. R. Delgado Bordonau, J. L. Bonanno, D. Tavares, J. Groenendijk, C. Fink, C. Gualtieri, D. Gregson, W. Varley, M. C. Weston, M. Lolli, L. & Di Salvo, V. (2020). A survey of identification and development processes in the youth academies of professional soccer clubs from around the world. Journal of Sports Sciences, 38, 1269-1278.
- Broadbent, D. Williams, A. M., Causer, J. & Ford, P. R. (2015). Perceptual-cognitive skill training and its transfer to expert performance in the field: Future research directions. European Journal of Sports Sciences, 15, 322-331.
- Williams, A. M. Ford, P. R. Eccles, D. W., & Ward, P. (2011). Perceptual-cognitive expertise in sport and its acquisition: Implications for applied cognitive psychology. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 25, 432-442.
- Ford, P. R. Yates, I. & Williams, A. M. (2010). An analysis of practice activities and instructional behaviours used by youth soccer coaches during practice: Exploring the link between science and application. Journal of Sports Sciences, 28, 483–495.
- Ford, P. R. Ward, P. Hodges, N. J. & Williams, A. M. (2009b). The role of deliberate practice and play in career progression in sport: the early engagement hypothesis. High Ability Studies, 20, 65-75.
Books