Charles Hughes was the director of coaching for

the Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...

. He authored the FA's official coaching manual and was an early developer of

long ball In association football, a long ball is an attempt to move the ball a long distance down the field via one long aerial kick from either a goalkeeper or a defender directly to an attacking player, with the ball generally bypassing the midfield. R ...

tactics.

Coaching

Charles Hughes began his coaching career with the

England national amateur football team The England national amateur football team was the amateur representative team for England at football. It was formed in 1901, due to the growth of the professional game which meant that amateur players could no longer easily find places in the ...

and

Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic football team The Great Britain men's Olympic football team is the men's football team that represents the United Kingdom at the Summer Olympic Games (where it competes as Great Britain, currently branded Team GB). The team is organised by the English Foot ...

between 1964-74 winning 48 matches out of 77. Charles Hughes began football coaching in 1964 by being assistant coach to Allen Wade, he used the experience he gained from studying for a degree in physical education at

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for post-nominals) is a public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university since 1966, but it dates back to 1909, when L ...

. Hughes would later become the Director of Coaching for

The Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...

and publish his book, ''The Winning Formula'', which would be the basis of how English football would be played and coached for several decades.

Tactics

Hughes presented his ideas in the magazine ''Match Analysis'' and concluded most goals were scored from three passes or fewer, therefore it was important to get the ball quickly forward as soon as possible. He based this analysis on over one hundred games at all levels, including games involving

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

and the Brazilian national team, as well as many England youth games. His ideals were developed from those previously developed by

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Wing Commander Charles Reep. From his statistical analysis, Hughes emphasised the importance of particular areas of the field from where goals were most often scored. He called these areas the 'POMO' – Positions Of Maximum Opportunity – and asserted that players would score if the ball was played into the 'POMO' enough times. He stressed the importance of set plays and

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into the penalty area.

Legacy and criticism

Many coaches and managers in England advocated his long-ball philosophy but some critics have derided his philosophy for encouraging a generation of players who lack basic technical skills and understanding of different tactical playing strategies.

Work

''The Official FA Guide to Basic Team Coaching''

References

1933 births Living people Alumni of Loughborough University The Football Association English football managers {{England-footy-manager-stub