Welcome to the Psychology, Emotional Intelligence & Leadership Course. Whatever your background and reason for enrolling on this course I hope you find value in the modules you undertake and also gain the benefit of the expertise of my fellow practitioners and indeed from the knowledge and experiences of other participants on the course. 

My interest in the psychological aspects of the game began in the early stages of my career. I remember having recently signed for Watford (from Halifax Town) as an 18 year old playing in a game against a strong Stoke City side at the old Victoria Ground. The atmosphere of a 20,000 plus crowd was the most intense I had experienced at that stage, and I vaguely remember noticing in the warm up, the level of intensity building. Prior to going out onto the pitch I remember my vision tunnelling in and feeling very scared that my sight was somehow disappearing. After a quick check with the physio to make sure I was not going blind I was sent out to “get on with it”. Gradually my vision returned to normal and I subsequently forgot about the incident and got on with rest of my career. 

My playing career spanned ten clubs and included nearly 500 league appearances. After retiring, I moved into coaching and then management. I spent seven seasons in these roles, first as an assistant and then as manager of Chesterfield in League One and Two.

It was only early into my fourth career in football as a Chartered Sport, Exercise & Performance Psychologist, that I realised my early experience as a teenager playing for Watford was the consequence of my nervous system being overloaded, and the tunnelling of my vision was my body’s response to my surroundings. A good example of how mind and body can become an obstacle to performance. 

On this course we hope to provide for you many more anecdotes and experience as well as some of the best evidence based practice and research to enrich your experience of the course and provide you with value to take forward in your specific domain. I look forward to meeting you in person and hope we can learn together more about the psychological aspects of the game and sport we all love.

Lee Richardson, Co-Director of the Programme

Former professional footballer, coach and manager. Performance Psychologist at Liverpool FC