About TGG

The website brought the latest news and innovations from football’s burgeoning backroom teams, with insights on Academies, Analytics, Coaching, Leadership, Performance and Scouting.

Founder Simon Austin had previously worked as a journalist for BBC Sport for 13 years and for newspapers including the New York Times, Daily Telegraph and the Sun, and had become frustrated by the lack of mainstream coverage from the training ground. Training Ground Guru – or TGG as it came to be known – was his answer.

Soon TGG had developed a dedicated audience and was shortlisted for Sport Website of the Year at the prestigious SJA Awards in January 2018. Its stories were also picked up by both national and international media, as editors became aware of the appetite for insights into backroom staff.

In 2018, TGG launched its first live event, the small and intimate Cohesive Coaching in Manchester, and this evolved into an annual two-day conference, TGG Live, which aims to bring together the brightest minds from football and beyond.

TGG Live 2024 was held at the national football centre at St George’s Park and welcomed speakers from some of the biggest clubs and federations in Europe, as well as more than 450 delegates from different disciplines and organisations.

As well as our live event, we have held more than 20 virtual Online Conferences and Masterclasses. which are all available on-demand. In 2019, we launched the TGG Podcast and have since welcomed more than 60 guests, including Manchester United Sporting Director Dan Ashworth, Everton Manager Sean Dyche, Southampton boss Russell Martin, USA Women’s Head Coach Emma Hayes and Ajax Sporting Director Marijn Beuker.

We run a popular Jobs Board, which has been used by every Premier League club, and are proud to have the respect and attention of such a high-quality audience. As Victor Orta, the Seville Sporting Director (and a guest on Episode 7 of the TGG Podcast) put it, “This is a platform that, for me, is a reference for professionals in football.”