Roscoe leaves Liverpool to become Player Care Manager at Aston Villa
Phil Roscoe set up a pioneering Alumni Database at Liverpool
Written by Training Ground Guru — May 10, 2022
PHIL ROSCOE has left Liverpool after 17 years to become first-team Player Care Manager at Aston Villa.
Roscoe started working for the Reds in 2005 as an Academy Coach and was appointed Head of Education and Welfare in 2009. In January 2020 he became Academy Player Care Manager, supporting the wellbeing of young players “both emotionally and holistically.”
His work in setting up and then proactively managing an Academy Alumni Database has been pioneering and even unique. The Database enabled him to know where all of the club’s recent scholars are and what they’re doing - and he kept in touch with them by phone and in person as well as sending out an Alumni Newsletter.
Villa manager Steven Gerrard knows Roscoe well from his time at Liverpool as a player and then the Under-18s boss. The former England midfielder has been keen to bolster Villa’s first-team player care offering and Roscoe was the obvious choice to help him do so.
Liverpool are currently recruiting for a replacement for Roscoe.
Hugo Scheckter, Managing Director of the Player Care Group and former Head of Player Care at West Ham and Southampton, told TGG more about the role last year.
He explained that player care involved the operational - team travel, communication and group scheduling - but that it was also about plugging into performance and coaching. Scheckter said another key element of the job was developing relationships with staff and players and also helping to strengthen the bond between the club and its people.
“Traditionally, clubs were focused on the four hours that players are at the training ground,” Scheckter said. “I’m looking at the other 20 hours. If a player’s not happy in their personal life, then how can they perform on the pitch?"
