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Simon Smith
Simon began his professional goalkeeping career with Newcastle United in 1978, spending four years there before moving on to Gateshead F.C, where he played 501 games over a ten year period.
Simon went back to Newcastle United in 1993 as Academy Goalkeeping Coach. In the summer of 1999, Simon became First Team Goalkeeping Coach working under Ruud Gullit and Sir Bobby Robson for six seasons, coaching in The Premier League with goalkeepers Shay Given, Steve Harper, Lionel Perez, John Karelse and Tony Caig. During this period, Simon prepared and coached the senior goalkeepers for over 300 Premiership matches, 40 European matches including Inter Toto, UEFA Cup and Champions League matches and an F.A Cup semi final.
Simon has also worked with professional goalkeepers at Sunderland A. F.C., Carlisle United F.C., Wigan Athletic and Hartlepool United F.C. (Alec Chamberlain, David Preece, Tony Caig, Lee Butler, Roy Carroll, Martin Holland, Jim Provett, Dimitrios Konstantopoulos and Kieren Westwood)
Simon works for The Football Association as the Goalkeeping Coach to the England Youth Teams and as a Goalkeeping Scout identifying and reporting on current and possible England goalkeepers. He has also worked as Goalkeeping Coach to the England Ladies Football Team. Simon delivers The Football Association Goalkeeping Awards from Level 1 to UEFA A standard. He also holds the Football Association Coaching Diploma.
After successfully completing a B.A. Sports Studies Degree, Simon set up his own Goalkeeping Coaching Company - Simon Smith Goalkeeping.
The biggest influences on Simon’s goalkeeping coaching career have been ; Mike Kelly - Sir Bobby Robson’s goalkeeping coach when he was England manager; Frans Heok – Dutch goalkeeping coach at Barcelona, whose videos were an excellent help in the early days and inspired him to produce his own DVD’s; Mervyn Day - who gave Simon his first senior coaching job at Carlisle United and Pavel Srnicek, who he worked with on a one to one basis in 1999 – Pavel showed Simon the ‘foreign’ style of goalkeeping and goalkeeping coaching something that he has combined with his own thoughts and ideas on goalkeeping to produce his own ‘method’.
Simon has produced two DVD’s…. Keepers’ Classroom and A Degree of Goalkeeping and written two books on the subject …..Goalkeeping for Soccer and Goalkeeping Practices.
In 2006 Simon moved to Vancouver, Canada to undertake a year long secondment to research the ‘biomechanics of goalkeeping’, during this time he worked as a consultant to the Canadian Soccer Association, working with the Men’s senior team and U18 team. He also worked in the MLS with Frank Yallop at the LA Galaxy, working with goalkeepers Steve Cronin and Kevin Hartman.
Nick Vertucci
Nick Vertucci is the Managing Director and Co-founder of The Goalkeeping Coach, LLC with over 18 years of coaching experience on all levels. Nick works both on an individual basis with goalkeepers and runs goalkeeping camps and clinics in the United States along with Simon Smith. Nick has coached with Simon Smith Goalkeeping at their courses for coaches and goalkeepers in England as well. Nick was a goalkeeper at Villanova University in Pennsylvania before transferring to Iona College in New York where he played and earned his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. He has a USSF license and a NSCAA Goalkeeping Diploma. Currently Nick is a goalkeeping coach in the youth training program with Red Bull NY of MLS and he is an assistant coach and goalkeeping coach for the Men's Soccer Team at Manhattan College in New York.
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