Focused for Soccer

Bill Beswick is a leader in the field of sport psychology and is especially known for his work with professional soccer teams. He has a master’s degree, five years of experience as head coach of England’s men’s basketball team, and substantial experience in teaching, lecturing, and coaching, all of which make him ideally suited as the first full-time sport psychologist in English professional soccer. From 1996 to 1999 Beswick helped Derby County Football Club compete in the world’s toughest league, the English Premier League. He then took a job with Manchester United, perhaps the world’s best-known soccer club. There he worked with players and coaches to build mental toughness and competitiveness in an environment where the team is expected to win every time it takes the field.

When Manchester United and England assistant coach Steve McClaren was appointed manager of Middlesbrough Football Club in 2001, he surprised the soccer world by appointing Beswick as his assistant manager, the most senior role for a sport psychologist in the history of British soccer. For five seasons Beswick supported McClaren during Middlesbrough’s most successful period in history. From 2006 to 2007 Beswick was psychologist with England’s national men’s team. Following a spell at Sunderland FC, Bill at present provides specialist advice to clubs in England, Holland, and the United States while continuing to develop Sportsmind Ltd., a company that has provided sports psychology services and resource materials to coaches and athletes for more than 20 years.