Jeff Wood: The Perennial Underdog

Josh Schneider-Weiler
Nov 5, 2017
1 min read

Today, our guest is Gibraltar Men's National Team Coach Jeff Wood. Jeff is a bit of a rare bird and he has been a perennial underdog. As a player he left his native England to play in Finland, which we go into, Malta and Hong Kong. So he's a bit of a nomad, and now he's a well-respected coach trying to grow the Gibraltar National team which has only been in existence since 2011. So quite a task.

In this episode Jeff talks about football culture in Finland in the 80's, playing Liverpool in the European Cup while they were at their apex, the underdog mentality, how he's trying to grow football in Gibraltar, how he plans for World Cup qualifiers and the incredible advice Lars Lagerback gave him.

You can follow the Gibraltar FA here.

Timeline

Chinese fans attacking his locker room 2:53

The differences in locker rooms between Finland and UK 7:50

Playing Liverpool in the European cup 10:50

Surprises when he moved to Finland 15:09

The football culture in Gibraltar 17:56

The week of preparation before a World Cup Qualifier 22:13

Having part-time players and the other big challenges 25:43

What he's learned from Lars Lagerback 29:17

His advice to a 25 year old coach 34:24

References