The Player Care Group

The first consultancy, education & staff recruitment company based on Player Care. Founded by @hugoscheckter. #playercare

[The Player Care Group @PlayerCareGroup]

The Player Care Group was delighted to be invited to the @Bundesliga_EN first ever Player Care meeting in Dortmund last week – with Founder & MD @HugoScheckter presenting on Player Care in leagues worldwide as well as how to gain buy in with leadership to invest in #PlayerCare.

[The Player Care Group @PlayerCareGroup]

We don't usually post about a sponsors, it's really interesting to see today's announcement of a new sponsorship of the @BarclaysWSL by @Airbnb which will provide WSL & WSL2 players a £1m fund which they can access to help with accomodation during moves.
https://t.co/pn6W5lSOa8

[The Player Care Group @PlayerCareGroup]

JOB ALERT: The Player Care Group are supporting NUFC Women to find a Player Performance & Lifestyle Lead. This role will lead the design, coordination and delivery of a Performance Lifestyle and Player Liaison programme. Closes on Sun 17th - JD & apply:
https://t.co/d4L9R2FaJD

[The Player Care Group @PlayerCareGroup]

@ger5467 @jmoore_96 Would be great to have you on board! Thanks for the recommendation James!

[The Player Care Group @PlayerCareGroup]

A look at #PlayerCare in Brazil's Série A from @globo - with 8 teams having a Player Care provision.

It's great to see this work ever expanding across continents and to read about the innovative work being done in different cultures around the world.

https://t.co/vB2WNbXvJv

[James Moore @jmoore_96]

Proud to have completed the @PlayerCareGroup Certificate in Player Care. Hugely informative and I feel a lot more confident in my understanding of this role now which is quickly growing in football.

#playercare #football #careers #elitesport #athletelifestyle

[Hugo Scheckter @HugoScheckter]

Why should clubs bother with a dedicated Player Care provision?

I've been lucky enough to run a #PlayerCare provision at 3 different Premier League clubs and helped set up and/or upskill departments at top level clubs in Germany, Italy, England, the US, Mexico & many more - I'm going to explore today why this provision helps clubs to achieve their goals.

A number of owners/sporting directors I speak to aren't sure about putting in a Player Care resource - whether a single person or a department. They're worried that it will create dependant, lazy players who won't perform to their best. However I've found clubs that have invested in proactive, appropriate Player Care have found the following benefits:

1. Protecting Marginal Gains - We hear of clubs having incredible performance, data, nutrition and analysis teams but then you find out that the players are still in a hotel after a number of months, eating takeaway food and unable to understand the language at the club. Performance needs to be about the whole person, not just the time they're at the training ground or those marginal gains will be lost. (1/4)

[Hugo Scheckter @HugoScheckter]

A 3 person Player Care team costs a Premier League club around £200,000 (approx €240,000) a year in salaries.

A 15% reduction in failed transfers - a conservative estimate on the impact of Player Care based on research from Liverpool FC's own Director of Research speaking at a Statsbomb Conference in 2021 - would save that same club around £3M (€3.5M) annually.

That's a 15:1 return. Before you factor in squad stability, player happiness, or the reputational cost of a high-profile signing publicly struggling.

I'm not saying Player Care prevents every failed transfer - it doesn't - but any support we can put in place to reduce the chances of failure are clearly worth investing in.

The clubs we've worked with who do this well don't just see it as pastoral care, they see it as protecting a multimillion pound asset & their performances. Instead of asking us how much it will cost, they ask how they can do it better. Player Care is a spectrum, not a binary in terms of whether clubs have it or not.

At The @PlayerCareGroup we've developed a set of 170+ peer reviewed Player Care standards for the 1st team, helping clubs worldwide implement & improve their Player Care provision.

In 2024 we commissioned a report into 'failed' transfers and the backgrounds, languages & ages of those players to dig more into the value of proactive Player Care. For a full copy of the findings, comment REPORT below or DM me.

[The Player Care Group @PlayerCareGroup]

Introducing the Conversation Circle. An offline, printed tool to better facilitate conversations between trusted adults & young athletes.

We explain more here: https://t.co/cPYpoCiPUm

[Hugo Scheckter @HugoScheckter]

Running a business is hard - as we ramp up to launch our first physical product on Friday, the last 6 months have been challenging in many new ways.

If anything, I'm an accidental entrepreneur - I never dreamed of running my own business or making huge profits. By many metrics, I'm not a very good one either. I've not taken a penny of funding since launching 5 years ago, we don't focus on scale, profitability or reach. We don't do paid social and we don't pay for referrals, have sponsors or any partner companies.

I've got a business degree, but so much of what I do is on gut feel. Does this 'feel' like the right direction for us, or for me? Will I be proud of this? Will I be excited by this? Will this help people? If any of the answers are no, we tend to leave what we're considering on the side.

For the last half a year, much of my focus has been away from what I've known my whole career - sport, interpersonal connections, proactive support - and onto lead times, minimum order quantities, inventory management & even the ever changing world of tariffs. My belief is that by doing the latter, we'll improve the former - through deliberate, practical tools to aid intergenerational relationships.

On Friday at 3pm UK, we'll show you what we've been working on. It might not have the best margin or go viral - but I'm bloody proud of it, bloody excited for it, and I know it'll help people. Stay tuned! @PlayerCareGroup

[Hugo Scheckter @HugoScheckter]

Like many of us, I watched last night's #AFCON final with a keen eye - especially with the drama at the end of the 90 mins.

It made me think back to my 500+ games leading Player Care & Team Ops experience with Premier League teams, and the key points I'd try to consider in the moment. #AFCON2025 #Senegal

1/5

[Eddie Martin @EddieMartin1885]

My role with @officialdafc keeps on evolving and developing. The past few months I have been a participant on the @PlayerCareGroup online course Certificate in Player Care. I am delighted to share that I have now completed this course and received my certificate.

[JT @tebbs__]

A full circle moment 🙌🏻 proud to be appointed Head of Player Wellbeing at @CAFCofficial

[The Player Care Group @PlayerCareGroup]

5 Years of The Player Care Group!

[Rob Dawson @RobDawsonESPN]

Player care in the Premier League.
⚫️ Canaries down the coal mine
⚫️ Centre of Carrington revamp
⚫️ The request to shoot a bird
⚫️ Line between help and pampering
https://t.co/vKaMe3eRcj

[Hugo Scheckter @HugoScheckter]

Did my football coaching badges at school after loving @FootballManager, started coaching and realised I wasn't good at it, but was better with people & organisation. Started organising teams instead of coaching them - and our results improved substantially.

Ended up getting hired by a new start up soccer team in America out of uni before getting a big break in the Premier League, and here I am 12 years later running a consultancy company, helping some of the biggest clubs, confederations and leagues in the world better look after their athletes.

[The Player Care Group @PlayerCareGroup]

Great to see a manager value the work of their club’s Player Care team so highly!

[Sky Sports News @SkySportsNews]

'It's nice to see when we are young and had dreams, it is important to go back to that feeling of being young and happy' 🌟

Nuno Espírito Santo on the motivation behind putting up player's baby photos before West Ham's game against Newcastle 👶

[Dan Salisbury-Jones @dsj_itv]

The child footballers who have more YouTube subscribers than some of the game's biggest names.

We hear from them and their parents.

Also @HugoScheckter who is among those concerned about this phenomenon.

Watch the special @ITVCentral report here:

https://t.co/KxfGmWJLnU

[Craig Heskey @CraigHeskey]

I’m delighted to announce that I am joining the Academy Player Care department at @LFC

The second Heskey to ✍🏿 at Liverpool.

An opportunity that I couldn’t say no to. Thanks for all the support, courage and kind words… time to get going 🙏🏿

[The Bladesman @The_Bladesman]

🎙️ Ruben Selles on helping players settle in England

"The first thing you need to do is provide what they need off the pitch like a house. I know that looks very simple but it's a reality. Being sure they have a place to live, food everyday, making sure they can find their basic needs everytime, if they're under 18 years old if they have family and their family is coming with them from their country or if not putting them with a family. Taking care of those small things, that for me is the most important thing because then they can focus on training and getting better, not what I'm going to eat tonight or where I'm going to stay next week."

[sutv]

#twitterblades #sufc