THE COURSES OF THE LMA INSTITUTE PROVIDE VOCATIONALLY RELEVANT, HIGHLY ENGAGING LEARNING EXPERIENCES AND ARE VITAL FOR INDIVIDUALS IN PROFESSIONAL SPORT WANTING TO BRIDGE THE GAP AHEAD OF THE NEXT STEPS IN THEIR CAREERS.
Martin O’Neill OBE
LMA Chair
PROGRAMME OVERVIEW.
The LMA Postgraduate Award in Strategic Leadership is a masters-level, academically-accredited, leadership development programme. The course combines knowledge and experience from the academic, sporting, and business worlds, therefore providing an overarching and unique perspective of theory, experience and best practice.
The programme is individualised and bespoke, making it suitable for anyone on their leadership journey who is looking to enhance their leadership and strategic oversight or making a career transition. Previous participants have benefited from the programme in making the change from manager to leader, operations to director, or merely gaining a better understanding of their existing role and impact.
Programme delivery includes a mixture of synchronous and “in-your-own-time” learning through online and face-to-face sessions, as well as the use of pre-recorded lectures, individual coaching and a wide range of added support. The LMA Postgraduate Award is delivered and administered by the League Managers Association’s Institute of Leadership and High Performance and The University of Liverpool.
The programme aims to:
Equip participants with a skill set and framework that will form the foundation of their leadership and strategic thinking
Prepare participants for a successful transition to the next level in their career, whether that be as a manager, leader, executive or non-executive role in or outside of sport
Provide insight, challenge, theory and collective experience from all relevant areas around the academic, sporting and business worlds
Blend leadership and strategic theory with lived experience and applied practice
Be flexible around the demands of busy careers and current roles
Provide support and guidance through all aspects of the programme and learning journey
The programme will deliver 2 x 15 Postgraduate academic credits which can be carried forward towards additional postgraduate qualifications.
TIM FOSTER MBE.
The LMA Institute of Leadership and High Performance, in partnership with the University of Liverpool, is pleased to welcome you on the LMA Postgraduate Award in Strategic Leadership. This Postgraduate Award gives you an opportunity to enhance the skills that you already have, obtain a formal qualification, learn from experts, and improve your leadership and strategic abilities.
You have been accepted on to this Postgraduate Award, not just because of the skills that you already possess, but also because of the input that you can give the programme. The selected cohort is an experienced and impressive group of individuals that can refine their skills and apply their learning, not just within their sport or profession, but to any situation in the future.
This 9-month course will consist of a range of in-person workshops and online learning – both live and in your own time. Assessment is via assignments, group work, and presentations. The programme will challenge you to draw on your own experiences, apply a range of tools and new learning, and is intended to give you an enhanced perspective moving forward.
I hope you enjoy the programme and find it a useful, relevant, and rewarding experience. Members of the LMA and the programme delivery team are here to help you throughout, so please feel that you are supported and can ask for assistance. I wish you good luck and I look forward to working with you.
Tim Foster MBE LMA Leadership Consultant and Programme Lead
PROFESSOR EMERITUS SUE BRIDGEWATER.
Welcome to the LMA Postgraduate Award in Strategic Leadership, we look forward to working with you over the coming months. The Postgraduate Award is designed to be applied and interactive – you will learn from sharing experiences and working with your peers as well as from the various subject matter experts who have prepared materials and who will engage with you either online or face-toface during the sessions.
We have included a range of topics within the areas of leadership, strategy and governance designed to equip you with skills and capabilities to operate at director-level. As a postgraduate qualification, you will be expected to reflect and demonstrate learning at an advanced level and we will support you in achieving the qualification.
It will be a pleasure to work with you all.
Professor Emeritus Sue Bridgewater University of Liverpool and Programme Lead
DELIVERY OUTLINE 2025-26.
The LMA Postgraduate Award in Strategic Leadership delivers teaching and assessment based on 2 core modules:
Module 1 – Leadership – September to December 2025
Module 2 – Strategy & Governance – January to May 2026
Programme sessions will consist of:
6 x 1-day, in-person workshops (St George’s Park or alternative venue)
8 x 1 hour, pre-recorded lecturecasts. (Hosted on the LMA Online Platform and available to view in your own time)
6 x 2 hour, online, drop-in sessions. (Hosted on Zoom)
The structure of the programme is designed to provide flexibility around your other commitments. While there is scope to adapt, participants will get the most from the programme with full attendance and engagement with the sessions.
The programme is intended to be relevant and practical, drawing on participants’ experiences as well as expert opinion.
Participants will have 1-to-1 access to their course tutors throughout the course.
Sessions will be led by experts, academics, and experienced practitioners in their field.
Content will be a blend of academic theory, real-world examples, practical and applicable.
The programme cohort will be between 25 – 30 participants from high performing environments including football, other sports, and business
The LMA Postgraduate Award in Strategic Leadership will be based at St. George’s Park, the National Football Centre, and home of the LMA.
TIMETABLE: MODULE ONE.
2nd September 2025
9th September 2025 (Available from)
30th September 2025
29th October 2025
4th November 2025 (Available from)
18th November 2025
3rd December 2025
8th December 2025
Introduction
Leadership Self-Awareness University of Liverpool
Leadership Themes
Pre-Recorded, LMA Online Platform
Leadership Drop-In Session Zoom, Online
Effective Leadership St George’s Park
Leading Teams
Pre-Recorded, LMA Online Platform
Creating Winning Cultures Drop-In Session Zoom, Online
Crisis Management St George’s Park
Leadership Round-Up Zoom, Online
TIMETABLE: MODULE TWO.
15th January 2026
20th January 2026 (Available from)
3rd February 2026
10th February 2026 (Available from)
24th February 2026
1st April 2026 (TBC)
7th April 2026 (Available from)
21st April 2026
20th May 2026 (TBC)
Introduction to Strategy St George’s Park
Analysis & Planning
Pre-Recorded, LMA Online Platform
Strategy Drop-In Session Zoom, Online
Vision & Direction
Pre-Recorded, LMA Online Platform
Strategy Drop-In Session Zoom, Online
Good Governance St George’s Park
Governance Codes
Pre-Recorded, LMA Online Platform
Governance Structures Zoom, Online
Applied Strategic Leadership St George’s Park
THIS COURSE HAS BEEN EXCELLENT. IT HAS GIVEN ME CONFIDENCE, CLARITY, AND MUCH GREATER AWARENESS AND CONSCIOUSNESS AROUND MY STRATEGIC THINKING AND CONTRIBUTIONS BOTH INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE BOARDROOM.
Lisa Fallon LMA Member
MODULE ONE: LEADERSHIP.
September – December 2025
This module aims to provide a critical understanding of the key concepts, models, and developments in leadership. It will look at the different schools of thought on strategic leadership and different approaches to understanding effective leadership in a variety of applied situations and contexts, at both the individual and group level.
The module will enable delegates to reflect on their role as leaders, their leadership abilities, and identify actions for their own leadership development.
LEADERSHIP
Leadership Self-Awareness
Understand aspects of your leadership values, preferences, and style. Reflect on what leadership is.
Leadership Themes
Consider theories which underpin your understanding of leadership, including individual, group and collective, contextual and situational models.
Effective Leadership
Understand sources of power, influence and persuasion; Communication, connections and decision-making.
Leading Teams
Relationship-based leadership theory, Leader Member Exchange, and Social Identity and leadership.
Creating Winning Cultures
Recognise how leaders shape winning cultures using examples of different leadership contexts.
Applied Leadership: Crisis Management
Look at the challenges of leading in crisis situations using a real time simulation.
MODULE TWO: STRATEGY & GOVERNANCE.
January - May 2026
This module explores the relationship between strategy and governance by examining key concepts of management, organisation, strategy and performance across a range of different organisations in sport and broader business contexts. It will provide a toolkit for analysing organisational structures and effectiveness from both a general management perspective and from a Board governance perspective, including the roles and responsibilities of Boards, Directors, and non-Executive Directors.
STRATEGY
Introduction to Strategy
Understand what strategy is, strategic thinking, decision-making and underpinning theories.
Strategy: Analysis and Planning
Focus on the tools which might be used to analyse external and internal environments, stakeholders and the resources and capabilities of organisations, including an introduction to the key financial statements.
Strategy: Vision and Direction
Look at the innovation imperative to set strategic goals for organisations, including tools to consider vision, mission, values, and scenario planning.
GOVERNANCE
Introduction to Governance
Explore what governance is including; political, systemic and organisational models of governance.
Governance Codes and Good Governance
Focus on the governance codes and the importance of Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG).
Governance Structures
Analyse organisational models of governance including the role of Boards, legal and financial aspects of governance, the UK Corporate Governance code and the role of the Non-Executive Director.
APPLIED STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP
Leading Change
Integrate the learning from the Leadership and Strategy and Governance modules in applying understanding of change models, processes and leading change.
I VERY MUCH ENJOYED MY TIME ON THE POSTGRADUATE AWARD, PARTICULARLY REFLECTING ON AND APPLYING THEORIES OF LEADERSHIP AND STRATEGIC THINKING.
Aidy Boothroyd LMA Member
ASSIGNMENTS.
An assignment tests how well you have understood new ideas and knowledge. It also tests how well you can apply new skills.
The assignments on the course take different forms – some are written, some involve presentations or participating in a simulation of real-world situations. They all ask you to apply what you have learned and to reflect on this. They will usually ask you to analyse situations from your own experience either in sport, or more broadly in business and management.
The assignments involve a mixture of group work and individual tasks.
ASSIGNMENT ADVICE.
We encourage the use of ideas and frameworks from the course to demonstrate your understanding of the topic and how it might be applied in a football, cricket, broader sport or business context.
Referencing any of the books or further reading given during the course, sources given on slides or in the recorded material, or from your own reading and analysis, will help to strengthen your answers. Your answers should be evidence-based, making use of data, examples and references to support your points.
Written assignments should have an introduction, explaining what you intend to include and how you will approach this, and a brief conclusion summarising your main points or findings. Further guidance may be offered in the assignment brief on what format to use in your assignment; e.g. report, learning journal or diary format.
Where a situation could be handled in different ways, we encourage you to discuss the options, select which you think would work best and justify your choice.
We offer guidance and feedback where necessary to help you to complete the assignments. Drafts can be sent for feedback to tjcfoster@gmail.com or sue.bridgewater@liverpool.ac.uk before you submit a final version.
LEADERSHIP MODULE: ASSIGNMENT BRIEF.
Assessment of the Leadership module will be in three parts:
1. A 750-word case study analysis (20% of module 1)
A critical reflection on your experiences of a real-world leadership situation
Choose a leadership situation from your experience – this can be in sport or outside of sport
In this situation you may have been the leader or you might be reflecting on the leadership style of someone who led you
In analysing this, you should choose and apply one or more model / idea
The models / ideas used in your case study analysis should come from one of topics 1 – 5 of the Leadership module
Reflect upon what worked / did not work well in this leadership experience and what factors contributed to this.
This will be due for submission by 28th October 2025
2. Participation and performance in a Leadership Simulation (20% of module 1)
The simulation will put you in groups
The groups will be the Board of Directors for the purposes of this simulation
As the Board of Directors, you will meet a series of situations and will have to determine how best to lead, make decisions and communicate in these situations
You will be assessed based on your group’s performance in the simulation.
This will take place during the Crisis Management session on 3rd December 2025
3. A 1,500-word Learning Journal: (60% of module 1)
This will be a self-reflective report of your own leadership practice and an action plan for your future leadership development
In order to complete this, you are recommended to take notes of key points and think of actions from each of the sessions as you go through the module
We will provide you with a learning journal which you are encouraged to use during the module to make this task easier for you to complete
Try to write enough detail in these notes of:
What your learning is from the various topics and sessions
What actions you might take based on this learning
You will need to write up a more complete 1,500 word version of these notes for the assignment.
This will be due for submission by 14th January 2026
STRATEGY & GOVERNANCE MODULE: ASSIGNMENT BRIEF.
Assessment of the Strategy and Governance module will be in two parts:
1. 1,500-word critical incident analysis of a personal case study (60% of module 2)
A Think of a situation you have experienced in which some aspect(s) of the Strategy and Governance module would help you to reflect on
What happened?
Consider which models or concepts you might use to analyse and reflect on this?
What worked well and what, if anything, might have been done differently in this situation?
This could look at many things including a strategic analysis of the future trends that might impact an organization or your sport, a culture change, setting the vision, mission and values of an organisation, a stakeholder mapping etc.
This will be due for submission by 24th March 2026
2. 20-minute group presentation on a real-world governance case study (40% of module 2)
Choose a real-world governance case study based on your own experience, or an example which has been written about in the public domain. This could focus on something which you think is good, not so good, or unique in terms of its governance.
For this case study example, consider the following questions:
What happened?
What is the governance structure in this example? Is this a Board of Directors of an organisation which controls and makes decisions, or perhaps one in which several organisations are involved in making governance for a sport? Consider who makes decisions, what is being controlled etc
In what way does the governance structure impact on the particular situation you are discussing? Has it perhaps resulted in an issue which needs resolving or has it maybe helped to resolve an issue?
If the governance structures in this situation were under review, what, if any, changes to governance would you propose and why?
Recorded presentation to be submitted by 12th May 2026
ASSESSMENT OF ASSIGNMENTS.
The assignments are anonymously marked. Once you complete your University registration, you will be given a University Student number, which you should use on your assignment.
Please do not put your name at the bottom of each page, just your student number. Assignments submitted for assessment will be graded on a percentage scale as set out below.
70+
The candidate showed mastery of the issues with which they were confronted, and demonstrated an excellent understanding of the challenges facing the football manager. The assignment made good use of models and concepts from the course, referenced these appropriately and added a high level of reflective insights based on this analysis. Clear and well justified recommendations.
60-69
The candidate showed a good level of understanding of the issues with which they were confronted, and demonstrated a good understanding of the challenges facing the leader. The assignment made appropriate use of models and concepts from the course and these were well understood. Analysis was used to provide clear and well justified recommendations.
50-59
The candidate showed a fair level of understanding of the issues with which they were confronted, and demonstrated a reasonable understanding of the challenges facing the football manager. The assignment identified and made some use of models and concepts from the course and these were mostly well understood. Analysis was used to provide clear and justified recommendations.
40-49
The candidate partly understood the issues which they were confronted by, but showed some areas of poor understanding alongside others which were well understood. The assignment used one or two models and concepts from the course but tended towards description rather than analysis and did not fully justify its’ recommendations.
<40
The assignment showed weak understanding of the issues and made insufficient use of models and concepts from the course. Many areas of poor understanding and poorly developed and justified recommendations.
ADDITIONAL LEARNING RESOURCES.
In addition to the core modules the programme will also provide additional learning opportunities and support:
LMA ONLINE PLATFORM.
Each individual will have access to the LMA Online Platform and its significant library of leadership and performance content and resources including the LMA personal development guides, video archive and practical personal development resources.
PERFORMANCE EXPERIENCES.
During the programme each individual will have the opportunity to attend ‘performance visits’ at selected elite performance environments that best fit with their career and personal aspirations.
Previous experiences include: The Red Arrows, England Rugby, Bath Rugby, Manor House Stables and Leeds United.
LMA INSTITUTE CPD EVENTS.
Throughout the programme individuals will have access to attend LMA Institute CPD events including Technical and Insight Webinars and in-person Masterclasses offered throughout the year.
LMA ANNUAL CONFERENCE.
Each individual on the programme will recieve an invitation to the LMA Annual Conference, which brings together over 300 LMA Members, football industry representatives and the corporate world at some of the country’s most iconic venues.
Previous speakers include: Graham Potter, Ange Postecoglou and Emma Hayes OBE, as well as keynote speakers from industry experts.
THE POSTGRADUATE AWARD IS A GREAT WAY OF SHARING BEST PRACTICE IN LEADERSHIP, STRATEGY AND GOVERNANCE WITH PEERS FROM FOOTBALL AND OTHER SPORTS.
Les Ferdinand MBE LCA Member
PROGRAMME TEAM.
Professor Emeritus Sue Bridgewater
Programme Lead
Professor Emeritus, University of Liverpool
Phone: +44 (0) 7960 679513
Email: sue.bridgewater@liverpool.ac.uk
Tim Foster MBE
Programme Lead
LMA Leadership Consultant
Phone: +44 (0) 7770 788348
Email: tjcfoster@gmail.com
Professor Geoff Walters
Programme Lead
Director of Centre for Sports Business, University of Liverpool
Email: g.r.walters@liverpool.ac.uk
Sam Westbrook
Programme Manager
LMA Football Operations Executive
Phone: +44 (0) 7443 370170
Email: sam.westbrook@leaguemanagers.com
THE LMA INSTITUTE OF LEADERSHIP & HIGH PERFORMANCE.
The LMA Institute of Leadership and High Performance is established to provide innovative, engaging and vocationally relevant career-long learning and support to the managers and coaches in professional football in England, throughout their careers.
It takes a person-first, holistic approach to career and personal development and all of its programmes blend academic expertise with applied knowledge of the competitive world of elite level football and professional sport.
Its team of coaches, mentors, industry experts and academics deliver an extensive learning programme:
University accredited qualifications
An extensive calendar of CPD learning experiences
A programme of 1-1 support and career development guidance and mentoring
A library of wellbeing, learning and performance content
LEARNING NEVER STOPS.
The LMA Postgraduate Award in Strategic Leadership is delivered in partnership with the University of Liverpool.