About The Phoenix Foundation UK

We exist because 10,000 young people are released from professional football academies every year - and almost none of them have a career pathway waiting for them.

We strive to change that!

Our Story

Felix Day founded The Phoenix Foundation through a love of football and after 5 years working in the London advertising industry.

Throughout the professional world we’ve seen that everyone everywhere has the same problem, the lack of access to good people.

Through Elite level sports young people show their talent, discipline, drive and willingness to learn. These are not only transferable skills, but traits professional industries are crying out for and seriously lack.

Having watched talented academy players released from football with no support or direction the answer became clear

Build The Bridge.

The Phoenix Foundation combines the precision of a professional placement firm and the genuine desire to do social good. Every player we work with gets a structured, supported transition into either a professional career or a coaching qualification.

No One Falls Through The Gap

Our Model

Employment Pathway

We place people looking to move away from football into careers in advertising, media and marketing. Industries that value discipline, work ethic, ability to learn and team mentality, making our people exceptional candidates.

We handle everything from developing CVs & personal statements, to building back confidence with industry knowledge. We facilitate warm employer introductions and support our people all the way through, even after placement.

Coaching Pathway

For people who want to stay within football, we have options to work throughout the entire coaching pathway.

We help our people complete safeguarding and DBS checks for entry level roles. Through to helping acquire every level of professional UEFA qualification.

We support with grant applications, personal statements, referrals and help to place coaches in jobs according to their level.