Staff

Tom Radcliffe - Director of Football

Tom oversees the running of the entire Football Academy whilst also acting as a head-figure to the Senior First and Second team.  He has playing experience with Swindon Town, Oxford United and Cardiff City, and previously worked as a Football Club Consultant for ProZone, working closely with both Arsenal and West Ham United.

Since joining the Academy at its inception in 2002, Tom has overseen its successful development on all levels.  He is a UEFA B qualified coach and is currently completing his A Licence.  In his position as head coach to the Senior Academy team, Tom steered the squad to 3 promotions in order to reach the top level of university football. Since reaching the top tier, Tom then directed the Senior First team to four British University finals in the last five years; being crowned champions in 2007, 2008 and 2011. Not only looking at the Senior First teams success, Tom has masterminded the Senior Second and Third teams, with both teams being promoted into their highest possible tiers.   

Tom’s achievements do not stop with Hartpury College, his successes have led Tom to act as the head coach to the Southern Universities regional squad and taking a position with the England Universities team. As England Universities team manager he directed England to international success winning the Home Nations Tournament in 2010.

Tom has a Sports Science degree from the University of Exeter, an FA Diploma in Treatment and Management of Injuries and has also completed an MSc in Sports Management from the University of the West of England.

During his time at Hartpury College, Tom has set the bar high in achieving excellence and is always looking for new ways to raise the standards. An initiative that Tom has strived for is the introduction of former PFA (Professional Football Association) registered or professional players to create a squad that has strength in depth and to formulate centre of excellence standards expected. This programme is unique within the university and college footballing environment and one that other institutions are trying to mirror.

Steve Guinan – Senior Academy Manager

Steve joined Hartpury after a professional football career spanning over 20 years.  He started his career at Nottingham Forest as a trainee and enjoyed a seven year spell at the City Ground. Highlights during his stay at Forest were playing against Arsenal and Spurs in the Premier League. He was loaned out to a number clubs during his stay at the City Ground, such as Burnley, Crewe Alexandra, Halifax Town and Scunthorpe United and became a favourite at Plymouth Argyle. He went on to enjoy successful spells at Hereford United, Northampton Town and Cheltenham Town, where during the 2004/2005 League Two Play-Off Final, he scored the winning goal to send Cheltenham into League One. Over his career Steve has notched up over 450 league games scoring over 100 goals.

Holding a BSc (Hons) Sports Science degree and a Certificate of Applied Management, Steve brings with him a wealth of experience from both a playing and academic point of view and still plays professional football for Kidderminster Harriers, in the Blue Square Premier.

Steve’s role within the Football Academy is to manage all football at senior level, whilst also coaching the Senior Academy team in the BUCS Premier League. He moved into the senior role after successfully winning the England Colleges Premier League and England Colleges National Championship Play-Off Final in 2011 with the Junior Academy team. Steve is a qualified UEFA ‘A’ Licence coach, FA Level 2 tutor and is a member of the Professional Footballers Association’s Management Committee. Steve has an abundance of coaching experience and a proven track record at Plymouth Argyle’s Centre of Excellence and with Cheltenham Town’s Development Squad, as well as holding the position of Reserve Team Manager at Hereford United.  Steve brings a great deal of knowledge, guidance and experience and, with an exemplary and unblemished professional record, he is keen to continue to develop Academy players in preparation for playing professional football and to continue the Senior Academy successes.

Paul Tassell – Junior Academy Manager

Paul’s main role within the Football Academy is to manage all football at junior level, whilst also coaching the Junior Academy team in the ECFA Premier League. Paul is a UEFA ‘B’ Licence coach and a FA Level 1 and Futsal Tutor who also fulfils a number of important roles within the Academy.  Paul is able to draw upon his knowledge and experience of working with this age group in his academic and coaching roles to develop and improve the players and coaches and continue the Junior Academy successes.

Paul also has significant experience and knowledge in goalkeeping and coaches both the Senior and Junior goalkeepers on a regular basis.  On top of this Paul has also been instrumental in the development of Futsal at Hartpury using it as a successful development tool and coaching the BUCS Senior team to the National University Futsal Championship in 2009 and also guiding FC Hartpury to 2nd place in the FA Futsal National League. Together with his coaching abilities, Paul is also an accomplished futsal player and has recent international experience with the England F30 national squad and representing Great Britain as a player and coach at the Futsal World Championships in 2008 and 2010.

Paul is a graduate of the University of Gloucestershire where he studied Sport and Exercise science.  In 2008 he completed a PGCE qualification at UWE and lectured and on the National Diploma (Performance and Excellence) in Football course at Hartpury as well as holding down tutor responsibilities for six years before becoming full time in the Academy.

Paul has enjoyed a distinguished playing career as a goalkeeper, gaining England Schoolboy caps in 1996/1997 before going on to play at youth and reserve team level for Oxford United, Wycombe Wanderers, Reading and Forest Green Rovers. In more recent times Paul has enjoyed successful spells at a number of non-league clubs including Cinderford Town, Bishops Cleeve and Witney United as well as representing the England Universities team.  

Shaun Gluyas – Senior Academy Coach

Shaun’s role within the Academy is to look after the Senior Development Squad and produce players who will graduate through into the full Senior Academy team and beyond, whilst also taking on lecturing and tutor responsibilities for junior players. For the previous four years Shaun held a similar role within the Junior Academy developing players and contributing to the ECFA & ESFA successes.

Shaun started at the college in October 2008 after moving back to England following three years working and living in America. He is a graduate from the University of Durham where he received a 2:1 in Sport, Health and Exercise in 2004 and also completed his PGCE (FE) qualification at UWE in 2010.

Shaun has good playing experience after spending time with both Bradford City and Lancashire under-18’s as a youngster, before representing Hartpury at Futsal between 2008-2010. He is an experienced coach including three years working along the East coast of America with various soccer organisations and camps. Shaun holds his UEFA ‘B’ Licence and also holds the FA level 5 Certificate in Football Psychology.

Mike Symons – U19 Development Manager

Mike’s role within the Academy is to look after the Junior Development Squad and produce players who will graduate through into the full Junior Academy team and beyond, whilst also taking on lecturing and tutor responsibilities for junior players on the football specific programmes.

Mike has developed from being a student of Hartpury and gained numerous successes as you can see from the success stories.

Mike Tambling – U19 Development Coach

Mike’s role within the Football Academy is to coach the Junior Development Squad with Mike Symons. This involves producing players who will graduate through into the full Junior Academy team and beyond. Mike also has lecturing and tutoring responsibilities for students on both years of the Level 3 Extended Diploma in Sport (Football), as well as the Level 3 Subsidiary Diploma in Sport (Football). 

Mike started working at the college immediately after graduating from Loughborough University with a BSc (Hons) degree in Sport and Exercise Science with Management, gaining a 2:1. Mike is also currently completing his PGCE with the University of West of England and his Level 2 FA Coaching qualification.

Mike currently plays semi-professionally for Cirencester Town FC. He spent last year playing for Blue- Square Conference North side Gloucester City when returning from university. Mike has also been part of a BUCS Gold winning squad when at Loughborough University in 2010 and represented the England Universities’ Midland team. As a youngster Mike spent most of his playing career at Cheltenham Town FC and Leicester City FC. He has also played Futsal in the Premier division, representing Loughborough University.

Graham Withers – 3^rd XI Manager

Graham’s role within the Academy is to look after the Junior Third Team and produce players who will progress through the system into the full Junior Academy team, whilst also taking on lecturing and tutor responsibilities for junior players.

Graham started at the college in August 2006 after moving back to Gloucestershire from Essex. He is a graduate from the University of Gloucestershire in 2002 with a degree in Sport and Exercise Science and returned home to Essex to pursue a teaching career, where completed his PGCE(FE) qualification through Greenwich University whilst working at South East Essex College.

During Graham’s time in Essex he worked closely with Southend United Football Club and delivered the educational courses to their youth team and scholars. He was also heavily involved in the development of the South East Essex College Football Academy coaching their Development Squad.

Martin Alps – Academy Physio

Martin is a former commando trained physical training instructor in the Army. He holds the FA Diploma in Treatment and Management of Injuries, UEFA 'B' Coaching Licence, Diploma in Sports Psychology, Diploma in Sports Therapy Equipment, FA Fitness Trainer's Award and is currently completing the UEFA 'A' Coaching Licence.

Martin previously worked as a physiotherapist in the Cheltenham Town Youth Development Programme and also worked as the club’s first team conditioning coach under previous manager Keith Downing. He is a qualified FA Learning Tutor and delivers the FA Level 1 Coaching Award to students at the college, whilst also acting as the Academy’s physiotherapist, assessing and managing injuries pitch side whilst also overseeing rehabilitation programmes.

Nigel Quincey – Football Consultant

Nigel is a former RAF Squadron Leader who joined the college in 2004 on a consultancy basis to offer an experienced viewpoint on the Football Academy’s development.

Nigel is a UEFA ‘A’ Licence Coach and works for the FA as a Coach Educator, delivering both Level 2 and Level 3 programmes.  He also holds the Academy Manager’s Licence and specialises in the development of young players.

During his time in the armed forces, Nigel was Director of Coaching for the RAF for 12 years.  He also acted as the senior coach to the combined services team as well as operating as the senior coach to the RAF team.

Nigel has semi-professional playing experience at Sutton United, Staines Town whilst also playing abroad in Germany and Cyprus.

In more recent times Nigel has worked within the Southampton FC Academy, overseeing the development of such players as Theo Walcott and Gareth Bale.