Power of operational efficiency for a football club | Lessons from Laurent Colette

Laurent Colette, former Group COO of Right to Dream, shares insights on building efficient operational systems for football clubs to achieve sustainable growth.
Laurent Colette, former Group COO of Right to Dream, shares insights on building efficient operational systems for football clubs to achieve sustainable growth.
The Sports Director Checklist is a strategic framework designed to empower football leaders in crafting vision, aligning culture, optimizing performance, and driving innovation to build sustainable success on and off the pitch.
For any football club, a successful youth development strategy is essential both for sporting success and also for long-term financial sustainability.
In today’s competitive football world, clubs often struggle to balance financial sustainability with success on the pitch. For clubs outside the top-tier elite, relying solely on revenue from commercial deals and broadcasting rights isn’t enough. Southampton FC, under the technical…
Fearlessly accepting the challenge, he embraced the role of a sporting director with a vision to shape the club's destiny. The wheels were set in motion, and thus commenced Luis Roggiero's incredible journey with Independiente del Valle.
AZ is on a long-term mission of carrying the team to a championship winner level by 2025. Marjin Beuker who served as the Director of Development and Coordinator of Talent Management of the team for around fourteen years defines their approach to the game saying, “We don’t buy success, we create it. We believe in making the difference through vision, programs, facts, knowledge, and capable staff.” Making this difference is a long-term endeavor that AZ has undertaken for quite a long time now.
A look at Anderlecht’s rediscovery of identity through the financial crisis, a brand-new youth programme, and, Eden Hazard…
Union Berlin are a club that defies not just the odds but, at times, even logic itself. While illustrious, free-spending Hertha have floundered, their more industrious, more provincial, more modest neighbour's from the East are continually punching above their weight and enjoying a real fairytale season.
A more sustainable approach to their transfer dealings would, however, ease the burden on the owners and make a future transition fully away from their present privileged position—which should ultimately be the intent of the DFL—more palatable and feasible. Thus, continuing and refining the all-in policy on player development is the logical next step for a club that has been haemorrhaging money on transfers.