He’s a record breaker!

Hamlet fan Finn Roberts-Bond has just qualified to become the youngest UEFA B coach in Europe.

At just 18-years-old Finn Roberts-Bond, who lives in Brixton and has already been coming to Champion Hill to cheer on The Hamlet for over a decade after being taken to his first match by his proud mother, Julia Roberts when he was only five years old, is a name you might not know yet, but will be one to remember. For this already puts him on a par with all of the top coaches in the Premiership & major European clubs in the Champions League.

Finn added to his Level One & Two Football Association coaching qualifications. This latest qualification puts him on a par with all of the top coaches in the Premiership & major European clubs in the Champions League.

Young Finn first took an interest in the tactical side of the game three years ago, while playing for the St. Matthews Project, like himself based in Brixton. He passed his Level 1 in July 2014, & the Level Two badge came just over six months later.

Having realised how much he enjoyed catching the ‘coaching bug’ he was confident enough to approach the Dulwich Hamlet First Team manager Gavin Rose in March 2015, who agreed to let him cut his coaching teeth with the younger ASPIRE Academy boys, the older ones of whom feed into the Hamlet youth team, and onto the First Team or higher, into full-time professional football. Here he was taken under the wing of current ASPIRE coach & former Hamlet captain Peter Adeniyi, who is also first team boss at Ryman League Division One South promotion challengers Carshalton Athletic.

In June 2015 Finn earned his first paid coaching role, when he successfully applied for a job at Chelsea Football Club, working for their Foundation & Development Centre.

He decided to leave the ASPIRE team, albeit with a heavy heart, after John Fowler gave him his first senior role, as a First Team Coach at Whyteleafe, in the Ryman One South, in October 2015, a position he held for a year, up until Fowler recently left Church Road, a couple of months ago.

Finn has never forgotten his roots, and is a proud Dulwich Hamlet supporter. He also coaches at the St. Matthews Project, where he manages their Under elevens team, who play at Brockwell Park in their homes matches on Saturday mornings. Alongside him there is another former young ASPIRE coaching prodigy, & also a regular on the Champion Hill terraces, Supernat ‘Leng’ Tangtrakoon. Leng is also an righteen year-old-youngster, & together they run the St. Matthews Project Under Elevens on Saturday mornings at Brockwell Park. He has already passed his Levels One & Two, currently hot on Finn’s heels, by studying for his UEFA B too!

Young Finn is clearly ambitious whilst keeping his feet firmly on the floor:

“I realise I’ve achieved a lot already, but in coaching terms I’m very much a young apprentice. I’ll never forget the early encouragement of Lee Dema, at St. Matthews, & I was so proud to be able to say that Gavin & Peter were my bosses when I helped out at Dulwich!”

He went on to say:

“I will also be ever grateful to John [Fowler] for giving me my first senior opportunity at Whyteleafe, it was amazing to be part of a coaching team in the Ryman League, and they had so much confidence in me they even took me as part of the official party when we flew to Guernsey!"

Finn concluded:

“ I’ve also done scouting for a few sides, offering detailed reports, and I love my work with the kids on Saturday mornings. But I do miss the involvement in senior football. I’d love a club out there to offer me a chance to work with them, I may be young but my track record and qualifications show that I am ready to learn & get my first UEFA B feet on the coaching ladder. It doesn’t have to be First Team, I’d be happy to work for a Ryman Under or youth set-up, and I wouldn’t be as expensive as older coaches!”

Dulwich Hamlet Football Club Committee Chairman, Liam Hickey, had nothing but praise for the local lad done good:

“Finn has an amazing knowledge of the game, a wise head on very young shoulders. But even when not in ‘football-mode’ he’s always willing to muck in at The Hamlet, be it helping in the boardroom, operating a turnstile, searching for new sponsors, or whatever.”

He concluded:

“I’ve no doubt he will go all the way & in a decade or two when he is rich and famous I hope he won’t forget his roots” …with a smile on his face!