What is PlayerBuilder?
PlayerBuilder is a football development programme for players aged 9–12, based in Ennis, Co. Clare, Ireland.
It combines one weekly group coaching session with six days of app-guided practice at home — the 6+1 model — to train technical skill, mindset, and daily training habits together. We don’t pick players. We build them.
PlayerBuilder is…
- ▶ A coaching programme, not a club. Players stay with their own clubs and teams. PlayerBuilder runs alongside club football — block-based coaching programmes and school-holiday camps focused on individual development.
- ▶ Built on the 6+1 model. One coached group session per week, plus six days of short, structured, app-guided practice at home. The point is what happens between sessions: habit, repetition, and ownership.
- ▶ Behavioural, not just technical. Sessions train mindset, creativity, and courage as deliberately as ball mastery — treating them as skills that can be coached, practised, and measured.
- ▶ Run by experienced coaches. Founded by Declan Farmer (Director of Football) and Anton Mannering (Director of Performance Science) — backgrounds spanning League of Ireland academy and underage coaching, sports science, and professional playing careers.
- ▶ Research-led. PlayerBuilder publishes its own research: the Football Quotient working paper (May 2026) quantifies playing ability across 29 European nations, with open data and code on Zenodo.
PlayerBuilder is not…
- ✗ A video game or fantasy tool. PlayerBuilder is not a “player builder” in NBA 2K, FIFA, or EA FC, and not a team line-up or squad-builder app. It is a real-world football coaching programme for children in Ireland.
- ✗ A talent-ID or trials pathway. There are no trials and no selection. Any player aged 9–12 who wants to improve can join.
- ✗ A replacement for club football. PlayerBuilder complements a player’s club, school, and street football — it never competes with them.
Quick facts
| What | Football development programme (coaching blocks, camps, and a practice app) |
| Who | Players aged 9–12, all levels — no trials |
| Where | Ennis, Co. Clare, Ireland |
| Founded by | Declan Farmer & Anton Mannering |
| Model | 6+1 — six days of app-guided practice, one weekly group session |
| Research | The Football Quotient working paper & open dataset |
| Contact | info@playerbuilder.ie |