Having worked with one of goalkeeping's finest in Mary Earps, Ian Willcock knows what it takes to drive elite standards at the top of the women's game.
Manchester United Women’s goalkeeper coach Ian Willcock has witnessed a revolution in women’s football. Since joining the club six years ago, he has seen the popularity of the sport skyrocket to unprecedented levels alongside a significant increase in media interest and coverage.
A new £65 million TV deal with Sky and the BBC to show the WSL has solidified the sport’s importance to the UK’s leading broadcasters and their commitment to developing the game in the years to come.
Players such as Mary Earps - who Willcock coached for several years at United - have become household names both domestically and internationally and have made being a goalkeeper the be all and end all for many aspiring young girls playing football.
“Mary [Earps] has made goalkeeping cool”, reflected Willcock. “I think people have seen the likes of Mary and other people really shine. There are lots of people that want to be goalkeepers now, which is great. Now it’s about how you can develop that talent to really kick on and push to be as good as they can be.”
“I think as well with England winning the Euros, that really catapulted it. We saw massive change after they won the Euros. We used to come out to do the warm-up before the Euros and there wouldn't be many people in the stadium.
“And literally overnight, the first game of the season, after they'd won the Euros we stepped foot on the pitch, to go and do the warmup, and all you could hear was these voices of kids shouting, Mary, Mary, Mary.”
It would be accurate to suggest that the popularity of goalkeeping in women’s football, especially in England, can be attributed to Earps. Following England’s 2022 Euros victory and reaching the final of the 2023 World Cup, the Paris Saint Germain goalkeeper has become ubiquitous when discussing goalkeeping in England.
“The change over the last few years from Mary’s achievements after winning the Euros and seeing her shirt everywhere,” says Willcock.
“I would go out with my daughter and take her shopping. And she’d nudged me and say ‘Dad look someone's got a Mary Earps shirt over there’. It blew her mind.”
“Seeing how many girls there are in the stands with goalkeeping shirts on, and they want to become Mary, or they want to become Phallon [Tullis-Joyce], or they want to become Safi [Safia Middleton-Patel], these role models that there are now, it's amazing.”
Since Earps’ departure to PSG in the summer, Tullis-Joyce has taken the mantle as first choice goalkeeper at Manchester United. Although this may seem like an impossible task, Willcock has been very impressed with how she has approached the job.
“Just like Mary, She gives 120% every single day, every single rep, no matter what it is, she'll just give it everything, she just wants to learn, and she'll really dig deep into the little bits.
“Her mentality is a different class and her shot stopping is excellent. The way she covers the goal, and deals with crosses is superb. I’m over the moon with her.”
Manchester United’s scouting approach was key in identifying Phallon’s talent and potential.
“We try to get to quite a lot of games whenever we can, we call them ‘live eyes’” says Willcock.
“So, you've got live eyes on what goes on. For me, someone is going to make a mistake at some point in the game. That's okay. It's how big an impact it has on the game. What happens to them after?
“There is lots of data. Everything we do is ‘statified’. But your eyes also don’t lie.
“I’d been watching Phallon for six months. When it was time to replace Baggers [Sophie Baggley] she was the first name I put forward and said this is who we should go for.”
Phallon and other goalkeepers are now beneficiaries of an improvement in goalkeeper coaching. Willcock has seen first-hand how the development of coaching has improved the performances of goalkeepers in women’s football. “I think more the standard of coaching, I think has developed as time's gone on since I started six years ago,” says Willcock.
“Perhaps we might have been in the corner of an AstroTurf and not really had a massive area to work in like we do now. And I think looking at the standard of goalkeeping, it’s certainly developing month by month.
“[The] World Cup last year, I think for me, was the highest standard of goalkeeping I've seen across all teams.
“I speak to Chris Williams at Spurs quite a lot, and Seb [Sebastian Barton] at Arsenal, Potsy [Joe Potts] over at Liverpool when we play them. We’re always trying to gain that little bit more and what is there we can get that is going to improve each individual.”
These improvements are not necessarily appreciated in a fair way. As part and parcel of football fandom in the social media era, criticism is inevitable. Yet when looking at women’s football there is a reductive trend of taking clips out of context to create false narratives about player performances, especially goalkeepers. Willcock is keen to reshape that narrative.
“I think it’s about pushing the positives,” Willcock muses. “Phallon made an outstanding save against Brighton and the club have put it out on their channels. Really pushing things like that is important for goalkeeping and other people.
“There's a lot of people out there who want to criticise but have never been in this position and don't know what goes on on a day-to-day basis. Men's goalkeepers are going to make mistakes, that doesn't seem to get highlighted as much, but the female ones do. So, a little bit of balance and context around it all would be great.”
“We're constantly trying to improve, no matter what it is, the smallest detail. We've gone onto the pitch this morning, we've looked at some clips from the weekend and gone right, this is what we're going to do today.”
Having been at the forefront of optimising the performance of pioneering goalkeepers in the modern women’s game, Ian Willcock knows the vast potential the women’s game has.
The work and commitment that is driving the standard of goalkeeping up in women’s football is a testament to the dedication and diligence, on and off the pitch, that the increasing professionalisation, exposure, and expertise that coaches like Willcock are bringing to the game.
