New Manchester City Coach Joins Aiglon College

Just in time for the 2025 Summer School, Aiglon College is pleased to welcome its new Manchester City Football School coach, Joe Maguire. Joe will support the summer school programmes in preparation for the new academic year.

He comes to Aiglon with a wealth of experience as a professional footballer whose career began in 2012 after coming up through the Liverpool Football Club academy. He played as a versatile defender for Liverpool FC, Leyton Orient, Fleetwood Town, Crawley Town, Accrington Stanley and Tranmere Rovers. After multiple concussions he retired from his professional career at age 29. Following football a new challenge was on the horizon, Joe is a UEFA B licensed football coach with degrees and professional experience in sports nutrition, sports psychology and strength and conditioning. Additionally he is a qualified private pilot and has a day skipper license, associated with the RYA Day skipper qualification.  

“I’m a keen learner and a big believer in being able to adapt to any scenario or challenge in front of you, it’s an honour to be able to teach students with so many different & diverse backgrounds, some students may not feel comfortable in such demanding and elite sporting environments especially on a football pitch with a platform to express themselves,” Joe says. “My aim is to inspire the students and create a positive, safe space.”

Despite having never played for Manchester City Football Club himself, Joe was inspired by the team’s approach to coaching. “My knowledge of football is there, and that was never a question. But my knowledge of education within football opened up a whole new viewpoint of the sport for me. I didn't fully realise the depth and passion Manchester City had towards education or something they would be pursuing at a global scale until I began” he says. “I think they are quite a one-off.”

Joe is excited to delve into the world of football and education here at Aiglon and he is inspired to work to help further develop the programme. “We're definitely moving the curriculum forwards in key areas on and off the pitch, focusing on nutrition, sport science, plyometrics, the recovery aspect and adapting how the Manchester City first team prepare and apply that to the students. Some of it is going to be classroom based, refining our attention on football specifics and honing in on a detailed curriculum on many topics, plyometrics for example.”

For Joe it’s not just about the football skills themselves, but he hopes to expand how Aiglon is able to think through the psychological dimensions of the game as well. “We’re now talking about using specific pitches for certain age categories,” he says. I am looking to create a strong mentality and progression route for the teams. I will be setting the students' challenges regularly, giving them a clear identity and ethos on how you can move up in the programme. “We are also adding Sunday as a practice day for certain categories, this day we will work on the key principles of play, certain patterns of play and a way to feel a more togetherness atmosphere.”

He adds that this mindset of development is about more than just match day. “Games are vital, it is where you find out who your leaders are,” Joe says. “You need that for the competitive spirit and it’s why the students will be choosing football as a curriculum. But we need hours and hours of work on the training pitch to install good habits and fine tune the skill sets of the students. I will be setting out a challenge straight away, who is going to be the most resilient? Who is going to be the first Manchester City football player from Aiglon? That is what we are searching for.” 

Aiglon’s unique partnership with Manchester City Football Club made Aiglon the first Manchester City Football School in Europe. Part of the partnership means that Aiglon is able to have on staff at the school, one of the Club’s officially trained and certified coaches to develop Aiglon students on and off the pitch. Aiglon students also participate in a range of international opportunities such as tournaments in New York City and Abu Dhabi as well as trips to Manchester, where students trained at the City Football Academy, toured the Etihad Stadium and attended Premier League matches.

Beyond the academic year, Aiglon’s football-focused summer school programme, Kickoff, works closely with the Club and with the coaches. “We don't just teach skills; we cultivate character, teamwork, and resilience on and off the field,” states Fiona Tweedie, Director of the Aiglon Summer School. “This is a unique opportunity to experience the unique alpine setting of our campus in Chesières and make friends from over 40 nationalities.”

Joe joins the school in July and we look forward to all his experience and passion will bring to the community and to further develop the school’s unique football programme and partnership.

In recognition to his predecessor at Aiglon, Joe stated “ I would like to thank Gareth Whalley for the outstanding job he has done in these first 2 years at Aiglon College. He has laid the foundations and I will be picking up the curriculum in a very good position thanks to him and I wish him the best for the future.”