Protec founder Pete Edwards began his football career over 20 years ago and worked as a Fitness Coach for Arsenal, Nottingham Forest and Manchester City before moving on to coaching Academy football at Barnet and Stevenage. Pete formed Protec in 1995 with one main aim in mind: To offer talented youngsters the opportunity to maximize their achievements both on and off the pitch, with a unique football training and education package designed to develop the skills required in today’s fast-paced professional game. Pete is currently the Head coach for Arsenal Academy Development Centre for the London /Hertfordshire region.

Daniel is our Assistant Head Coach and is responsible for the coaching and development of all players in our Pre-Academy Centre. Dan is a qualified UEFA coach and has specialised in the Dutch system of coaching used at Ajax that has been introduced at all of our centres.

Rene Began his career at Arsenal, where he signed a professional contract in 2007 and made numerous appearances for The Gunners at under 18 and reserves sides. Rene is a UEFA qualified coach and is responsible for coaching age groups 7-12 in our Progression and Pre-Academy Centres in the London region.

Tom is a current professional player with Stevanage Borough FC first team and has joined the Protec coaching staff. He is a UEFA qualified coach and is responsible for the coaching of our Progression and Advanced Pre-Academy players aged 14-15.

Gemma currently plays for Chelsea and England ladies. She has been with us for the past three years and has secured many Academy positions for our female players. Gemma is a UEFA qualified coach and specialises in age groups 7-12, both boys and girls, in the Pre-Academy programme.

Craig has been instrumental in the development of Protec Football Academy. Before becoming a qualified coach, Craig had a distinguished career in league football as a forward, playing over 400 games with Southampton, Huddersfield Town, Swindon Town, Reading and Leyton Orient. He left League Football and became Player-Coach at Hampton & Richmond Borough as well as Aylesbury United before joining us.

Progression Centre Coach Mark Cumberbatch started as a Protec player and was signed by Barnet FC from the Academy at professional level. After leaving Barnet he played non-league at Tonbridge Angels and currently plays in the Ryman Premier League. Mark is a UEFA qualified coach and holds a BTEC diploma in Sports Science.