Welcome to ‘Dugout Diaries’, a new content series from VERSUS in partnership with the Premier League highlighting a new cohort of coaches working hard to make elite level football more diverse and inclusive for the next generation, on and off the pitch.

Darius Charles and Dominic Best are two of the most engaging and passionate coaches you’ll find in the country. The pair have been welcomed into Fulham’s Motspur Park academy on a full-time basis and are keen to make names for themselves as senior coaches. While both are on separate Premier League-led programmes, they are united in their ambition to change the landscape of English coaching for the better. 

Darius is a former centre-back who’s now working with Fulham’s under-16s as part of the Professional Player to Coach Scheme (PPCS). Whereas Dominic is the under-13s head coach and will graduate from the Coach Inclusion and Diversity Scheme (CIDS) this summer.

The two are well on their way to glittering coaching careers at the very top thanks to these programmes run by the Premier League, the PFA and the EFL. The aim is simple — to increase the number of Black, Asian and minority coaches at the elite level. And these courses are making steady progress.

Of the 32 coaches who have been supported through the PPCS, 31 are currently working in English professional football. While 44 of the 49 coaches who have come through the CIDS are putting their skills to practice in the professional game both domestically and abroad.

Darius hung up his boots in 2022 whereas Dominic stopped playing at 16 and has another 16 years of coaching under his belt. They might both be at different stages of their coaching journeys, but their love for inspiring and guiding the next generation of ballers shines through.

VERSUS sat down with them both to talk about their experiences at Fulham, why they are so driven to coach, how their respective programmes have helped them and why relatability matters so much in the modern game.

VERSUS: Just coming back to you, Dominic. Accessibility has been a theme in your journey, and that often goes hand-in-hand with representation too. How important is it for the players you coach to relate to you?

Dominic: Massively, massively. My first coaching role was at Greenhouse Bethwin Football Club based on Old Kent Road. A lot of boys who came through that team, especially during that time, we used to send them to trials or support them in terms of going to games.

When they did get to that 15-16 age range, that's when a lot of problems came up. And the majority of problems we can now reflect on and speak on as cultural problems, as opposed to behaviour problems, or as opposed to lifestyle management. These were cultural differences that occurred. 

We're only going back 15 years, so in the grand scheme of things, that’s not a massive amount of time. But it’s still a common theme of what’s happening today. When boys do get to those age groups, they don't see someone who looks like them. They don't have anyone they can confide in and speak to on a level.

Then they get misinterpreted and misjudged, and then ultimately they get assessed differently. And if they’re assessed differently, it’ll be deemed they can't make the jump into professional football.

And then it's more so players having to conform, rather than being their authentic selves. Now, luckily, we're able to see a lot of boys come through and embrace that authenticity like Myles Lewis-Skelly. He was a big character as an under-16, so him being a big character now as an 18-year-old within senior football is fantastic.

Players are now able to develop and be themselves, which means they’re likely to have a better chance of longevity in the game. 

Even when I was running around as a 16-year-old, I used to be only one of two Black people within my team. And then, even more so, when I started coaching fairly young, I was part of the FA’s Coach Scholarship Scheme in 2011/12. I would be the only Black person and the only one from London and the youngest there. That’s been the theme of my coaching journey. Football's changed a lot, but a lot of themes are still prevalent in terms of representation.

VERSUS: And as a former player, Darius, wWhat advice would you give to current players in terms of preparing for what follows their playing career?

Darius: It's very hard to explain to someone why they need to be thinking about something else when their sole focus is on achieving one thing. To become a professional footballer, you have to be a bit crazy. I say that because, statistically, to pursue a career like this is abnormal.

So it's not about trying to rationalise with them. It's about providing spaces, schemes, opportunities for them to fall on as and when the time comes. Some people are intelligent enough to know that they need to start thinking about what they're going to do after football. That tends to be when they have a lot of injuries, or when they realise that the contract offers they used to get aren't coming. 

Being able to get someone to understand that they need to start thinking about other things, especially when their career is going well, is almost impossible. If things are going well, why would they start to think about other stuff? 

I just think, going back to schemes such as this one, it's important that we create spaces where these players who are currently playing, who are going to retire, have somewhere where they can land, so that there's opportunities for them.

VERSUS: Talk to me about your experience here at Fulham.

Darius: It's an interesting one because my son was here as a player. He signed for Fulham at under-nines and got released at under-12s. But the three years he spent here were a really joyful period and we had a great time while he was here. 

So when I first came to interview for the role, I was desperate to get it because I knew the club so well. I knew quite a few of the people still here from coming as a parent. And there's been no surprises to me since I've been here. I'm able to gather loads of information from everyone I'm around, and everyone's been really open and forthcoming with all my questions.

Dominic: This is my second season at the club and it's been a really good experience for me. This is something I wanted to do in terms of working within the Youth Development Phase (YDP) as a full-time member of staff.

The club's been really supportive with everything I’m doing. Just being able to go and watch and be part of the under-18s and under-21s sessions, and be a fly on the wall. That's been a really good welcoming experience for me. Some of the players and staff I knew before I came, so that was helpful too.

VERSUS: Darius, your background is mainly rooted in playing. But is coaching something you’ve always been passionate about in the background?

Darius: No, not at all. It's funny, one of the coaches here jokes with me now because when he coached my son, he asked me if I wanted to coach while I was still playing. I was like “never, it's not for me.” It's not something I thought I’d enjoy or wanted to do. 

But where I was two years previously, I started to think about what I wanted to do post retirement. Coaching, developing players, but also providing mentorship through my coaching was something I wanted to do. I came up with the phrase ‘coaching with care’ because for me, coaching is like parenting. I'm helping young men develop in a multitude of different ways.

I just fell in love with it because football is my first love. I'll always love it. And what better way to be a part of it than to help the next generation be the best they can be, and hopefully fulfil their dreams too.

VERSUS: And Dominic, you’ve been coaching for a while. What is it about this job that appeals to you?

Dominic: When I was 10, I was told I wouldn't be able to walk again. And then I was told it would take me four or five years to walk, but I did that in like two years. And during that time, the doctor told me I wouldn't be able to play football again and I said, ‘nah, that's not happening’. That’s what ignited my passion for football as a whole. 

Then I played football at under-13s and under-14s level at grassroots and we did really well as a club. I was noticed by two bigger clubs, but my team didn't pass that message on to my mum. The club basically wanted to stay successful at grassroots level rather than let their players leave and become academy football players.

Knowing that going into my late teens ignited the passion for me to be someone that provided opportunities if I ever had the chance to do so. Then coaching just came early because when I started playing non-league at 16, I knew it wasn’t sustainable. 

So I said I'd rather get paid to coach and still be in football, than be paying to travel when I wasn’t driving. As time went on, that coaching bug just grew massively. Then a few years later, I started my own football club and football company as well. But it all stemmed from my passion for providing more opportunities for young people.

VERSUS: Darius, talk to me about the support you’ve received from the Professional Player to Coach Scheme. What’s the process of being a part of that and what do you feel you’ve gained?

Darius: The main thing for me is how it’s exacerbated my learning. The fact I'm in an environment with coaches every day helps me learn so much. We're going to constant workshops where I'm around people who are on other coaching programmes. We're doing a lot of learning that’s aligned with the learning they do. 

I think the beauty of it is that I'm learning so much and I'm becoming so well rounded, whereas if I was just a career coach, or just coming into this outside of the scheme, I probably wouldn't have access to that learning at such an early stage. Or I would have to apply to get on these courses. 

The Professional Player to Coach Scheme is brilliant because by being on the scheme, I have access to all this information, all this wisdom. I'm around people that have a wealth of experience and knowledge. I'm just learning a lot of things, even outside of the profession of coaching. I'm learning about time management, having challenging conversations, and how to conduct meetings. So the scheme for me, personally, I think it’s exceptional.

VERSUS: You’re on a different programme, Dominic, but I imagine you’ve benefited from the Coach Inclusion and Diversity Scheme in a similar way?

Dominic: Yeah, I’ve coached at several clubs and with the FA over the last 16 years. During that time, I’ve always tried to secure a full-time role. 

This programme gave me the opportunity to get my UEFA A Licence that I wasn't able to achieve because I was only part-time before I joined Fulham. You have to be in a full-time coaching role to qualify for that coaching award. I did my Advanced Youth Award (AYA) after sitting on that for a while too. 

I also have the ability to coach within the YDP full-time and, more importantly, to be full-time in football. So those three strands were big motivators for me. I've had experiences with Premier League events prior, so I always knew when they do things, it's of a high quality.