Alex Clapham was on the verge of taking a role as an assistant manager at a Championship side when the German giants Borussia Dortmund reached out. The offer was so compelling that he had to drop everything and move abroad. "The first thing I did was call my wife to tell her we were heading to Germany instead of staying in England," he recounts to Sky Sports. Fortunately, his partner embraced the adventure, and Clapham spent the next 18 months as Dortmund's set‑piece specialist, learning the ropes at a club that regularly hosts the largest crowds in Europe.
"Working at that level was absolutely insane," the 37‑year‑old admits. "It was also a constant challenge." He describes a particularly chaotic six‑month spell under interim manager Nuri Şahin, which included a Champions League night against Real Madrid where Dortmund led 2‑0 before eventually losing 5‑2.
"The atmosphere in that stadium was something I had never experienced before – the most intense I have ever seen outside of Dortmund itself," he says. During his tenure he also witnessed high‑stakes fixtures against Barcelona and the ever‑present rivalry with Bayern Munich. For Clapham, each match was a stepping stone in a journey that has already taken him from Getafe in Spain to Vasco da Gama in Brazil and on to Genoa in Italy.
He now says he is ready for the next chapter, wherever it may be. How does a young Englishman with no professional playing résumé end up in such elite environments? The answer lies in a pivotal decision he made at 23 to pursue coaching full‑time. Frustrated with playing on soggy pitches in northern England, he sought a pathway into coaching but found the domestic qualification routes inaccessible.
"I was about to give up," he recalls, "until I discovered I could earn my badges in Spain, even though it meant spending a lot of money and learning in a second language. It was a huge sacrifice, but it paid off." He remembers a Levante coach demonstrating a set‑piece drill, explaining the minute adjustments needed to shape a player's body for optimal execution. "Doing that in Spanish was a real test, but it opened my eyes to the Spanish methodology – a huge focus on psychology and detail that was completely different from what I knew." While studying in Barcelona, Clapham worked full‑time as an English teacher, hopping on the metro to attend coaching sessions in his spare hours.
By the time he turned 30, he had accumulated enough credentials to be appointed head coach of Getafe’s under‑19 side. Although he grew up admiring Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona and Marcelo Bielsa’s Bilbao, it was the pragmatic, defensively disciplined style of José Bordalás’s Getafe that left a lasting impression. "They stayed compact, defended as a unit, and relied on set‑pieces to win games," he says.
He would often linger after the first‑team training to observe their dead‑ball routines, absorbing every nuance and later applying those concepts in his own coaching roles. That foundation sparked a rapid ascent. In Sweden he linked up with Ian Burchnall, later following him to Notts County as a set‑piece coach.
Subsequent stints at Southampton and a series of short‑term assignments for clubs owned by 777 Partners turned him into a globetrotting specialist, constantly called upon to fine‑tune dead‑ball strategies. In 2022 he arrived at Vasco da Gama, working in Portuguese and Spanish under former World Cup winner Jorginho, who gave him complete creative freedom. "Living in Rio was unforgettable – the players were eager to try new ideas," Clapham recalls. In just seven appearances he helped the club net five set‑piece goals, contributing to their promotion back to Brazil’s top flight.
Yet the celebration was muted; after the season ended the squad dispersed quietly at the airport, a stark reminder of the club’s modest resources despite its historic stature. Soon after, Genoa’s sporting director Johannes Spors, now at Southampton, invited him to assist with their own promotion push. Clapham’s role remained largely the same: analyze opposition, design rehearsed routines, and embed them into training sessions. He found himself moving from club to club, each with its own culture, hierarchy, and expectations.
"One week you’re in a locker room full of optimism, three weeks later the same club can be in crisis after a string of defeats," he notes. Those swings taught him how fragile morale can be and how essential clear communication is for staff and players alike. His time at Dortmund proved to be the ultimate classroom.
Working alongside world‑class defenders such as Nico Schlotterbeck forced him to raise his analytical standards. "Many players now have personal analysts who bring ideas to me: ‘What do you think about this opponent’s left side? Should we press here or block there?’" he explains. The exchange became a two‑way street; senior professionals like Pascal Groß, who is already eyeing a future coaching career after learning under Roberto De Zerbi, would often ask for his opinion, turning the players into teachers.
Perhaps the most memorable relationship was with Dortmund’s explosive winger Karim Adeyemi. "He’s a phenomenal talent and a huge character," Clapham says.
"Working with him forced me to adapt my coaching style. It took me until the Christmas break of my first season to truly understand how to communicate with someone of his temperament." Clapham attributes his ability to connect with individuals to his background as a classroom teacher. "I think I borrowed more from that experience than I realized," he admits, adding that his ambitions now extend beyond set‑piece design. He has been deepening his tactical knowledge through study visits, including a trip to Como to observe Cesc Fàbregas’s coaching setup and a meeting with Elche manager Eder Sarabia, whom he believes could one day manage Barcelona.
He also follows the work of rising coaches such as Kim Hellberg at Middlesbrough and Kieran McKenna at Ipswich, constantly seeking fresh ideas. When asked about his next career move, he says the assistant‑manager role feels like the natural progression. "A head coach often has to keep a certain distance from the squad, whereas an assistant can be much closer to the players.
That proximity is where I see myself thriving over the next five years," he explains over coffee in Madrid. Where that appointment will be remains open – the world is now his playground. Yet his ties to both Spain and England remain strong, and if he ever decides to return to his home country, he will do so with a portfolio of experiences few coaches can match.