Alex Clapham was on the brink of taking a role as an assistant manager at a Championship side when a call from Borussia Dortmund changed everything. The first thing he did was inform his partner that the opportunity would take them to Germany, not England, and she embraced the adventure. Over the next 18 months Clapham served as Dortmund's set‑piece specialist, learning the ropes at a club that boasts the highest average attendances in Europe.
"Working at that level was insane," the 37‑year‑old admits, "and it certainly wasn’t always straightforward." His tenure at Dortmund included what he describes as a "six‑month roller‑coaster" under interim coach Nuri Şahin. One of the most memorable moments was a Champions League clash with Real Madrid, where Dortmund surged to a two‑goal lead only to be humbled 5‑2. "The atmosphere in that stadium was unlike anything I had ever experienced, even more intense than the home crowd," he recalls.
The season also featured high‑stakes fixtures against Barcelona and the ever‑present rivalry with Bayern Munich. These experiences are just chapters in a broader odyssey that has taken Clapham from Getafe in Spain to Vasco da Gama in Brazil and on to Genoa in Italy, with each stop adding a new layer to his coaching résumé.
He now says he is ready for the next challenge, wherever it may be. What makes this story remarkable is that Clapham never played professional football. He chose to pursue coaching at the age of 23, a decision driven by a love of the Spanish game and a practical need to find a pathway into the profession. "I was playing on soggy pitches in the north of England and didn’t enjoy it," he says.
"I wanted to coach, but the courses in England were out of reach, so I almost gave up. Instead, I earned every badge in Spain, even though it cost a small fortune." That gamble has clearly paid dividends. He recounts a formative moment watching a Levante coach run a session, meticulously tweaking players' body positions while speaking entirely in Spanish. "The Spanish methodology, the focus on psychology, was a world apart from what I knew," he explains.
While studying for his badges, Clapham taught English during the day and took the metro to attend training sessions in Barcelona, immersing himself fully in the language and culture. By the time he turned 30, he had secured the role of U‑19 head coach at Getafe.
Although he admired Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona and Marcelo Bielsa’s innovative Bilbao, it was the pragmatic, defensively disciplined style of Getafe under José Bordalás that left a lasting imprint. "They were compact, solid, and relied heavily on set‑pieces to win games," Clapham notes.
He would often linger after the first‑team training to observe their set‑piece routines, absorbing techniques that he later applied as a head coach in Sweden. His Swedish stint opened doors to further opportunities. He linked up with Ian Burchnall, later joining Burchnall’s staff at Notts County as a set‑piece coach. Subsequent moves took him to Southampton and eventually into the orbit of 777 Partners, a global investment group that placed him at several clubs around the world.
In 2022 Clapham landed in Rio de Janeiro with Vasco da Gama, coaching in Portuguese and Spanish. He describes the city as "one of the most amazing experiences" and praises the openness of the players. The head coach, former World Cup winner Jorginho, gave him considerable freedom to implement his ideas. In just seven appearances, his set‑piece work helped Vasco score five goals, contributing to the club’s promotion back to Brazil’s top flight.
Yet the celebration was muted; after the season ended, the squad dispersed quietly at the airport, a sobering reminder of the club’s modest resources despite its historic stature. From Rio, Genoa’s sporting director Johannes Spors—now at Southampton—reached out, and Clapham again played a part in a promotion campaign. He reflects on the constant movement: "One week I’m at a club, three weeks later the situation has changed completely.
Different cultures, structures, mentalities. It forced me to adapt quickly and understand club dynamics on a deeper level." His time at Standard Liège, for example, taught him how quickly morale can shift. After a win over Anderlecht, the atmosphere turned gloomy within days, and the head coach faced intense pressure. Clapham learned to manage staff anxiety and support coaches under fire, a skill set that would serve him well in future roles.
Working with elite players also shaped his development. At Dortmund he collaborated daily with world‑class defender Nico Schlotterbeck, who, like many top athletes, consulted his own performance analysts.
"Players would come to me with tactical questions: ‘What do you think about this opponent’s movement? Should we block here or screen there?’" Clapham says.
"They became my teachers as much as I was theirs." He mentions Pascal Groß, who is on a trajectory toward top‑level management after learning under Roberto De Zerbi, as another example of a player‑coach who enriched his perspective. Perhaps the most enlightening relationship was with Dortmund’s dynamic winger Karim Adeyemi. "He’s an incredible character and taught me a lot about adapting my coaching style," Clapham reflects.
It took him until the Christmas break of his first season to fully grasp how to communicate with a player of Adeyemi’s temperament, learning that brief, informal chats—sometimes just before a match—can be more impactful than formal meetings. Clapham believes his background as a language teacher helps him excel in these nuanced interactions. "I probably took more from teaching than I realized," he admits, noting that his desire to move beyond set‑piece specialization is growing. He has been engaging in deep tactical discussions with Joao Tralhão, the former Dortmund assistant who now works alongside José Mourinho at Benfica, and these conversations have sparked his ambition to broaden his coaching portfolio.
He has also been on study visits to clubs such as Cesc Fàbregas’ academy in Como and has expressed admiration for Elche manager Eder Sarabia, whom he believes could one day lead Barcelona. Names like Kim Hellberg at Middlesbrough and Kieran McKenna at Ipswich also feature in his ever‑expanding list of mentors and role models. When asked about his next step, Clapham says the assistant‑manager role feels like a natural progression. "A head coach often needs distance from the players, whereas an assistant is the bridge between the squad and the manager.
That’s where I see myself for the next five years," he explains over coffee in Madrid. Where that appointment will be remains uncertain.
The world of football has opened up for him, and his network now spans Spain, England, Italy, Brazil, Germany, and beyond. Whether he returns to the UK or continues his globe‑trotting career, he will carry with him a wealth of experiences that few coaches can match, from the muddy pitches of northern England to the roaring stadiums of the Bundesliga and the sun‑kissed streets of Rio.