Alex Clapham was on the brink of accepting a role as an assistant manager at a Championship side when the call came from Borussia Dortmund. The German club’s invitation 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, not England," he recounts to Sky Sports. Fortunately, the move turned out to be a rewarding adventure, and the 37‑year‑old Englishman spent 18 months at Dortmund as the club’s set‑piece specialist.
The experience of working for a team that regularly draws the largest crowds in Europe was, in his words, "mind‑blowing" and "not always easy" but immensely educational. Clapham’s tenure at Dortmund included a particularly turbulent six‑month spell under interim manager Nuri Sahin.
He vividly remembers a Champions League night against Real Madrid when Dortmund surged to a 2‑0 lead only to be humbled 5‑2. "The atmosphere in the stadium that night was unlike anything I’d ever experienced – the most intense I’ve seen outside of Dortmund itself," he says. He also lived through high‑stakes fixtures against the likes of Barcelona and the fierce Bayern Munich rivalry.
Yet for Clapham, each match was simply another chapter in a globe‑spanning odyssey that has already taken him to Getafe in Spain, Vasco da Gama in Brazil and Genoa in Italy, and he remains eager for the next destination, wherever it may be. How does a young coach with no professional playing résumé end up at the heart of Europe’s elite? The answer lies in a pivotal decision he made at the age of 23 to pursue coaching full‑time.
Frustrated with the drab, muddy pitches of northern England, he realised he wanted to guide players rather than lace his boots. However, entry into England’s coaching courses proved difficult, and he almost abandoned his ambition. "I eventually earned all my badges in Spain – it was a costly sacrifice, but it paid off," he explains. Studying in Spain forced him to confront language barriers and a radically different football philosophy.
He recalls watching a Levante coach meticulously tweak players’ body positions during a session, all while speaking in a second language. "The Spanish methodology places a huge emphasis on psychology and detail – it was a complete paradigm shift," he says. While living in Barcelona, Clapham worked full‑time as an English teacher and used the city’s metro to get to his training sessions. He kept progressing through the Spanish coaching pathway, and by the age of 30 he was appointed head coach of Getafe’s under‑19 side.
Although he admired Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona and Marcelo Bielsa’s Bilbao, it was the pragmatic, hard‑working ethos of Jose Bordalás’s Getafe that left a lasting imprint. "They were compact, defensively solid and relied heavily on set‑pieces to win games," he notes. He would often linger after the first‑team training to observe the set‑piece work, absorbing tactics that later formed the backbone of his own coaching style. That knowledge propelled him to his first senior head‑coach role in Sweden, where he crossed paths with Ian Burchnall.
The two later collaborated at Notts County, with Clapham again focusing on set‑piece expertise. Subsequent stints at Southampton and a series of assignments with clubs owned by 777 Partners turned him into a globetrotting specialist, moving from one continent to another in search of new challenges. In 2022 he arrived in Rio de Janeiro to join Vasco da Gama, coaching in Portuguese and Spanish. "Living in Rio was extraordinary – the players were incredibly receptive to new ideas," he says.
The head coach, Jorginho – a member of Brazil’s 1994 World Cup‑winning squad – gave Clapham complete freedom to implement his set‑piece strategies. In just seven appearances, his routines contributed five goals, helping Vasco secure promotion back to Brazil’s top flight. Yet the celebration was muted; after the final match the team dispersed at the airport without fanfare.
"It was a stark reminder that even at a historic club, success can be understated," he reflects. Soon after, Genoa’s sporting director Johannes Spors (now at Southampton) reached out for assistance, and Clapham again played a part in a promotion campaign. He describes a whirlwind of short‑term contracts: "One week I’m at a club, three weeks later I return to find the atmosphere completely changed because of recent results. It taught me a great deal about club dynamics and how quickly morale can shift." His time at Standard Liège, where the team had just beaten rivals Anderlecht, illustrated the pressure on coaching staff when fortunes reverse.
"The coach was under immense scrutiny and the whole staff was nervous – it was a masterclass in managing people under stress," he says. Working at Dortmund also offered a unique learning environment because of the caliber of the players. Collaborating with world‑class defenders like Nico Schlotterbeck required a high level of preparation.
"Many players now have personal analysts who bring data and ideas to me: ‘What do you think about this opponent’s tendency to leave space on the left?’" he explains. "You end up learning from them as much as they learn from you." He highlights the influence of midfielders such as Pascal Gross, who is already being groomed for a top‑level coaching career after time with Roberto De Zerbi.
"Those conversations were invaluable – they forced me to think deeper about tactics and player psychology," Clapham says. Perhaps the most memorable personal connection was with Dortmund’s dynamic winger Karim Adeyemi.
"He’s a phenomenal character and an incredible talent," Clapham admits. "Working with him forced me to adapt my communication style, and it took me until Christmas of my first season to truly understand how to get the best out of a player like him." He learned that while players may appear fully engaged, they often keep their feelings to themselves, preferring brief, informal chats before a match. "Those little conversations over coffee can be the most revealing," he adds.
Clapham believes his background as a teacher underpins his ability to connect with players on that level. "I think I take more from my teaching experience than I ever realised," he says, hinting that his ambitions extend beyond set‑piece specialization.
He recalls in‑depth tactical discussions with João Tralhão, then Dortmund’s assistant and now José Mourinho’s deputy at Benfica, who repeatedly asked why Clapham limited himself to set‑pieces. This curiosity spurred Clapham to broaden his horizons, undertaking study visits to clubs such as Cesc Fàbregas’s academy in Como, observing Elche’s manager Eder Sarabia – whom he believes could become Barcelona’s next head coach – and keeping tabs on emerging talents like Kim Hellberg at Middlesbrough and Kieran McKenna at Ipswich.
"I’m always hunting for new ideas and details," he says. When asked about his next career move, Clapham envisions the role of assistant manager as the logical progression.
"A head coach may need to keep a certain distance from the squad, whereas an assistant works closely with the players day‑to‑day. That’s where I see myself for the next five years," he explains over a coffee in Madrid.
Where that appointment will be remains open, as his passport now bears stamps from every continent. Yet his experiences – from the streets of Rio to the Bundesliga’s high‑pressure environment – have equipped him with a rare blend of tactical insight, cultural adaptability and interpersonal skill that few coaches possess. Should he eventually return to England, he will do so carrying a portfolio of lessons that few of his peers can match, ready to influence the next generation of players and coaches alike.