Football CV Example, Template & Writing Guide [2024]

Writing a football CV might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of what it takes to be a professional footballer, but it’d be a rare successful football player that doesn’t have a solid CV. It’s unlikely that a scout, coach or agent will ever see you play if you don’t have one.

The good news is that knowing how to write a football CV is as simple as following a proven football CV template and the right advice. This article will help you do just that. Read on to see an example of a football CV that’s better than four out of five out there. Yours will be at least as good in no time.

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We created the sample on the right using our builder. See other good CV examples like this one.

Also, check our guides for:

• School leaver CV
• CV for a 16-Year-Old
• CV for a Part-Time Job
• Team Leader CV
• Teacher CV
• Care Assistant CV
• First CV
• Graduate CV
• Personal Trainer CV
• Physiotherapist CV
• Student CV

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Football CV example

What is a football CV and how to write one? 

A football CV, also known as a football resume or a soccer CV, is a document that outlines your playing history and achievements, awards, skills and fitness levels, and general player profile. Coaches and clubs need to see your football CV before talking further, so having a clear, well-structured football CV tailored to your career goals is a must if you want to be a professional player.

Now, here's how to write a football CV: 

1. Kickstart your football CV with a winning personal statement

The best scouts and agents have a knack for spotting that special something that sets good players apart from the rest. First impressions are important and when it comes to your football CV, it’s your personal statement (also called a CV profile) that’ll carry your first impression. It should do three things: 

• Introduce you as a football player
• Show what you have to offer the club
• Describe how your goals line up with the club’s.

You don’t need to be Shakespeare to come up with a winning personal statement for your football CV. Simply answer each of the following questions one by one, writing a total of 3–4 sentences and 50–150 words—that’s for all the questions combined.

• What kind of football player are you? Focus on your character traits, experience and favoured positions.
• What’s your most impressive/recent/relevant achievement? Back it up with numbers and stats, avoid vague answers.
• [Optional] What’s your most unique achievement? This could be an award, a record, or something similar.
• What do you hope to achieve by playing for this club? Focus on the benefits you could bring to the club, not the other way around.

Depending on where you send your football CV, it might be filtered by an Applicant Tracking System (ATS). To make sure it gets through, be sure to mention by name the club to which you’re applying and the position. Also, try to mirror any keywords used if you’re responding to an advert or call-out.

Even though your personal statement goes first in your CV, it’s best that you write it last. It’ll be much easier and you’ll be able to do a much better job of it if you leave it until after you’ve prepared your playing history (and that's why it's also called a CV summary). So keep it in the back of your mind for now and come back to it later.

Football CV example: personal statement

A strong CV summary will convince the recruiter you’re the perfect candidate. Save time and choose a ready-made personal statement written by career experts and adjust it to your needs in the LiveCareer CV builder.

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2. Showcase playing history on your footballer CV

You’d think something was off if club stats weren’t organised in the usual way. When it comes to what CV format you should choose for your football CV, there’s no question—stick to a chronological CV format. This means starting from your most recent playing history and working your way back from there.

This format is what most coaches, scouts, and agents are used to seeing. It’s also more easily parsed by ATSs, just in case the club uses one. First, organise your history by using this football CV template to create a subheading for each club or team you played for:

[Role]

[Club Name, Location]

[Dates]

List up to six of your achievements under each subheading. Achievements should always be quantified, meaning that you put numbers to your claims. You can use accomplishment statements to help you do this. Remember, always focus on the benefits you brought to the club.

If you have limited playing experience (or writing a CV for a job with no experience), then focus on your school and/or academy playing history. If you’re trying to get into an academy, then consider writing an academy football CV instead.

Footballer CV example: playing history

3. Don’t neglect education in your footballer CV

Your educational background is more important in a football CV than many people realise. The need to mention something like an NVQ Level 3 in Achieving Excellence in Sports Performance or a BTEC Level 3 National Certificate in Sports is pretty obvious, but non-sports-related education is important too.

You can use the following football CV template for both university degrees and other tertiary qualifications, like NVQs and BTECs:

[Degree Type] [Degree Name] (Degree Class), [Years Attended]

[Institution Name], [Institution Location]

If you’re still in the process of studying, then include an expected graduation date. If you don’t have a university degree, then use the following templates to outline your secondary education:

A-levels: [Subject Name 1], [Subject Name 2], [Subject Name 3]

[School Name], [School Location], [Years Attended]

[n] GCSEs (including Mathematics and English)

[School Name], [School Location], [Years Attended]

where n is the number of GCSEs you completed.

Your club might also be able to support you in doing an Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence (AASE). This could be another route to a professional contract and may be worth considering.

Football CV example: education

4. Put your skills on display in your football CV

Which of your skills you include in your CV will depend on the exact role and/or position for which you’re applying, as well as the particular club or team. You can save yourself a lot of time by first preparing a master list of your football skills and then simply copying from that master list when needs be.

Open a new document and start brainstorming all the football skills you can think of. Once you run out of ideas, go back to the beginning of the list and back each and every skill up with a sentence or statistic that shows how you’ve put that skill into action on the pitch.

For example, instead of just writing ‘fast runner’, give your official PB for the 100 m sprint. If you can’t do this or something similar for a skill, then consider it cut. Not every skill will require numbers like this, but some kind of concrete example is a must. Save your master list of football skills.

Now copy 5–10 skills from your master list into your football CV. Pay attention to any requirements that have been laid out for you, either by your coach or agent or in an advert or call-out, if you’re responding to one. You now have a football skills section that’s tailored to the application at hand.

Footballer CV example: skills

5. Harness the power of adding extra sections to your footballer CV

A CV is traditionally a document used to apply for more conventional jobs. There’s a lot that’s crucial in a football CV that just doesn’t fit the usual mould of work experience, hard and soft skills, and so on. Use additional sections to better cover the special requirements of a football CV template.

You could include a section with your current season statistics (things like number of passes, pass accuracy, tackles won/lost, etc.). Applying to play overseas? Include a section on any relevant visas you hold or your citizenship status in the given country as well as any languages you speak.

You could even include a CV section that links to a brief highlights reel or clip of you playing. Sections covering awards, trophies, additional qualifications and certificates, even hobbies, are all potentially good ideas. Think which additional extracurricular activities you could add to make yourself a more attractive choice to coaches and scouts.

Football CV example: additional sections

6. Support your football CV with a cover letter

Just as there’s no such thing as a one-person football team, your CV won’t make it past the competition without the help of a football cover letter. You should always include a cover letter unless you’ve been explicitly asked not to do so. You should also write a new cover letter for every application.

The good news is that it’s not as difficult as it may seem. In fact, you’re already halfway there once you’ve prepared the playing history section of your CV. Seriously. You’ll need 3–4 of your achievements and you’ll be done before you know it. A cover letter should include:

• A header set out according to British standards
• An appropriate salutation
• An opening that grabs your reader’s attention from the outset
• A showcase of your on-field and related achievements
• A wrap-up that ties up loose ends and a clear call to action
• A sign-off that matches your choice of salutation.

A football cover letter that ticks all the boxes will end up being between half an A4 page and a full A4 page long, about 250–400 words in total.

7. Keep these formatting rules in mind for your footballer CV

A team that wanders out onto the pitch in unkempt and mismatched uniforms is probably still going to make a better impression than a football CV with odd formatting and spelling and grammar mistakes throughout. You’re not getting signed for your writing skills but you will be judged on your CV all the same.

Your CV should be easy to read—coaches, scouts, academies, and agents all get inundated with football CVs and can only dedicate a short amount of time to each one. Here’s how to make a football CV easier to read quickly:

• Make your contact details easy to find—leave them near the top of your CV.
• Use subheadings and plenty of blank space to clearly break your CV structure down into logical chunks.
• Choose an appropriate CV font, sticking to the default Liberation or Calibri when in doubt.
• Always attach your CV as a PDF file unless explicitly asked for something else.
• Stick to a CV layout that has one page maximum. CVs basically should be one page long.
• View free CV templates to find the one that is clean and simplistic.

Go over both your football CV and cover letter and check for spelling and grammar mistakes. Use the spellcheck function and/or a web app to help you. Get someone else to look over your work—they’ll spot things you missed. This is a demonstration of your attention to detail, not your language skills.

Finally, follow up with a quick phone call or email if you haven’t heard back after a week. This will reflect well on you and might give you an idea of how your application is going. You might even find out whether or not to expect a scout at your team’s next match.

You don’t have to be a CV writing expert. In the LiveCareer CV builder you’ll find ready-made content for every industry and position, which you can then add with a single click.

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I hope this article has answered “What does a football CV look like?” Is there anything you’d like more information on? Anything you’d like to add? Please leave your questions, comments, feedback and any experiences you have to share in the comments section below.

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Our editorial team has reviewed this article for compliance with Livecareer’s editorial guidelines. It’s to ensure that our expert advice and recommendations are consistent across all our career guides and align with current CV and cover letter writing standards and trends. We’re trusted by over 10 million job seekers, supporting them on their way to finding their dream job. Each article is preceded by research and scrutiny to ensure our content responds to current market trends and demand.