Football English Elementary: 10-Week Programme

Love Football, Learn English.

Football is the world's game - but inside it, English is the working language. Football English Elementary gives players, coaches and club staff the English they need to communicate with confidence.

A 10-week live cohort course for elementary English learners who understand football. Two live sessions a week with Mark Bailey, Lecturer at UCL Institute of Education. Twenty lessons, built around real football situations.

Dates and times

• Tuesdays and Thursdays, 19:00-20:00 JST
• 1 September to 12 November 2026
• No lessons on 22 September or 3 November - these move to 10 and 12 November
• One cohort, twelve seats

The Football English Method

Every lesson follows three stages:

• Engage with football-based content set at Locomotive London, our fictional football club
• Learn the grammar, vocabulary and communication patterns it contains
• Produce your own language through speaking and writing activities

What's included

• 20 live 1-hour sessions with Mark Bailey over 10 weeks, on Zoom
• Cohort groups of no more than 12 learners
• Session recordings available for review
• Weekly microlesson and community practice prompt
• Full access to the HATRIQA web app for 120 days from the course start date
• Progress activities and digital badges at Weeks 4, 7 and 10
• HATRIQA Football English Certificate on completion

What you'll be able to do

• Understand common training instructions and respond to feedback
• Talk about matches, positions and performance
• Give clear, simple instructions and describe player roles
• Hold conversations about football and everyday life with confidence

Is this course right for you?

This course is designed for players, coaches and club staff with elementary English (CEFR A1-A2) who already understand football. If you can introduce yourself in English, understand simple questions, and have basic reading ability, you can start. You do not need to be a professional.

Sessions are conducted in English to maximise learning, but Mark speaks Japanese and can clarify important points when needed.

Course materials

More than 200 pages of exercises, illustrations and communication tasks across the textbook and workbook. Three Jamie Johnson graded readers are introduced at Weeks 2, 5 and 8, building reading fluency in a football context.

Required printed materials - the textbook, workbook, three readers and English Language Learner Notebook - are purchased separately via Amazon, approximately ¥14,350 at the time of publication. Prices are set by Amazon and may change.

HATRIQA's curriculum was developed in collaboration with education specialists, including staff from UCL's Institute of Education, ranked number one in the world for Education in the 2026 QS World University Rankings by Subject.