Ben Garner exclusive interview: Right to Dream brings purpose and elite environment missing in lower leagues

Ben Garner is talking to Sky Sports from Denmark but he has already been to Ghana and is looking ahead to a trip to Spain. In the longer term, there are plans to take his players to San Diego in California. This is the life of a Right to Dream coach.

This summer, Garner traded life in the lower leagues of English football for a new role as head coach of Right to Dream's international academy. It is a chance to work with some of the best young players at one of the world's most celebrated organisations.

"I needed something different, for sure, and this is very different," Garner tells Sky Sports. "It was about doing something where there is a real purpose and identity to it beyond purely just three points on a Saturday, regardless of style, regardless of identity."

It is a change of pace and scenery for the former Bristol Rovers, Swindon, Charlton and Colchester head coach. But as the new Football League season begins, there are no regrets. He talks of feeling inspired, the experience already making him a better coach.

"I felt I needed a new challenge. I think it is a great opportunity, but also a great opportunity for me to develop and improve myself as a coach, which is what I want to do. I know that working here can help me to progress and become better at what I do."

Garner has worked at the highest level with West Bromwich Albion and Crystal Palace but his managerial opportunities came further down the pyramid and that brought frustrations. Some of it felt far removed from the coaching that he wanted to do.

"I was spending energy making sure the pitches were cut and marked. Sometimes the players' kit had not been brought in. That is not the best environment and it was an issue for me because it took the focus away from the team and the players.

"I just wanted to get back to my strengths. After leaving Colchester, I reflected on the four managerial jobs I'd had and I think it was only Swindon where I felt empowered to do the job the way I wanted to do it. We could actually create a culture and recruit to it.

"The promises I was given in the last two jobs did not materialise and I was committing a lot of time to non-football matters. I just want to get back to focusing on working in an elite environment that has a clear alignment on both values and principles. I am really enjoying that."

The interview process was rigorous. "Very challenging." It was not so much a test of his technical ability. "It was also around values and beliefs. How you treat people. It made me certain that this was the right move for my career. This is a unique organisation."

Right to Dream, founded by former Manchester United's scout Tom Vernon, have been hugely successful at developing top-class players - think of Premier League stars such as Mohammed Kudus and Simon Adingra to name just two of their famous alumni.

The pathway took them from the academy in Ghana to senior football in Denmark with FC Nordsjaelland. That club is owned by the academy and has attracted headlines for being 'the youngest team in Europe' due to their commitment to youth development.

In fact, the process has been so successful that they have opened another academy in Egypt and will be working directly with the new Major League Soccer team in San Diego to provide the framework for that franchise when it launches for the 2025 season.

"The purpose of my group is to produce as many of them to go and play in the first team here at FCN, or now moving forwards at San Diego," he explains. "The squad is made up of West Africans and Scandinavians, while two Egyptians will be joining us as well."

The reason for the extensive travel is that Garner's squad have a bespoke schedule. Training in different continents exposes the players to a wide variety of experiences. "It is designed to accelerate their development to the first team very quickly," he explains.

"That depth of the experience that the players are getting and the challenge and stretch that they're getting, we are trying to optimise that as much as possible. It is fascinating seeing that integration of cultures and personalities coming together as a group."

They have faced senior sides from Denmark's second division but also a development team from Hamburg. Before Christmas, they will also travel to play in a tournament in Japan. "All of this helps their football but it also helps them culturally," says Garner.

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Part of Right to Dream's success has been that they are developing better people as well as better players. When a child joins the academy at 10, there is no release, they are there until 16. "They get their education alongside their football," says Garner.

"That education route does not get as much attention but there are so many players who have gone on to scholarships in America and that is life-changing as well for these young people. Changing lives is at the centre of everything that Right to Dream do.

"I am not sure there is anything else like it in world football. It is not just about winning on Saturday with no real identity. There is something beyond that, beyond money. It is about doing the right things. Winning here is just the outcome of the process."

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Garner has been struck by the players' coachability. "The desire to improve is first class. How receptive they are to ideas has been the biggest bonus. I throw things at them and they absorb it. There is that humility, that hunger. They are so tactically aware."

That is no coincidence. It is a product of the coaching from a young age. Right to Dream graduates such as Kudus and Adingra are noted for their flair but speak to the coaches who have overseen their development and there is a clear method to the magic.

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These players are used to being put in similar situations again and again. They all know their options when they receive the ball. What looks off the cuff is not. "It is as organised and structured as anything I have ever seen or been a part of," says Garner.

"That structure allows freedom and creativity because the playing style is so streamlined. You are reducing the options and that helps the players massively because they are so clear on the principles. They see the pictures in front of them a lot quicker.

"The game always evolves, of course. The target here is to stay ahead of that curve so that we can help produce future players who can play in those ways. Our job is to nurture talent and hopefully see these players go on to have incredible careers."

Kasper Hjulmand, the former Denmark coach, was once part of the setup, while new Norwich boss Johannes Hoff Thorup was poached in the summer. Flemming Pedersen remains as group technical director and so does the culture of exchanging ideas.

"I have been challenged here already more than I have in years and that was a big attraction. I am being pushed as a coach every day. I have feedback on my meetings and on my sessions - and the Danish are very direct. They let you know how to improve.

"But I would much rather hear that because that is how you get better. I love talking football and discussing ideas, and the support you get here is different to England, it is much more collective and comes from the technical directors and support staff.

"The depth of those conversations has been brilliant and fascinating. I am already looking at games differently, thinking about what the next trends are going to be. It has challenged my thinking on the game and made me approach things in different ways."

Perhaps Garner will return to English football one day. If he does so, he will be much improved. In the meantime, as he prepares that eclectic game schedule, traversing the globe, the message is clear. He is focused on developing talent. Including his own.

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