George Stephens extended interview

Following his appointment as 1st Team Head of Recruitment, we sat down with George Stephens to discuss all things football!

George has worked closely with the management team over the last few months before his formal appointment at the beginning of the summer.

As well as identifying and scouting potential targets towards the end of last season, he has been an intergral part of this summers recruitment and the progress made.

George, for those of you who don’t know — what is your role within the club and what has been your journey in football?

So my role is Head of Recruitment, but it’s really been a blend of scouting and recruitment — what comes into the building and supporting with opposition scouting when needed. I stopped playing at 18 with a recurring knee injury and very quickly transitioned into youth coaching back home in Bury. I developed a real love for analysing players and games and decided to pursue a career in Talent Identification through the Professional Football Scouts Association. That led to various Academy scouting roles between 2016 and 2020 within the EFL, including at Bury FC before their league expulsion. Since 2023 I’ve been Head Scout at Skouted Holdings Ltd — a global showcase company — sourcing and assembling showcase squads from Category 1 and 2 academies, high level JPL teams and recently released academy players, which has taken me to some of the most elite professional clubs in the world. More recently I’ve been 1st Team Coach at Elton Vale, a fantastic breeding ground for players who’ve gone on to have great non-league careers. Coaching is something I love but my strengths are firmly in Talent ID and that’s where my focus is!

You’re a man who is always on his phone and has an excellent knowledge of non-league football, but what expertise do you bring to the management team?

Ha, the phone hasn’t stopped since the full-time whistle at Vauxhall! – Me and Deakz have had something like two thousand messages and about two hundred phone calls with each other since then — crazy — but well worth it seeing the results now! I think what I mainly bring is a specific focus on scouting and recruitment, and that takes a real pressure off the manager and coaching staff so they can do their jobs more effectively. Historically the club has had a manager calling all the shots and that contributed to where we found ourselves last season. The process is a lot more joined up now — me and Deakz work collaboratively on what comes into the building, alongside taking in views from the wider coaching staff when needed. And then there’s the network — although I live close by in Stone, I bring an expansive network across the northern non-league scene and Category 1 and two EFL academies.
We compete in a predominantly northern league and whilst the club has brought the odd good player in from up here over the years, it’s a catchment area that hasn’t been exploited enough recently. I’m hoping to change that and give us a more rounded strategy when it comes to recruitment.

Over the course of pre-season you’ve been involved in supporting new players who have joined us, what excites you the most about the collective group we’ve brought in?

The calibre of player, honestly. I’ve watched and followed this football club for 25 years, through my Dad who is from the area and a supporter of nearly 60 years! I can’t
remember in recent history this much being done so early. So to get this many high-calibre players through the door at this stage of pre-season is something that genuinely excites me. That’s going to be a massive help for the coaching staff in terms of getting them gelled throughout pre-season. But it’s not just the quality — it’s the profile. We’ve worked really hard on that. Without giving too much away, we want to play a specific way this season and every single one of these players has been recruited with that in mind. Nothing has been accidental. We have implemented a very thorough recruitment process from start through to completion. A huge part of that is the ID process which is a framework agreed between the management team based on 3 key areas (Record, Character and Performance Data) that is followed up by rigorous cross referencing on Wyscout, reviewing of clips and character referencing with our extensive contacts in the game for every player we bring in. That is finished off with an in-person player presentation where myself, Deakz and Alfie sit down with every recruit prior to signing and have an in-depth discussion about why they want to come to the football club and why we want to bring them in- visualised and brought to life with some fantastic presentations by Alfie.

And is there a particular signing you were REALLY happy to get over the line?

I love them all and I don’t want to give you a politician’s answer and say “all of them”… but for the sake of the question — Beto Gomes. Beto is one I personally worked really hard on. The moment I got wind he might be available I had to move fast — there were two Step 2 clubs in for him and I was straight on the phone to Jonno. In the way Beto
plays as a right back he really defines the general direction we want to go in as a team — that high intensity attacking profile that I think is going to excite every single one of our fans. But honestly, they all excite me and can’t wait to see them in action. As I am giving this answer we have also just completed the signing of Tonksy- something that I know will excite our supporters!

What kind of geographical footprint does the club look at when trying to acquire players, and what do you consider?

We’re a Midlands club in a northern league so it has to be blended. Deakz and the staff have really good networks in the southern leagues and I have strong networks in the northern leagues, so that just comes together and looks after itself in many ways. Primarily our three main areas are Manchester, Liverpool/Cheshire and the Midlands. We’ve built a squad with at least three players in each of those areas so the demands of non-league — travel, time commitments — are reduced and the pressure on the players is manageable. What we won’t do is go and sign a player out in the sticks if there isn’t a network to support them with travel. Everything is considered. Before every signing we
make sure the player is completely happy with distance and travel, and for the more northern-based lads, every other game is closer to them anyway so it’s never as demanding as it might first seem.

We’ve heard the term “profile of player” mentioned by Deakz in a few interviews — what does that instruction look like to you when sourcing potential new signings?

The profile is absolutely critical and runs through almost every recruitment decision we make. We look at three pillars — Record/Pedigree, Character, and Performance Data.
Record — we want players who have achieved things at Step 3 or 4 previously. Team achievements like promotions and play-off finishes, but also individual benchmarks. Ten goals by Christmas for strikers, fifteen by March, goal involvements for wingers, clean sheets over the last twelve months for defensive players. We want winners with a proven track record.

Character — every player goes through an in-person presentation before signing, something Alfie puts together. It’s our chance to present the project but also to really get a feel for who they are as a person. Each player sits down with Deakz, Alfie and myself and it gives both sides a chance to get to know each other properly. That’s something new we’ve introduced to safeguard and professionalise the club.

Performance Data — hats off to the club on this one. I pushed for Wyscout to be brought in because I knew it would be critical in improving the recruitment process, and it also helps the staff with opposition analysis ahead of games. It gives us specific metrics on every player within the National League system and means we can make sure what we bring in genuinely matches the way we want to play.

With the new signings, we have also beaten off clubs in higher leagues — how have we managed to compete with some of these clubs?

If you listen to social media and fan forums from other clubs, apparently, it’s money… which is complete nonsense. The honest answer is it’s a blend of reasons. We’re very well connected in the game and there are times we can call in favours or get into conversations first — getting cracking early was a key reason a lot of these lads signed. We also operate at a level where players want to play for good people. Every person on this coaching team, as well as being very good at their jobs, is a fundamentally decent human being and that comes across to players the moment they walk through the door.
That energy radiates and you build a reputation as somewhere players genuinely want to play, and that’s absolutely the case with Deakz and this staff. Players see the ground developments, the new changing rooms being done, the improvements to the player experience, the focus on performance data and tech (Wyscout and GPS) — they see other players who’ve signed and want to be part of it. But the one thing mentioned by every single player? The support this football club receives. That is a massive, massive factor.

And finally, what can we expect to see from you this season?

More of the same! I’m always looking and building a pipeline of potential targets because injuries and suspensions can happen at any time so you can never stand still. But the main thing for me is supporting the management team in whatever way I can to help get the best results for this football club and its fans. I might just make an appearance on the podcast if the Guinness is on point and its post-watershed! I’ll be at most games up in the stand so I look forward to seeing everyone back at the ground soon — let’s stick together and have a fantastic season.