Roll of honour

Joel Drake-Thomas

“Jamie and the team at Unique FA coached me regularly for 6 years . He has played a huge part in my journey to becoming a professional and I can’t speak highly enough of him. Jamie has helped me expand a variety of tools to take my game and career to a high level at Crystal Palace. He wants the best for each and every player he works with and really wants to help develop them - and he has the coaching skills to take them to another level. I am really grateful for everything Jamie and the staff at Unique FA have done to help me get to where I am today.”

Joel Drake-Thomas - Crystal Palace FC | England

Former Unique FA members

Tyrique George

“Training with Unique FA from the age of 10—14. Jamie recognised my ability straight away and was always big on stretching me when possible. This meant i regularly trained up with boys 1-3 years older than me. I really appreciated this as it added to my training programme which included training at my club Chelsea FC. One to one sessions with Unique FA as well as the group training on Fridays with all the elite players was great for me.”

Tyrique George - Everton

Collective Excellence

Harvey Walker - Ebbsfleet

I’ve known both Jamie & Ollie for over a decade, working with both in professional football, jamie a colleague and Ollie a player.

Jamie’s ability to develop talent is something i’ve learnt a lot from and admired for many years. Ollie has evolved through the academy system from being an extremely talented player into a fantastic coach maintaining the positive manner and energy he displayed as a child to now help develop others. I would highly recommend both and Unique FA to aspiring players who want to develop and have fun in a safe environment.”

Joe Shields - Director of Recruitment Chelsea FC

Heze Grimwade - Chelsea

“Having worked with Jamie since we completed our UEFA A Licence together back in 2010, I only have positive experiences with regards to Jamie’s professionalism, knowledge and experience. In addition, having witnessed the programmes Jamie runs at Unique FA myself and watching the players train and play there is clearly lots of talent coming through and we’ll be looking to work with Jamie going forwards for sure”.

Bruce Suraci - Head Of Coaching Bournemouth FC

Phoenix Valentine - Charlton

“I first met Jamie when we worked together at Crystal Palace's Academy and in recent years have crossed paths with Jamie many times given his role with the Premier League and mine with the FA. Jamie is an outstanding coach, he has excellent attention to detail and an engaging style that footballers can relate to.

Having seen Unique FA academy at close hand Jamie and his team continue to develop young players, its one of the leading independent academies in the industry with a fantastic reputation for unearthing and developing talent.Unique FA is always forward thinking and leads the way introducing genuine performance analysis into their training programmes. Players that attend Unique FA will, i have no doubt develop and improve in an environment that rivals many professional football club academies in my opinion”.

Wes Awad - Head Of Recruitment Newcastle United FC

“Jamie coached me for most my schoolboy years after I joined Crystal Palace. He was my team manager for the first two years then coached me again at U15 before he left for West Ham United FC. I really enjoyed playing for Jamie, his sessions were always detailed but fun and looking back they really helped me. He was very disciplined but always fair and well respected. Ollie Bennett was in the same team until we were U18 and i’m not surprised he’s gone into coaching too.
“Unique FA’s the best place for any young player who wants to improve, they are serious about development and I can’t recommend them highly enough!”
Aaron Wan-Bissaka - Aston Villa FC

“Having worked with Jamie during my time at Crystal Palace FC I know he has had a big part to play in my development as a Goalkeeper. He’s a very passionate guy who loves to win and has great knowledge of football, which is very important when you’re a young player learning your trade. While Jamie was my coach the fun, exciting and challenging environment he set amongst the lads was brilliant! I won my first piece of silverware under Jamie which I still remember to this day! I would recommend there set-up to anyone who’s serious about developing their game”

Freddie Woodman - Liverpool FC

“Training with Unique FA helped me to develop into the player I am now. The coaches are amazing, they are willing to help and give advice as much you want it. Training session were match related and I felt I could use things I learnt in match situation. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to better themselves to be a better player or even a professional player, they cater for high standard players across the age groups.

Ebou Adams - Portsmouth FC

“I joined Unique FA & at U15 and I feel Jamie’s taught me so many vital things that I now carry out into the professional game. He helped me improve my technique but has also helped me improve my discipline in football which is the main thing you need to have in order to succeed in the game. I also went on trials with a couple of professional teams that didn’t work out but it taught me to become mentally stronger and that one persons opinion doesn’t matter and that I’m good enough to play at high level and never to give up on my dream”