MUJ
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MUJ

Grassroots Football Coaching · Luton

Be The Best You Can Be — With What You Have.

I’m Coach Mujahid, a football coach with 10 years of experience developing players technically and tactically at Luton United and Luton Jets currently completing my UEFA B qualification, expected by August 2026. It’s not about what you’re given it’s about what you do with it.

My Journey
  • UEFA B Pending
  • 10+ Years Coaching
  • Luton United & Luton Jets

Trusted coaching experience with

Years Coaching Experience
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UEFA B

Currently Qualifying

Grassroots Clubs Coached
0
Luton United Founded
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About

Ten Years On The Touchline

I’m Mujahid Zaman, known as Muj. I’m a grassroots football coach with over a decade of experience helping players grow both technically and tactically. I’m currently working toward my UEFA B licence. I’ve coached with Luton United and Luton Jets, developing players skills on the ball and sharpening their understanding of the game.

My primary motivation has always been to give players in my local community the chance to grow not just as footballers, but as people. Football has shaped my own character in ways I carry with me every day, and I want to help create those same memories and lessons for the players I coach.

My message to every player is simple: be the best you can be with what you have available, whether that’s limited talent or limited resources. It’s not about what you’re given — it’s about what you do with it.

MY Journey

A path shaped by setbacks, recovery, and a refusal to stop learning the game.

From The Pitch At 11, To UEFA b and Beyond

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1995 — Age 11
Lewsey FC

I started playing competitive grassroots football for Lewsey FC. Looking back, that was the beginning of some unforgettable football memories, and my first taste of what it feels like to have a coach who makes you feel valued and helps you improve as both a footballer and a person. That feeling has stayed with me ever since.

 
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2000— Age 16
United Sporting Luton

 

Started playing Sunday League football for United Sporting Luton. This was my first taste of grassroots as an adult game, up against grown men who fancied themselves the Maldinis and Vieiras of the local scene. My resilience and strong mental attitude let me compete with them from a young age, and those same attributes are what helped me overcome the challenges I faced later in life. My proudest achievements from that time: we won the County Cup, and I was named Player of the Season.

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2009
Co-Formed Luton Phoenix FC

I continued playing for USL until the club dissolved in 2009. A group of us who were passionate about carrying on our journey came together and formed Luton Phoenix FC. The name and the logo said it all: a phoenix rising from the ashes, a symbol of the resilience we had to keep playing and to build a platform where players could compete, make friends, and create memories that last.

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2012
Return To The Game

After a brief pause from grassroots football to focus on my career and, ultimately, on my duties as a parent, I returned to the game and got back to playing football with my friends.

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2013
Coaching Journey Begins

Began coaching at Luton Phoenix — the team was promoted to Division 2 in my first season as coach.

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2014
A Life-Changing Injury

2014 was the year my life, and my whole outlook on it, changed. I suffered a catastrophic injury after colliding with a goalpost during a match. I was hospitalised for twelve months, and went through multiple operations, nine so far, each followed by its own complications.

For a long time, I hated the beautiful game I'd loved since I was young, from kicking a ball around the park to playing competitively. I didn't watch it, I didn't want to listen to it, and if anyone brought it up, I'd switch off.

But it was resilience, a positive mental attitude, and the support of my family and friends that pulled me through. In time, I realised I wanted to give my sons the chance to build the same memories I'd had, playing football with their friends.

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2015
Rediscovering The Passion

A further year recovering at home. Realising how much of my son's football journey I'd missed, I slowly started returning to training and matches and, little by little, rediscovered the passion for football I thought I'd buried.

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2017 - 2018
FA Level 1 & UEFA C

My best friend Duhaj encouraged me to help out at Luton United, the club my son played for. That year I completed my FA Level 1, and I loved every minute of it. From there I went on to the UEFA C course, which gave me real insight into the technical side of the game and left me longing for more. The coach educators inspired me to keep going on my coaching journey and to get a step closer to the professional game.

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2020
Rejected — And Reset

applied for the UEFA B course in 2020, but I was unsuccessful. At first it felt like a real setback, but on reflection I chose to see it differently. The feedback wasn't a closed door, it was a signpost telling me I needed more experience in the 11-a-side game and more time to embed the learning from my Level 2. Rather than take the rejection personally, I treated it as part of the journey, a chance to grow, sharpen my coaching and come back stronger. When I reapply, I'll do it ready, with the experience to back it up.

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2020–2025
A Delayed Path

Covid set my coaching education back two years, and a further year working abroad extended the pause.

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2025
Accepted

I reapplied for my UEFA B course with renewed passion, determination and a lot more experience behind me. This time, I was accepted. 

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2026 — January
UEFA B Begins

Started my UEFA B course. An amazing experience so far — the focus on individual tactics, functional training, and technical detail has added a whole new layer to my coaching.

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Looking Ahead
Giving Back, Going Further

Hoping to pass my UEFA B and give back to the grassroots community that shaped me as a coach — and eventually, to work and coach abroad to broaden my understanding of the global game I love.

Technical Development

Developing players sharpen their skills on the ball. First touch, close control, and confidence in possession, so they can express themselves even when the pressure is on.

Tactical Understanding

Helping players develop a deeper understanding of the tactical side of the game, so they know not just what to do, but why they're doing it.

Character & Resilience

Football shaped who I am in ways I still carry with me every day. Now I want to help build those same memories and lessons in every player I coach.

Philosophy

It's Not What You're Given — It's What You Do With It

Every player who steps onto the pitch with me hears the same message, whatever their starting point.

Values

Creating Opportunity. Respecting Each Other.

Our players want to play football, but real barriers have limited their chances. As their coach, my job is to look beyond that: helping them become better players, giving them new experiences, memories and providing the structure that’s often missing elsewhere in their lives.

These values weren’t handed down from a manual. They’ve grown out of the time we’ve spent together as a team. For many of our players, their first taste of competitive football came within the last two years, and it shows in how much they want to keep going. Not just for themselves, but so that one day they can come back to help the club grow and open up new opportunities for the players following in their footsteps.

As a club, we want to help our players grow their understanding of both the game and the community around them. Every one of them has bought into two simple ideas that now sit at the heart of everything we do.

C

Creating

O

Opportunity

R

Respecting

E

Each Other

Creating Opportunity

For players who’ve faced barriers to the game, we create the opportunity to play, compete, and grow on and off the pitch. Every session is a chance to become a better player, gain a new experience, and build the structure that carries into everyday life.

Respecting Each Other

Respect for teammates, opponents, coaches and the club is what turns a group of individuals into a team. It’s the value that keeps players coming back not just to play, but to give back and help build something for the next generation.

A Team Still Finding Its Feet

For many of our players, their first taste of competitive football came within the last two years. Their values have grown out of that shared beginning, and it’s why they want to stay involved long after their playing days are over, returning to help the club grow and open doors for the next group coming through.

 

Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.

Pelé

who we are

Luton United Football Club

Luton United Football Club is a community grassroots organisation using football as its main tool to promote participation in physical activity, alongside a wider goal of tackling social issues.

Formed in 1999, the club has focused its activities in the Dallow, Biscot and Saints wards in Luton. Over the years, the club has enabled many young people to develop self-confidence, teamwork, self-responsibility, and the belief to realise their potential.

With the continued support of volunteers, parents and local organisations, the club hopes to build on this success for years to come.

Luton United now runs 10 teams from U7 through to Adults, competing in the CJ7, Bedfordshire Youth and Leighton & District Leagues. The club is an FA Chartered Club and is registered as a charity for the work it does developing young people and running community projects.

  • 10 Teams · U7–Adults
  • CJ7 League
  • Bedfordshire Youth League
  • Leighton & District League
  • FA Chartered Club
  • Registered Charity

Health & Wellbeing

Promote community health and well-being amongst all age groups through participation in sports, education, leisure and exercise.

Empowerment

Helping others to become involved and empowered by listening to and understanding what local people want.

Positive Futures

Engaging young people in team approaches and in devising positive futures for themselves, whilst diverting them from anti-social behaviour and providing positive pro-social modelling.

Mutual Support

Providing full mutual support and seeking community participation and involvement.

Underpinned By

The Values Behind Our Work

The work of the football club is underpinned by the following values.

How We Play

Player-Centred, Detail-Driven

My coaching is built around individual tactics, functional training, and the technical detail that lets players solve problems on the ball, paint pictures and not just follow instructions.

  • Understanding both in-possession and out-of-possession principles, so players read the game rather than react to it.
  • Functional training that mirrors real match situations and positional demands.
  • Decision-making under pressure, the small margins that separate good players from great ones.
  • A style informed by the UEFA B course I'm currently completing, and how the professional game is really coached.

Game Model

In Possession

Our game model gives every player a clear picture of what we’re trying to achieve in each phase of play: how we behave with the ball, and how we behave without it.

  • Understanding both in-possession and out-of-possession principles, so players read the game rather than react to it.
  • Functional training that mirrors real match situations and positional demands.
  • Decision-making under pressure — the small margins that separate good players from great ones.
  • A style informed by the UEFA B course I'm currently completing, and how the professional game is really coached.

In Possession Formation - 1-4-3-3

Our style is a compact base with an explosive counter-attack. When we win the ball, we shift from a 1-4-2-3-1 to a 1-4-3-3: the double pivot becomes a single holding six, the ten joins the front line to form a front three, the wingers stretch the pitch, and the full-backs push up to support the attack.

Attacking Principles

  • Penetration
  • Width & depth
  • Speed of support
  • Counter-Attack, Direct Play, Think Forward, Connect and Combine.

Build & Transition

  • Double pivot becomes single 6
  • 10 joins front line creating front 3
  • Wide players stretch pitch

On Ball Recovery

  • First thought forward
  • Early vertical pass or forward run
  • Support underneath to secure if needed

Game Model

Out Of Possession

Our game model gives every player a clear picture of what we’re trying to achieve in each phase of play — how we behave with the ball, and how we behave without it.

  • Understanding both in-possession and out-of-possession principles, so players read the game rather than react to it.
  • Functional training that mirrors real match situations and positional demands.
  • Decision-making under pressure — the small margins that separate good players from great ones.
  • A style informed by the UEFA B course I'm currently completing, and how the professional game is really coached.

Out Of Possession Formation - 1-4-2-3-1

Without the ball, we defend as a unit. Players are coached to press with a clear trigger, screen passing lanes, and delay opposition attacks until support arrives. It’s about disciplined shape, constant communication, and knowing when to engage — not chasing the ball individually.

Defensive Principles

  • Compactness between units
  • Protect central areas
  • Delay & control tempo
  • Force play wide
  • Secure space behind back line

Pressing Triggers

  • Poor first touch
  • Back to goal
  • Pass into wide channel

Positive Transition

  • Always look to win the ball back within 6 seconds and play forward
  • If unable to do that, look for a mid-press situation
  • Always looking towards getting into our In Possession formation

Negative Transition

  • If we can't win the ball back from the first two triggers (6-second press, then mid-press)
  • We look to get into our Out Of Possession formation

Game Model

Transition

In our positive transition, we always look to win the ball back within six seconds and play forward. If we can’t, we shift into a mid-press, always working to get back into our In Possession formation. Our negative transition kicks in when those first two triggers don’t win the ball back, at which point we drop into our Out of Possession formation.

Positive Role Models

Engaging young people through team-based approaches that help them build positive futures, while steering them away from anti-social behaviour.

A Community that Listens

Getting others involved and empowered by listening to local people and understanding what they really want, whether they're parents, volunteers, or players.

Life Skills On & Off The Ball

Self-confidence, teamwork and self-responsibility — the same lessons football gave me, passed on to the next generation of players.

How We Support

Support That Goes Beyond The Pitch

Football is the tool — but the goal is always bigger than the game.

Technical / Tactical

Player Profile: Comfortable in tight areas under pressure, secure enough in possession to protect our compact base, and tactically flexible enough to operate as a single or double pivot. Confident carrying the ball to break lines once we win it back.

Physical

Player Profile: Repeat high-intensity sprint ability to execute the 6-second counter-press and mid-press triggers, explosive acceleration to exploit space in transition, and the engine to cover ground box-to-box.

Psychological

Player Profile: Brave enough to press first after losing the ball, disciplined enough to hold defensive shape, and composed enough to build patiently from the back. Quick to reset focus after every transition.

Social

Player Profile: A natural communicator who organises the press and covers for team-mates, buys into the collective structure over individual reward, and lives our values of Creating Opportunity and Respecting Each Other.

Player Development

The FA Four Corner Model

We use England’s FA Four Corner Model to look at the whole player, not just what they do on the ball. Here’s the player profile each corner points to if a player is going to fit our game model.

Analysis Tools

Turning Matchday Into Learning

Player development doesn’t stop at full time. My main analytical tool is a VEO camera, which records and analyses our matches automatically, so I can sit down with players afterwards and show them exactly what happened rather than just telling them.

2D Mapping

A bird’s-eye view of the match that helps players see shape, spacing and positioning they can’t spot from pitch level.

Heat Mapping

Shows where a player spent their time across the full match — a clear picture of work-rate and positional discipline.

Play Location

Breaks down exactly where key moments happened on the pitch, so feedback is specific rather than general.

Play Location

Full match footage shared with players and parents, used in team meetings to turn moments from the game into lessons for next time.

Analysing The Opposition

Understanding how to prepare a team by breaking down the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition.

Analysing Performance

Using data and video to evaluate individual and team performance objectively, not just on gut feel.

Talent Identification

Spotting potential early and understanding what to look for as a player develops
over time.

Continued Learning

Recently Completed Courses

Part of supporting players well is continuing to develop as a coach. Here are some of the courses I’ve recently completed.

The Future Player

Grow As A Footballer. Grow As A Person.

Be the best you can be with what you have available  — whether that’s limited talent or limited resources.

The future player I coach towards isn’t defined by natural ability alone. They’re technically sharp, tactically aware, and mentally resilient — shaped by the same values of confidence, teamwork and responsibility that Luton United has built since 1999.

Looking ahead, I’m working towards passing my UEFA B qualification, so I can give even more back to the grassroots community that shaped me, and eventually take that knowledge abroad to broaden my understanding of the global game.

Start The Journey

Coaching Blog

Notes From The Touchline

Practical thoughts on technical development, tactics, and supporting young players through the ups and downs of the game.

Life On The Training Ground

Click any image to view it larger.

Contact

Let's Get To Work

Whether you’re a player, a parent, or a club looking for coaching support — get in touch and I’ll get back to you within 24 hours.

Email

mujahid.zaman@lutonunitedfc.co.uk

Location

Luton, Bedfordshire, UK

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Good to know

Coaching and player development are based in Luton. Sessions, availability and any costs are discussed directly once I understand what you’re looking for — no pricing is listed here.