Former Liverpool and Lyon manager Gerard Houllier will speak at the Soccerex Global Convention, 26-28 September, Manchester. He will be joined by advisor to the President at Le Havre Alain Belsoeur, responsible for their esteemed academy. Alain and Gerard will join Edwin van der Sar on a panel entitled “Academies: The Foundations for success” sharing their extensive experience on player development and the role academy’s play in the strategic and commercial development of football clubs.

Alain will be giving an insight into the famous Le Havre academy, which in recent years has produced international stars like Paul Pogba, Dmitri Payet and Riyad Mahrez. Gerard will be sharing his vast level of experience within football, including his time in England with Liverpool, where he led the reds to domestic and European success, and also his spell with Lyon, in which he won 2 league titles and domestic competitions.

Prior to being appointed Liverpool manager, Gerard was Head of Technical Development at the French Football Association where he oversaw the fabled Clairefontaine national football centre and the development of players such as Thierry Henry who was central to the French side that won the 1998 FIFA World Cup and the 2000 UEFA European Championships.

Gerard will also talk about his latest role since moving away from the management side of football. As Head of Global Football at Red Bull, he is responsible for Austrian side FC Red Bull Salzburg, Germany’s RB Leipzig and the New York Red Bulls from the US as well as the Red Bull Brazil and the Red Bull Ghana academies.

Alain and Gerard will both be contributing to the thought provoking conference programme at the Soccerex Global Convention 2016, designed to deliver unique business insight across a variety of key sectors and subject matters ranging from sponsorship and fan engagement to the technological innovations and stadium development.

(Soccerex Press Release)