One-third of staff should come from outside football.

I's a huge opportunity for those breaking in.

Neil Bath's model at Chelsea is this....

One-third from inside the club.

One-third from other football organisations.

One-third from different industries entirely.

Matt Crocker, sporting director of US Soccer, referenced it on the Training Ground Guru podcast.

Dan Ashworth applied this at the FA. He hired from Olympic sports, rugby, and business.

Matt admitted he would have questioned it before. Then he described working with those people as "gold dust."

If Chelsea, the FA, and US Soccer are building teams with people from outside the game, the door is more open than you think.

But you still have to prove you belong there.

Not with a certificate.

With demonstrated work, visibility and credibility.

The question isn't whether football will hire from outside.

It's whether you're visible enough when they do.