Major UEFA coaches' meetings

A distinguished lineup of coaches from Europe's leading clubs will join together with UEFA to discuss football trends at the 12th UEFA Elite Club Coaches Forum in Nyon on 1 and 2 September – the first of two important UEFA coaching summits in the next four weeks.

Final preparations are being made for the annual gathering of the club coaching fraternity, which was launched in 1999, and which has become a key event on the UEFA calendar. During a busy period for the technical sector, the club forum will be followed at the end of September by the 9th UEFA Conference for European National Coaches. This brings together national-team coaches and technical directors from UEFA's 53 member associations to examine, among other things, the recent FIFA World Cup.

The events in South Africa this summer will also be a talking point for the club coaches' gathering in Nyon, to be chaired by Andy Roxburgh, UEFA's technical director. Illustrious names such as Carlo Ancelotti (Chelsea FC), Sir Alex Ferguson (Manchester United FC), José Mourinho (Real Madrid CF) and Josep Guardiola (FC Barcelona) are set to attend.

Other prominent coaches will confirm their presence at the club forum in the next few days. Items such as tactical trends in the elite game and the impact of last season's inaugural UEFA Europa League will also be on the agenda.

UEFA has taken many of the trainers' ideas on board in recent years in shaping its competitions, and welcomes the chance to spend time with Europe's foremost club technicians in order to exchange opinions and to consider developments in coaching at football's summit.

Previous participants at the forum, Spain's Vicente Del Bosque and Italy's Marcello Lippi, are members of a very select club, having led teams to victory in the FIFA World Cup and UEFA Champions League. The duo will participate at the national-team coaches' event in Madrid.

Spain provides the perfect setting for the UEFA national coaches' conference, given the country's proud achievement of winning the world and European titles in the past two years. Tributes will be paid to Spain, along with World Cup runners-up the Netherlands and third-placed Germany – all admirable representatives of European football in South Africa. The tactical and technical trends will come under review, as well as the future of international football.