Hi, I’m James Donnelly,
I always love the “about me” page on websites like this because they’re written in the third person…even though they’re typically written by the owner of the site ;)
So after James made several attempts to sound smarter than he really is by writing about himself in the third person, he quickly abandoned that approach and decided to write this page like it was a letter to a friend.
Which…in many ways, it is.
Anyway – what do you want to know?
I’m 30 years old. I live in Buckinghamshire, England with my fiancé Charlotte and our baby boy Leo.
I’m guessing that’s not the kind of stuff you’re looking for.
You’re probably wondering,
Are These Guys Worth My Time And Attention?
For many readers, my answer is NO.
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For some reason, many modern players are on the lookout for a magic pill, watching hundreds of videos every week on Youtube, and never actually making any progress.
Here's why...results are not found in the information, they're in the IMPLEMENTATION.
If you think anyone has the superpower to turn you into Cristiano Ronaldo after 4 weeks of training, well…it’s not going to happen.
We do have players consistently stepping their game up to pro level on a global scale thanks to our programme…but it takes lots of work, dedication and perseverance to achieve it.
…And getting there is the easy part, it’s staying there which is much tougher. Again we can show you what you must do and will support you every step of the way, but you need to actually take action on our guidance to reap the rewards.
So if you’re not prepared to commit to roughly ten times more effort than you’re expecting, we’re not your guys.
No, I don’t have anything against Instagram. But here’s why I’m telling you this.
We're here to deliver results, not popularity. I want each session to be as quick and easy as possible to set up and complete, whilst also being mega effective. That way there's more chance you'll actually do the training and achieve the results you signed up for.
Start going down the “sexy drill” rabbit hole, and you’ll confuse yourself with all sorts of nonsense which has no benefit to your on-pitch performance.
Just because a drill has 5 million views on Instagram, doesn’t reflect its effectiveness. It means there are 5 million people sat on the toilet, who likely don’t train, who found it entertaining to watch whilst they were bored scrolling through their news feeds!
Does some of it work?
Probably. But if you rely on fads, you’ll do what almost every other player does…always be on the lookout for the next gimmick or shortcut, stay exactly where you are and never progress.
We can't help you.
Why?
Because when I hear someone say, “I can’t do this because…”, what I’m really hearing is, “I can’t be bothered, I'll look for any obstacle as an excuse and I'm therefore not fully invested in the long term success of my football career.”
And that really translates to “I don’t want to put the work in”.
Look, getting yourself to pro level is HARD WORK. But yes, when you commit to a plan, it can be just like you imagined: Running the show everytime you step on the pitch and having clubs scrambling for your signature!
But that takes HARD WORK to achieve and it takes HARD WORK to maintain.
You’re Still Here? Good.
✔️ Actionable, logical strategies and methods you can use in your training right now, for free…which are usually followed by:
✔️ Blatant sales pitches to join our programme.
Can you believe I just told you flat out that you’re going to receive blatant sales pitches from us?
Well, why wouldn’t I tell you?
I mean c’mon – this business is run by selling stuff. And I KNOW we can help YOU.
If you don't pay for it, the chances are you'll never take action because you have no skin in the game.
We will try to sell you something and I won’t be subtle about it.
However – it’s always preceded by really valuable fitness, mindset and nutrition guidance you can use immediately.
That’s free.
But you still might be wondering…
Well, the smartest thing to do is to just check out our free content.
If you like it, you’ll probably like our trainings.
If you don’t like it, you probably won’t.
But I think I’m supposed to do the whole “self-applauding biography” thing now so here goes:
I started my “Football Conditioning” career in 2008, I decided to go to University to study Sports Science having suffered a career ending injury which threatened to leave me in a wheelchair.
This was following 9 years at English League One side Wycombe Wanderers and trials for England Schoolboys. My coaches over that period included Tony Adams and Rob Lee.
At the time, I was still in denial…trying to play through pain and determined to discover a solution so I could get my playing career back on track.
I down-played my injury and sweet-talked my way onto a sports scholarship at the University, which included mentorship and training from the Universities Head Strength and Conditioning coach for 2 years.
The scholarship was worth £10,000 per year.
Anyway – I started following a programme devised by the S&C coach and was blown away by the improvements I was seeing in my athleticism and mindset, despite still disguising a labral tear and impingement in my left hip.
I became obsessed with football specific strength and conditioning. I read every book and took every course I could find on it, spending hours each day applying this new-found knowledge to my training.
And after 3 years of trial and error, I finally started to see light at the end of the tunnel. A genuine feeling that I could play football again pain-free.
Skip forwards one year, I was now on the other side of the world, captaining a team managed by one of my ex-Wycombe Wanderers coaches in the Australian NPL, being paid to play and lining up against the Hyundai A League Champions Brisbane Roar.
Honestly, I felt like a machine.
To go from no football for 4 years to this…I felt ELECTRIC. For the last 4 years I'd had to listen to almost everyone around me re-enforcing that I would “never play again” and to “find a different career”.
No it's not quite Barcelona or Real Madrid, but from being told I'd never play football again to THIS was almost miraculous.
I gained some incredible training insights from my studies and decided to start teaching other players what I had learnt.
Fast forward to today, I've specialised as a football specific strength and conditioning coach and I’ve built a team of expert coaches who focus on each area of football performance to support you every step of the way. We’ve helped players in just about every country on earth achieve performance levels they didn’t think were even possible.
We are the “go to guys” for many pro’s when it comes to online coaching, as well as (literally) over 100,000 amateur and semi-professional players hungry to play at the highest level.
We will help you get your game to top pro level, by training like a top pro, every single day.
We're the creators of something called the MESSI-N Formula. It is, in my opinion, the Holy Grail of elite football performance.
Our system provides a day by day structure for technically gifted players like you to be ready to perform at top pro level within one season.
James Donnelly
Founder – Matchfit Conditioning