Football Recruiting

Victor Orta Interview: What Exactly Does a Director of Football Do?

23 Apr, 2020

1 Min Read

In this three-part series, Leeds United director of football Victor Orta will provide insight on how a professional club's recruitment department works, how players are scouted and how technology fits into these processes.

First question: What does a director of football do?

Victor Orta himself highlights, “not everyone in England knows exactly what are our duties or our tasks. In other countries, like Spain or Italy, there is more knowledge about this job, while in England is just starting to become renowned, also thanks to successful models like Stuart Webber at Norwich City.”

So, what does a Director of Football exactly do? For your information: it has nothing to do with training methods and picking lineups. “People used to think that but no, it’s the complete opposite”, said Orta. “My main goal and challenge are to try to back up the manager’s work and try to create a philosophy in the club. I’m responsible for three main goals: sports results, business results, and community results. Having a perfect balance between the three would be a successful situation for me.”

Having such broad goals means having lots of responsibilities to deal with, that go beyond scouting and recruitment. “It’s more than that”, explains Orta. “I’m responsible for coordinating all the human resource of the football side: the head coach, medical department, media department, scouting and event the academy. I need to be involved in every decision related to football.”

Part two of this series focuses on Victor's approach to scouting and recruitment. Read it here.