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The players have been away on their holidays and have maybe come back carrying a few pounds. Meanwhile, some players will have departed and new players will have been signed. The manager's job, during the pre season period, therefore is to ensure that all his players return to peak fitness and that they come together as a unified and coherent team. Teams that have a poor pre season often start the season poorly and then find themselves having to play catch-up.

Pre season training typically has three main components. These are fitness training, ball work on the training field, and "friendly" matches against other professional or amateur teams.

Fitness training:

Modern football is very physically demanding and players must be in peak conditioning if they are to excel. Some players are natural athletes and may only require minimal work to get back up to the required level. However, there will always be players for whom fitness is more of a struggle and it's importance that the club's coaches work them hard in pre season so that they are ready to go from day one of the new season.

Fitness training is usually made up of a number of component parts. There are the cross country runs that most players hate, which are about getting a lot of mileage and burning off any excess weight. Prizes are often offered as an encouragement. Then there is sprint work, focusing upon pace rather than endurance. Players will be required to complete lots of short sprints and will be timed and their results measured against their previous bests. The final part of fitness training then is gym work, where players will do weights to build up and hone their bodies. Whilst weight training isn't as important in football as it is in rugby, it is still important as superior upper body strength may give a player an edge against opponents in vital on-field challenges.

Ball work:

Whilst fitness is essential, football is a sport where matches are won or lost depending on players' ability to control a football. Therefore, it's vital that the coaches focus as much attention on technical skills as they do on fitness training. Typically, the start of pre season has more of a focus on fitness but then more and more ball work training will be introduced. Drills will be set up to test players close control and bounce matches played where players are only allowed one touch, to sharpen their play. Work will also be done on set pieces and defenders and attackers will be split out and pitted against

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