With the men’s Euros starting in June 2024, Simon Rea explores some key facts about the tournament and discusses some of the key players to look out for.

As Germany gears up to host the men’s Euros this summer, Steph Doehler explores developments in modern football and their impact on Euro 2024.

Do you want to learn the basics of the German language? This free course, Beginners’ German: Places and people, will take you on a journey through German-speaking countries. You will read and hear about a range of places and people. This OpenLearn course will give you the opportunity to develop language skills which will help you to cope in a ...

Do you support women’s performance in sport or fitness as a coach or parent? Are you a female athlete who wants to optimise your performance using recent research insights? If so, then this free course is for you. It addresses the problem of sports science research traditionally being male dominated and the assumption that if it works for men ...

This free course, The business of football, was produced by The Open University working in partnership with The English Football League Trust. If you are fascinated by men's and women's football and interested in discovering more about business and management, then this engaging and stimulating course is for you.

The mass media (e.g. radio, TV, internet) has become one of the most powerful institutional influences in society. This free course, Sporting women in the media, explores whether gendered inequalities exist in sport by evaluating the media coverage. The media can be highly influential in shaping perceptions about gender in sport and headlines ...

The athlete’s journey through sport can be characterised by several transitions and periods of change. This course is designed to help you understand that journey, whether in reference to a professional or recreational athlete, and the nature of support they may need at different times. The course also provides practical guidance, whether ...

Are you responsible for supporting sport and physical activity coaches to become inspirational and excellent in their practice? This course is designed for coach developers, educators, mentors and tutors who support coaches to improve. You will explore how people learn, what are the skills and qualities of an effective coach of coaches, as well ...

This free course, Communication and working relationships in sport and fitness, explores the personal skills that underpin so much work in sport and gyms. We often hear employers refer to the importance of these interpersonal relationships or ‘soft skills’ in sport and fitness, and in this unique course you’ll build valuable insights into ...

This free course, Exploring sport coaching and psychology, investigates how scientific and management ideas contribute to success while also taking you on a journey through unique sporting case studies and insights that will change how you view and study sport. You will consider how the mind, the body, the environment and training techniques all...

Have you ever experienced a sport injury? Have you ever thought there could be a psychological dimension to sport injuries, as well as a physical one? Sport injury is relatively common among sport and exercise participants, and while the physical impact of injury is often easy to recognise, the psychological impact is less obvious. In this ...

Occasionally, controversies arise that remind us of the link between sport and politics. It was once common for leading figures in the sporting world to declare that sport was, effectively, a politics-free zone. Sport was cast as the perpetual innocent party, liable to be corrupted by any connection with politics. However, it has become ...

Sport can place high levels of stress on athletes, coaches and others involved. If unable to cope with these stresses they may be vulnerable to developing burnout. This free course, Learning from sport burnout and overtraining, examines burnout in sport from various perspectives including both the coach’s and athlete’s perspective. Drawing on ...

In this free course you will explore an important aspect of strength and conditioning which refers to the physical preparation of athletes: endurance. You will look at the physiological factors that underpin endurance and assess how endurance can be developed relative to performance in a range of sports.

In this free course you will explore two aspects of strength and conditioning in sport and fitness: speed and power. Strength and conditioning is the physical preparation of athletes and in this course you will explore the physiology of speed before looking at training methods to develop speed. You will also look at power which is a concept ...

While many people recognise the positive impact of engaging in sport and/or physical activity on their physical and mental well-being, research indicates that participation can also equip us with valuable skills that enhance our employability. Engaging in sport and physical activity provides opportunities to develop a diverse skill set that can ...

In this free course, doping (performance enhancing drugs, or PEDs) is used as an example of how contemporary issues in sport might be studied. Doping is used to illustrate how you can think about the debates involved in an issue and this will help you develop appropriate skills to discuss other contemporary issues in sport.

In this free course, Developing resilience in sport, you will explore how the concept of resilience can support athletes on their athletic development journey. You will examine how resilience can act as a buffer to protect against the challenges that might be faced by athletes and coaches. The protective qualities of resilience make it an ...

This free course, Beginners' German: food and drink, provides materials that support the development of listening, reading, writing and speaking skills. The content focuses on food, restaurants and eating habits. The course also gives examples of how grammar, vocabulary, cultural aspects and study skills are taught by the OU in the Beginners' ...

Almost 100 million people speak German as their main language. Most of them live in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, making German one of the most widely-used languages in Europe. Although now associated with economic success and advances in science and technology, German has a long-standing reputation as the language of poets and thinkers, die...

Learn about the concepts and skills required to learn languages successfully. This free course, How to learn a language, introduces the skills and strategies for language learning, setting realistic goals when learning languages and keeping motivated, practise speaking skills and vocabulary learning strategies. It will enable you to evaluate ...

England has one of the worst records for penalty shoot-outs in international football competitions - could purposeful practise end this?

Recently concussion in football has become a serious issue for debate, and with the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 and FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 coming-up, it's likely to be in the spotlight once again.

Money has had a huge impact on football in the previous 50 years. Simon Rea investigates the key changes over this period to our national game.

When it comes to the business of football, you get what you pay for. Stefan Szymanski provides an insight into the professional side of the sport.

What role do team banners play in the wider context of football culture?

Ben Langdown looks at the impact technology has had on the sporting World in the past 50 years. From drug cheats to how we watch sport - it's all covered.