Draft:Roberto Forzoni

Football

Forzoni's football career began as a coach at Charlton Athletic's youth academy before he was invited by manager Steve Coppell to join the first-team staff at Crystal Palace. He subsequently followed Coppell to Brentford and Brighton & Hove Albion. The Guardian reported on Brentford's early adoption of sports science methods during this period.^[4] At Brighton, The Argus reported on Forzoni's psychological contributions during a relegation battle, with Coppell quoted on the impact on squad focus and confidence.^[5]

Alongside his coaching work, Forzoni completed his psychology training and became a lecturer at Brunel University, where he led two postgraduate modules and one undergraduate module in sport psychology for approximately four years.

From approximately 2001, Forzoni worked as a sport psychologist at the English institute of sport (EIS) in London, working with Olympic athletes across a number of disciplines.

At West Ham United, Forzoni worked under managers Alan Pardew and Alan Curbishley across three seasons from the 2005–06 to 2007–08 campaigns. During the 2005–06 season, West Ham reached the 2006 FA Cup Final and secured UEFA Cup qualification. The 2006–07 campaign presented a significant challenge, with the club at risk of relegation. Players requested that Curbishley — who had previously worked with Forzoni at Charlton Athletic — bring the psychologist back. Following Forzoni's reengagement, West Ham won eight of their last ten matches, achieving a 78 percent points return in the final phase of the season compared to 23 per cent in the first 29 games. The Times reported on Dean Ashton's return to form at the club during this period, noting the role of the club's sport psychologist in supporting player confidence and injury recovery.^[6] A wider analysis of sport psychology practice published in The Observer in 2008 referenced Forzoni's approach to confidence and injury recovery.^[7]

He subsequently provided consultancy to further Premier League clubs including Southampton, Charlton Athletic, Fulham, Norwich City, and Maidstone United. KM Media reported on Forzoni's involvement with Maidstone United during a critical stage of that club's season.^[8]

Forzoni also contributed to Football Association education programmes, co-authoring the Official FA Guide to Psychology for Football (Hodder & Stoughton, 2004) with Andrew Cale,^[9] and delivering sessions at FA Pro-Licence programmes alongside coaches including Arrigo Sacchi and Fabio Capello.

Tennis

Following his work at the EIS and West Ham, Forzoni was appointed National Performance Psychology Manager at the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), a position he held from 2007 to 2009.^[10] In that role he worked with a number of leading British players, including Andy Murray, Laura Robson, James Ward, Johanna Konta and Alex Bogdanovic.^[11]

Forzoni began working with Murray in 2007 as the player prepared for the [[2007 US Open (tennis)|US Open]] following a wrist injury. The Times noted his courtside presence during Murray's return to competition at that tournament.^[12] The Sunday Times reported on his contribution to Murray's mental preparation ahead of the 2007 US Open campaign.^[13] ESPN later cited Forzoni — described as the psychologist who worked with Murray in 2007 — providing analysis of Murray's emotional approach at the 2016 Australian Open final.^[14]

A feature published by SPORTbible and syndicated through Betway quoted Forzoni at length on the psychology of choking in tennis and Murray's development, drawing on his LTA tenure.^[15] The Scotsman published a piece carrying Forzoni's analysis of Murray's emotional maturation following the [[2012 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles|2012 Wimbledon final]] and London Olympics.^[16]

Forzoni is credited with developing the 'Team Murray' support framework — the multi-disciplinary team structure around Murray that has since become a recognised model in professional tennis.^[17] The Times was subsequently required to publish a full apology and pay substantial libel damages to Forzoni after falsely reporting that he had left the LTA because players had lost confidence in him.^[18]

Laura Robson won the Wimbledon junior title in 2008 during the period of Forzoni's LTA appointment.

Boxing

Prior to his LTA appointment, Forzoni worked with the England boxing squad as a psychologist at the English Institute of Sport, contributing to the team's preparation for the [[2006 Commonwealth Games]] in Melbourne.^[19]

In December 2023, Forzoni provided psychological support to heavyweight boxer Dereck Chisora in preparation for Chisora's WBC World Heavyweight Championship challenge against Tyson Fury. Chisora, fighting as a significant underdog, took the fight to ten rounds before the referee stopped the contest.

Athletics and Olympic sports

During his tenure at the EIS, Forzoni worked with British Olympic athletes in disciplines including athletics and judo. Athletes supported during this period included sprinters Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, Jeanette Kwakye and Ashleigh Nelson.

Media work

Forzoni has provided expert performance psychology commentary to BBC Sport (television and radio), Sky Television and Al Jazeera for more than 25 years. He was quoted as a specialist commentator on footballer Fernando Torres's loss of form in The Guardian,^[20] and provided analysis to ESPN on Murray's emotional state at the 2016 Australian Open final.^[21] Expert analysis by Forzoni also appeared in The Evening Standard.^[22]

He was the subject of a full career profile in The Psychologist in 2014, published by the British Psychological Society, which documented his career across football, sport science, performance psychology and psychological illusion.^[23]