Forttuna Global Award Winner Graham Morgan Discusses the Importance of Recognition and Support
- Brainz Magazine
- 4 days ago
- 8 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
Graham Morgan's career was initially in physical education and then football coaching at a high level, before moving on to devising Project HERO (Health Engagement Real Outcomes), a multi-award-winning mentoring programme.
He has taken the successful mentoring work of Evolve: A Social Impact Company, developed in partnership with John Bishop, and combined it with the brain training expertise of Dr. Michael Merzenich of BrainHQ. The result is poised to be a game-changer for football coaching.
Graham John Morgan, Performance Mentor
Graham Morgan believes we should never underestimate the longer-term benefits of giving recognition and support to colleagues and to those with innovative ideas in particular.
Hello Graham. I understand you wish to speak about the vital importance of showing recognition and support to others.
Yes, I do. Throughout my career, I have been a serial innovator and a positive disruptor. This can be a lonely journey that brings annoyance to some people who want things to stay as they are and always resist change, even if that change is for the better.
Can you give some more details?
Certainly, and I am very pleased recognise three excellent individuals who have really helped in my career.
My first boss was Brian James, Head of PE at the Eaton City of Norwich School, where I served my Probationary year as a newly qualified teacher. Within a few months of my first year of teaching in 1974, he made it possible for me to be funded on a national FA Coaching course. At 22 years of age, he said I had a bright future in football coaching, even if I did not see it myself. His vision and encouragement got me started on a long and eventful journey.
In my career at adidas, I was very fortunate to work with two bosses who showed great support for some of my ideas that others had dismissed out of hand.
At adidas UK, Barry Hunter oversaw Football at a time when we were preparing to launch the Predator boot, but with limited resources. I proposed we do so through the grassroots of football, something never before attempted. Barry listened to my ideas and backed them fully, and added significant value to them himself. The success of the Predator boot in the UK, and then subsequently globally, is down to his leadership in that process.
At adidas AG, the international headquarters, I was fortunate to be mentored by Warren Mersereau, a football-mad American. Warren listened to my idea of building a grassroots Football Park under the Eiffel Tower, despite the scepticism and obstruction of some senior managers in the company. Warren really supported and developed my idea, and it allowed 48 kids’ teams from adidas grassroots around the world a chance to say they had played at the World Cup '98, along with local schools, fans, sponsors, and the general public. The Football Park succeeded in attracting 1.3 million attendees over the period of the World Cup, the same as the number who watched live in stadia.
The recognition, encouragement, and support of these leaders was transformational. People must never underestimate the power of showing recognition and support. Indeed, their example has spurred me to “pay it on” wherever possible.
At Evolve, we have helped many young people to get started and move upward with their careers. Two examples best illustrate what is possible when you invest your faith in others.
Dr Jeevan Chagger joined us directly from school. After a number of years with Evolve, he has been trained as a Health Mentor, achieved an MSc (Distinction), become a qualified teacher, and earned an Honorary Doctorate from Newman University, all with no student loan.
Brian Padden joined Evolve with few academic qualifications due to challenges in his upbringing. He worked diligently and now has an MA (Distinction) and has set up his own company to help support children affected by trauma.
If you recognise, encourage, and support the potential you see in others, it can set off a positive domino effect reaching forward and multiplying down the years.
Graham, let's look at recognition at a different level. Congratulations on receiving the Forttuna Global Excellence Award for Footballing Brains. This recognition celebrates not just your football work, but also your broader approach to learning and performance. How does it feel to see that impact acknowledged?
It is a wonderful feeling. The award means a lot because it recognises the central idea behind Footballing Brains, that the principles of high-performance thinking apply everywhere, on the pitch, in the classroom, at work, and in day-to-day life. I use football as the entry point, a signpost if you will, but the goal has always been bigger.
I understand that you nearly did not enter the Award. Why was that?
I kept receiving emails from Forttuna, whom I did not know, requesting that I apply for an award. I dismissed the first three approaches, thinking it was another “pay for an award” commercial activity.
Forttuna persevered, and so I researched them and discovered their winner selection is jury-led, merit-based, and evidence-driven, involving research, application screening, structured questionnaires, and expert evaluation, all aimed at recognising genuine excellence, innovation, and impact rather than merely issuing promotional awards.
The Forttuna Global Excellence Awards had a real authenticity that drove me to apply. Amusingly, this was a common process that so many of my fellow award winners had experienced. When we were chatting at the Awards event, we all expressed our caution at the initial approach from Forttuna.
So how does Forttuna go about selecting its winners?
It is a remarkably thorough process. Having expressed interest, you get a call to explain how the application process works. Next is a questionnaire, which is a very serious and detailed interrogation of your work. I was then told that in several weeks, I would get feedback through a video call regarding my application.
How did that video call go?
I was very surprised to be told that my feedback would come from Dr Raul Handa, Founder and CEO of the Forttuna Group. Dr Raul is a very impressive human being, and you could not fail to be impressed by him. He took me through the selection process, which has a global reach:
Initial approaches to 2.1 million individuals from over 80 countries
Use of AI to reduce this number to 500,000 profiles for more detailed evaluation
This number is then reduced to 40,000+ interviews
Using an independent jury of industry experts, entrants were awarded a score out of 100
There are 200+ award categories
There are finally 250+ winners
If you get over 90, you are a serious candidate
“Graham”, he said, “you have scored 94.8, and you have won a Forttuna Global Excellence Award.”
I cannot properly describe how fantastic it felt to hear him say this.
How was the presentation ceremony?
It was how I imagine the Oscars are. The event was held at the JA Soul Beach Hotel in Dubai. Full purple carpet treatment, photographers and video cameramen everywhere, glitz and glamour, even a dress code with colour guidelines.
Attendance was free to award winners, and if you did not want to travel, you could receive your award at home. I was not going to miss out on an occasion like this, so I booked a flight and a room on the QE2 floating hotel and arranged to meet friends who live in Dubai.
Footballing Brains attempts to signpost redefine how people can learn and improve their performance. What is innovative about the approach?
My programme has come from working in collaboration with the work of two special people to create a blended approach I call Mentored Brain Training.
Dr Michael Merzenich of Posit Science is a global leading neuroscientist and is known as the Godfather of neuroplasticity. His online brain training programme, Brain HQ, is an incredible piece of work.
John Bishop, my colleague at Evolve: A Social Impact Company, who has been pioneering mentoring approaches in schools for almost 20 years. Mentoring allows for recognition and support for individuals themselves, and not just clinical data feedback on performance.
Traditionally, education and learning have been about repetition, instruction, and exam preparation. I believe that following the advances of social media, the COVID-19 lockdowns, and the advent of AI, education has been left behind and does not prepare the next generation for life as it may have been in the past.
Change has been needed for a long time, and Evolve believes that if you give focus to physical, emotional, and cognitive health, people will be better able to deal with the opportunities and challenges that come their way in life. Thinking is more important than remembering.
So the idea is that “football intelligence” becomes “life intelligence”?
Exactly. The difference between good players and great players is the decisions they make in the game. Every movement we make, and every decision we take, comes from the brain. It is the only muscle that is active for every minute of every game, and yet it is largely ignored and neglected.
Footballing Brains combats three major challenges facing football (and Rugby) today, challenges that exist everywhere in life:
Better performance by improving attention and focus, scanning, processing, and decision-making. Players can make better decisions, more quickly and more often.
Improved mental strength and resilience.
Combatting Alzheimer’s through keeping the brain “younger” by being active.
Players learn how to stay composed under pressure, make faster decisions, interpret complex information, and organise their thinking, those are life skills. Those same processes help a student during exams, a manager leading a team, or anyone dealing with stress or uncertainty. The brain doesn’t compartmentalise. If you train it well in one domain, it benefits all the others.
You always stress the cross-sector benefits, particularly in education, health, and business. How does the programme translate into those areas?
In education, we can use football scenarios to teach executive-functioning skills, focus, planning, and evaluating options. It helps students who struggle with traditional learning engage in a more dynamic way.
In health, the programme supports emotional regulation, mental well-being, and confidence. The combination of structured challenge and positive psychology has been powerful, especially for young people navigating life pressures.
In business, leaders are embracing the same cognitive principles we teach athletes, clarity under pressure, collaborative thinking, and strategic awareness. It’s a universal performance model.
Some people say Footballing Brains is as much a personal-development programme as it is a football programme. Do you agree?
I do. Football is the medium, not the limit. What we really teach is how to think effectively, communicate clearly, manage emotion, and make better choices. Football gives us a setting where people can safely experiment, build confidence, and grow. But the real aim is longevity, helping people perform well in every part of life.
What’s next now that the programme has received some global recognition?
Hopefully, the Forttuna Award will draw attention to the possibilities and benefits of Mentored Brain Training. Football has been slow to engage with working with the brain, as has education.
There is so much that could be achieved if we engage with a wider audience. Individuals and society at large can benefit. I have already held discussions on how best to achieve this by going directly to players and individuals rather than the over-cautious clubs and slow-moving organisations.
The goal is to create a global community of people who understand that performance isn’t just physical or technical, it’s deeply mental. And once you unlock that, the possibilities are endless.
Finally, what message do you hope this award sends?
That new ways of learning can be exciting, empowering, and transformational. Whether you’re a footballer, a student, a leader, or someone just trying to improve your well-being, you can change the way you think, and when you change your thinking, you change everything else.
That is at the heart of Footballing Brains.
Read more from Graham John Morgan
