The Soccer of Success

2025 Global Book Awards Bronze Medalist in Business & Money Soccer is more than the world’s favorite sport. It’s more than the beautiful game. It’s a guide to successful living, at least if you know what you’re looking for. Ciaran McArdle has spent been an avid soccer fan his entire life. He’s even built his entire career around it: founding multiple soccer-based businesses. Over the years, he’s discovered all the life and business lessons you can learn from the game. Every successful player and every great team follow the same strategies: - They plan how to achieve their goals. - They perform in every game. - They recover and review their progress. - And they build a team around the right principles. Within each of these strategies, there are dozens of lessons you can implement in your life—such as how to organize your time, how to ensure focus on the tasks that really matter, and how to use failure to your advantage. Ciaran has assembled all these ideas and brought them together in The Soccer of Success. For anyone who loves the game and wants more out of their life and career, this is the way to do it.

As the Co-founder and CEO of XL Soccer World, CIARÁN MCARDLE has built his entire business around soccer. XL Soccer World operates ten sports facilities along the East Coast with millions of annual visitors. The company’s travel branch, XL Travel, has taken thousands of teams around the world to some of the most impressive pitches on the planet. The company was recently purchased by SoFive, a City Football Group company. In his latest project, Ciaran has launched XL Academy, a fully licensed school for gifted young soccer players seeking a future in the game. Winner of “CEO of the Year” from the Orland Business Journal, Ciaran is also on the board of Coaches across Continents, an organization that has reached more than 49 million young people across hundreds of countries.

Introduction Part I. Plan Chapter 1. The Hat Trick of Success Chapter 2. An Eye for Goal Chapter 3. The Big Three Chapter 4. Prioritize Your Energy Chapter 5. The Ninety-Minute Mindset Chapter 6. Automatic First Touch Part II. Perform Chapter 7. Playing to Win Chapter 8. Practice Makes Permanent Chapter 9. Daily Improvement Chapter 10. Mental Toughness Chapter 11. Don’t Jump into Every Tackle Part III. Recover/Review Chapter 13. Postgame Review Chapter 14. The Formula for Growth Chapter 15. Facing Failure Chapter 16. You Don’t Have to Be Ronaldo Part IV. Extra Time: Leading a Team to Success Chapter 17. The Need for Teams Chapter 18. Building Your Best Team Conclusion