Luke Staton on stage, smiling, a copy of Credo in his hand.

Luke Staton · Speaker · Author

Who andwhat could wetruly become?

Keynotes and live experiences for universities, schools, teams and organisations. Built on purpose, people and possibility.

Bring Luke to your campus Watch him speak

Touring the United States and Canada, 2027.Dates and sponsorship open

Former Blackburn Rovers · England youth

TEDx Speaker
Credo Author
10+ years Schools programme
England Youth international
250,000+ Young people

01 Position

We don’t become more capable by being told what to think. We become more capable when we begin to see differently.

PurposePeoplePossibility

Luke was inside the professional game before he could vote. By twenty-one it was over, with no second plan. What he built after that is the work: a way of talking about identity, rejection and self-worth that lands because it was lived, not studied.

02 Proof

A room doesn’t change because someone spoke. It changes because something landed.

Inspire Beyond, Theatre Royal Wakefield. Not an audience being talked at. A room responding.

The Inspire Beyond audience on their feet, hands in the air, at Theatre Royal Wakefield. — Photography by Roberta.

250,000⁺

Young people reached, alongside audiences at global organisations.

10⁺

Years of the schools programme, Inspiring The Next Generation, since 2015.

Continents. The United Kingdom, Europe, the Gulf and the United States.

25,000

Students reached through one partnership, funded by the FatFace Foundation.

Selected partners and rooms

ISG

What a partnership looks like

FatFace Foundation funded twenty five schools.

Each school, chosen near a FatFace store, gets a live session from Luke, then a six module online programme that keeps running after he leaves.

25: Schools
25,000: Students
6: Modules
Free: To every school

Will Crumbie, the CEO of FatFace, now joins Luke on stage at his own event. Partnership runs both ways.

A full school hall at an Inspiring The Next Generation session funded by the FatFace Foundation.

Luke Staton walking the stage at Theatre Royal Wakefield.

03 Speaking

Three territories. One conversation.

Keynotes, workshops and assemblies for universities, schools, teams and organisations. Every one is built around the room, not taken off a shelf.

Purpose

Who are you when the thing that defined you stops? Identity, rejection and self-worth, for students, athletes and anyone in transition.

People

Trust and belonging, so a team, a squad or a class feels safer, stronger and more aligned.

Possibility

The courage to speak, act and lead, and to become who you are capable of becoming.

Formats

Keynote	45 to 60 min · 100 to 1,000+	Orientation, welcome week, athletics banquets, whole cohort events.
Workshop	90 min · 20 to 40	Varsity teams, student leaders, residence advisors, coaching staff.
Assembly	30 to 45 min · a whole grade	Middle and high schools, ages 11 to 18.
Online	15 min · on demand	A recorded session for students at 14, 16 and 18, hosted by LiNCHigher on The Future Focus.
Staff development	Half day · a staff room	For the people who spend their lives encouraging everyone else. Most recently the whole staff team at Winchelsea Primary, to start the new term.

Bring Luke to your campus See him in the room

Higher education · USA

Student athletes carrying the weight of performance and identity at the same time.

Elite sport · London

Young players in a system where almost none will make it. Delivered alongside Jody Morris.

Schools · Aberdeen

The first programme in Scotland, backed by local entrepreneur Jordan Ferguson.

Corporate · Wembley Stadium

Senior leaders on connection, performance and courageous leadership.

North America · 2027

For universities and colleges in the United States and Canada.

Luke tours North America in 2027. He has already worked with student athletes at Bates College in Maine. These are the rooms he is built for.

Orientation and welcome week

A keynote that sets the tone for a new class: identity, belonging, and what to do when the plan changes.

Athletics departments

For student athletes carrying performance and identity at the same time, from someone who lived the end of a career.

Student affairs and wellbeing

Workshops for student leaders, residence advisors and the staff who support them.

Leadership and careers

For students deciding who they want to become, not only what they want to do.

Tell us your dates and audience. No brief needed at this stage.

We plan the trip. Visits run five speaking days or fewer, and nearby campuses can share one visit.

Partners can fund it. A sponsor can fund a programme outright, so the host pays nothing.

Plan a 2027 visit

04 The book

Credo

A shy boy. A football. A butterfly in his pocket.

Stan loves football and cannot find the confidence to join in. A butterfly becomes his pocket friend. It is a story about friendship, kindness, single parent families, and what happens when somebody says the right six words to you. The illustrations move from monochrome into colour as Stan’s confidence grows.

Whilst this is a children’s book, it is relevant to all ages. My heart broke at Stan’s observation from the sidelines of school lunchtime football games.Linda’s Book Bag

Format: Illustrated hardback, 94 pages, sized to fit a blazer pocket
Audience: Interest age 7 to 12, reading age 8 and up
Illustration: Shaun Clark
Published: 31 October 2023, Bookworm of Retford
North America: Distribution in progress. Luke took Credo to the London Book Fair in March 2026 to meet international publishers.

Discover Credo Waterstones Amazon UK

The cover of Credo by Luke Staton: a butterfly, half monochrome and half colour, above a football on grass.

Luke Staton smiling at a wooden table, signing copies of Credo. — Signing Credo. The book goes where he goes.

The cover is where the colour arrives, and so does Stan.

★★★★★

My daughter, age ten, and I loved reading this together. A magical story about believing in yourself. Everyone needs a credo in their life.

Amazon UK · a parent and daughter

★★★★★

Many children remain hidden, unable to join in, and this is a story of inner strength and belief. I’m an adult reading this book and could relate to it.

M. Edwards · Verified purchase

★★★★★

A really lovely book, and one that should find a place in any home or school where a young person is struggling with shyness.

Linda’s Book Bag

Every review on Amazon UK is five stars. Read them.

Luke Staton with Anne, 84, who holds a copy of Credo.

Between rooms

“Life is a school of learning. The lessons don’t stop till you pop.”Anne, 84, still volunteering

Anne walked over while Luke was working and asked if she could say hello. They talked for over thirty minutes, and he went to his car to fetch her a copy of Credo. The more open we are to a conversation, the more connection we feel.

Read Luke’s post

05 Human performance

Three acts, told straight.

The work comes from one life, and he tells it plainly. That is why young athletes, students and senior teams all hear themselves in it.

Luke Staton as a teenager in an England youth shirt. — **Then**England youth. The shirt, before the ending.

Luke Staton speaking on stage at Theatre Royal Wakefield. — **Now**Theatre Royal Wakefield. What came after.

Act one

The academy

Signed as a teenager by Blackburn Rovers in their Premier League years, then Bolton Wanderers. England at youth level, on the Wembley pitch he had once watched from the stands on a ticket his teacher paid for.

Act two

The end

He never made the first team. It was over just as it got started, and this is where his life really began.

Act three

What came after

On the building site he kept thinking about an orphanage he had visited on a Blackburn Rovers trip to Eastern Europe. Children with nothing, who were happy. Twenty years of rebuilding followed: a book, a TEDx stage, a schools programme that has run for a decade, and a body of work about how a person does exactly that.

I fell massively short on my sporting career. Prouder of how I found the strength to start again. That was harder than any football match.Luke Staton

Act two, in his words

I went from playing with some of the greatest players in the country to laying bricks on a building site. Back at my mum’s place, in my old bedroom.Luke Staton

Where it comes from

At Wembley Stadium as a schoolboy, six words from his headmaster changed how he saw his future.

“That could be you one day.”

Luke has spent twenty years trying to be somebody else’s Mr Spencer. Mr Spencer is a character in Credo, and those same six words are what the boy in it is waiting for.

Luke Staton standing in front of a graffiti wall.

Where we start isn’t a choice. Where we finish is.

06 Film

See Luke in the room.

Moving through the audience, sharing the stage, giving other people space. Seventy seven seconds from Theatre Royal Wakefield.

TEDxDoncaster · TalkThe Child within, could they be our Inspiration?

ShortFrom shy to confident, the power of belief

ShortYou control your energy

In conversation

Interview · Mr Bedford PEBetter Players, Better People

Podcast · Fit DadsLuke Staton is back, and he’s here to inspire

From his TikTok · scroll sideways

@lukestaton11

Watch on TikTok

More short films on TikTok The FNTS podcast on Spotify

The live event

Inspire Beyond, Luke’s night at the theatre.

In September 2025 he stood on the Theatre Royal Wakefield stage in front of 750 students. Every student went home with a copy of Credo, and the day was free to schools, funded by sponsors, as the Dewsbury Reporter covered it. That day gave him the idea to build the same thing for adults. September 2026 was the third.

Moments to Shine. People from the audience get five minutes on the stage to share a dream in front of the room. That is the part nobody forgets.

Open the gallery

Current partners

Partnership means a brand puts a programme into schools, not a logo on a banner. Patrick has made football kit since 1892.

Luke Staton laughing with a guest on stage.

07 About

He isn’t performing a persona.

Luke Staton is a speaker, author and former Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers footballer who played for England at youth level. The career ended before it began. He rebuilt from there.

He has run his schools programme, Inspiring The Next Generation, since 2015. He is a TEDx speaker, the author of Credo and the host of the From Nowhere to Somewhere (FNTS) podcast. He is based in the United Kingdom and tours the United States and Canada in 2027.

I now dedicate my life to inspiring others to achieve their greatness, to help people go from where they are now to where they want to be.

Press

Where the work has been written about.

Articles, reviews and features, added as they are published. For media and PR, open the media kit.

Dewsbury ReporterWakefield theatre welcomes 750 students for a landmark day of inspiration with Luke StatonOct 2025 The Future Focus · LiNCHigherLuke Staton, motivational speaker: a 15 minute online session for students choosing their next stepE-learning From Nowhere to SomewhereLuke in conversation with Steve SallisPodcast Fit Dads PodcastLuke Staton is back, and he’s here to inspirePodcast Mr Bedford PEBetter Players Better People: Coaching, Connection, and Growth with Luke StatonInterview FatFace FoundationInspiring the Next Generation with Luke StatonPartnership Aberdeen LiveFormer Premier League footballer launches TED-talk style programme for Aberdeen youngsters2023 Linda’s Book BagCredo, reviewed2023 ISR International SchoolMotivational speaker and coach visits ISRNov 2024 · Germany Southwell & Nottingham MATChildren meet author and former footballer Luke StatonSchools Accrington & Rossendale CollegeLuke Staton welcomes new studentsFurther education

08 In their words

He came to our office three times for free to mentor and inspire our team. Today we are one of the largest HubSpot agencies in the world. He still leads our annual events.

Mark ByrneFounder, XGrowth · client of eight years

More voices

I broke down on a busy roundabout, late and dark. Luke turned round and came back, used his car to shield us, then sat with me until the RAC arrived. He still had presentations to prepare. I think that gives you an idea about his character.

Vernon HattonFinance Director, Ireland, learnd

He posed reflective questions, created a safe and respectful environment, and gave our group meaningful and tangible action points. His enthusiasm to push for better is contagious.

Sam DownerOperations Manager, Vita Health Group

He empowered everyone in the room, a group who were all strangers before the session, to stand up and present, speaking about their goals and aspirations.

Megan YoungProgramme Lead, EY Foundation

After session one I could already see a difference. After session three others started to see a transformation. From disengaged with school and low self esteem, to starting a project and absolutely nailing it.

Guy RatcliffeParent

Listening to Luke share his journey and the valuable life lessons he’s learned throughout his career was both inspiring and eye-opening.

Grade 11 studentISR International School on the Rhine, Germany

Luke attended the UK Universities Sales Competition as a motivational speaker. He did a phenomenal job of inspiring all of us students, and the judges.

Louise McClearyStudent, UK Universities Sales Competition 2024

What a legend you are Luke. What an amazing event yesterday. What you bring to this world is so wonderful, please never stop.

Richie O’BrienInspire Beyond audience

Just wow, I have no words, it was absolutely incredible. Coming into my life was incredibly worthwhile and I have taken away loads.

ShabeenaInspire Beyond audience

I still can’t quite believe I was there. There were so many inspiring stories and such remarkable people, and I was honoured to be among them.

Milla MykolayivnaInspire Beyond audience

Twenty four recommendations on LinkedIn, from 2012 to 2025. Read them all.

09 Enquire

On tour, 2027.

The United States and Canada. Dates and sponsorship are open now. How a visit works.

Start a conversation

Tell us about your room.

Two minutes. Gaby looks after Luke’s bookings. If you prefer email, write to gaby@lukestaton.com.

No brief needed. Tell us the audience, the room and the change you want to create. To reach Luke directly: luke@lukestaton.com. Journalists: the media kit.