New QPR boss Michael Beale held first training session in church hall

New Queens Park Rangers boss Michael Beale began his coaching career in a room with a pew – and only three kids turned up.

Hiring his local church hall in Bromley for £32 an hour, with the chairs all pushed aside to make an indoor futsal arena, Beale had to absorb a substantial loss when there weren't enough takers at £4 a head to make even a five-a-side team.

But Beale, whose sessions soon gained traction and caught Chelsea's attention, went on to work with Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti and Jurgen Klopp before QPR persuaded Aston Villa to release manager Steven Gerrard's highly-rated assistant earlier this month. Now one of the most enlightened home-grown coaches, who even worked for a season with Sao Paulo in Brazil – because he wanted to test himself abroad and learn a new language – is ready for the muck and nettles of the Championship at Loftus Road.

Beale, 41, said: “Yes, I started coaching in a church hall – I was always intrigued by futsal and the Brazilian soccer school way of teaching skills. But only three kids turned up to the first session, so I was at a massive deficit straight away.

“Back in 2002, it was £32 an hour to hire the hall and £4 a kid, so it wasn't the best business plan at first, but fortunately it kicked on from there. It led to me being offered a job at Chelsea within six months because Damian Matthew, who is joining the management team here as one of my assistants, gave me my first job there.

“Within a year I was working with the Under-9s, Under-10s and I spent 10 years there in total up to Under-14s. I went to Liverpool in 2012 to head up the Under-15s and within two months I'd become assistant reserve team manager as well.”

After four years at Anfield, as part of Jurgen Klopp's