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Independent MindsSo you think you are going to manage Manchester United? Make multi-million pound transfer deals, enter into complicated player contract negotiations and travel the world watching your favourite team pick up silverware? Or do you simply want to spend time kicking a ball around a field for three years and pick up a degree at the end of it? If any of these are reasons why you are thinking of studying football, think again!
If, on the other hand, you want to take a good look at the inside of a football club or are interested in marketing, crowd management, football coaching or sports development, or if you would like to manage one of the various essential centres of operation that make up a football club such as corporate hospitality, conferencing and banqueting, bars and catering, retail operations, club lotteries or match day duties, then read on.
The study of Leisure Management or Sports Industry Management and Football Studies to degree level can open doors in the direction of all of the above. Such programmes few and far between at UK universities also give you an opportunity to develop the transferable skills that are essential to employment throughout the leisure and sport industry. My involvement is within the two football-related programmes offered at Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College (BCUC).
The programmes are split into three parts. First, the football-specific elements, the same whether you take the Sports Industry or Leisure Management course, include the following modules:
Football Development in the Community An opportunity to study how football is delivered to all participants through liaison between such bodies as local authority sports development departments, schools, sports clubs and football clubs among others. In addition, this module allows each student the chance to gain their FA Coach's award and full Refereeing Certification
Football Club Management and Operations Delivered by Wycombe Wanderers Football Club, this module gives students an opportunity to look at how a football club works from the inside. Areas covered include an overview of the sources of finance, including all forms of commercial income, areas of operation, marketing campaigns, club costs and media relations. In particular, students run their own football marketing schemes, analyse the effects of a successful cup run and discuss decisions to buy the most vital commodity;the players
International Football Management The international juggernaut that is world football is the subject of this module. Subjects included here include global football branding and relationships between the sport, media organisations and multi-national corporations. Other subjects include the positioning of international competitions such as the World Cup, their economic impact and the organisation of club tours
Safety and Crowd Management A comprehensive look at the design of stadia and the arrangements needed to ensure the safety of large numbers of people within a confined space. Such arrangements include police liaison, the organisation of stewards and the use of technology such as booking systems and closed circuit television
Second, the football-related courses at BCUC incorporate management modules. Whether you are going make it as successful football player, organise elements of a football club or seek employment in the leisure industry in general, you will need to study management subjects. Even David Beckham needs to understand what his financial advisers are telling him! With this in mind, whether you are studying Leisure Management or Sports Industry Management, you undertake straight management subjects such as information analysis, finance and human resource management and sports marketing.
Third, we teach sports science. Some people will be interested in the production of the football player, the treatment of injuries or the analysis of sporting performance and thus may wish to go on to study for positions such as sports nutritionist, sports psychologist, fitness coach or even physiotherapist. In such cases, subjects studied include introduction to sports science, exercise physiology, movement analysis and sports psychology, leading towards the Sports Industry programme rather than the Leisure Management degree.
How do I get involved?
You must start with an interest in football! Are you a player already? Do you play to a good standard? Alternatively, do you already work for a football organisation? Do you work in a club shop or coach a youth team? Have you worked with your local authority sports development department or organised any school sports events? If so, you are the type of person who could be suitable for this course.Tell me more!
For information on the
two football-related degrees at BCUC, contact: Mark Readman by email at: Mark.Readman@bcuc.ac.uk or call 01494 522141
Visit the BCUC website at: www.bcuc.ac.uk
Other football-related degree programmes are offered at Liverpool John Moores University, tel. 0151 231 5090, and Doncaster College, tel. 01302 553 610.