“Probably the best decision I have made” – Welsh graduates discuss their careers after UCFB 

We caught up with two UCFB alumni who have returned to their native Wales since graduating to work on the football television programme, Sgorio.

The show, run by production company Rondo Media, is a Welsh-language show covering all things Welsh football, meaning the UCFB graduates work on such competitions as the Cymru Premier, as well as Welsh teams in European competitions and the Welsh national teams.

The graduates, both of whom work as social media coordinators for Sgorio, are:

• Tomos Wyn Jones – BA (Hons) Multimedia Sports Journalism
• Meilyr Williams – BA (Hons) Football Business and Media

“The role,” Meilyr said, “consists of running all the social media accounts, as well as a lot of graphic design work, and also we get to go out and film for when we have live games.”

Tomos added: “It’s busy throughout the season, and when the season’s off, we have international games, such as the Women’s Euros and European tournaments, too.”

Both spoke about how great an opportunity this was for them to gain a career in the growing industry which is Welsh football.

“It’s a developing industry here in Wales,” Meilyr said, “and I think the main thing for me is the use of the Welsh language. Welsh is my first language, but we’re bilingual as well, so a lot of the content we put out is in Welsh and English.

“I think it’s great for us being Welsh to be able to use our language and promote Welsh football in the same way.”

Speaking about his time studying at UCFB, Tomos said: “I live in a very rural area, so moving to a big city like Manchester was quite daunting, but it was probably the best decision I made.

“I made connections, fantastic friends and went on to volunteering. With our lecturers, the push was to get experience in order to succeed in the industry.”

He finished: “Put in the hours. They are long hours, and you might have to work for free for a while, but it’ll all be worth it as long as you work hard and be dedicated to what you want to do.”

Learn more about the many undergraduate degree courses UCFB offers, all tailored to the sports industry.

You can find out more about the wide-ranging career paths our graduates take after gaining a degree from UCFB.