Business students take trip to Home of English Football League

Our Manchester-based MSc Football Business cohort took a trip to Preston, and were shown around the home of the English Football League, EFL House.

The trip to EFL House was organised by lecturer Darren Bernstein, who took the students to listen from several heads of departments on the visit.

Talks on the day included:

• Head of equality, diversity and inclusivity
• Head of financial control
• Head of club reporting
• Senior data analyst manager
• Head of competitions and events
• Football operations manager

UCFB also has four alumni, currently working at The EFL, who also dropped in to talk to the students.

One of the students who went on the trip was Georgia Hill. She said: “We had the opportunity to listen to different heads of departments discussing how games are scheduled and the justification of why they are that way.

“With the finance, we learned about how each team benefits from Premier League parachute payments and how further income can be generated to increase revenue for both the EFL and clubs.

Students also learned about “the accountability that is put on clubs with regard to equality, discrimination and inclusivity in that they are fined should their own fans be discriminatory and how they have to keep to bronze, silver or gold standards of practice and are therefore rewarded and commended for the EDI of their club.”

Another thing that was spoken about was “how important data and analytics is and that every club in the EFL has access to a portal where team sheets/squad lists/play info is stored and therefore monitored on playing time, performance, goal contributions etc.”

Georgia added: “I am really enjoying my time at UCFB. The course and opportunities have been so much more than I thought they would be!

“It has given me a real-life view of what it would be like to work in the sports industry, and ultimately has helped me secure a job at the Oxfordshire FA.

“I have gained confidence in myself and knowledge in the sport I love to take it into hopefully a long career!”