UCFB Wembley students were recently treated to an exclusive guest speaker session from Premier League Director of Communications, Dan Johnson, including insight into Dan’s colourful career and how he eventually ended up working for the Premier League after many years in the industry.
We caught up with Dan after the lecture to find out his thoughts about UCFB and see what advice he had for our students.
If you had to give one piece of advice to aspiring sport professionals, what would it be?
My advice would be to get involved in as many different things as possible as an aspiring sport professional. If you are looking to go down the sport communications route then I would suggest you train yourself to write in a variety of styles. Being versatile is a great quality to have in this industry.
What are some of the key challenges you have come across in sport and more specifically, the Premier League?
From a communications perspective, the main challenge within sport is getting yourself heard and noticed by others. Learning how to do that in a digital age is one of the main challenges as it’s such a competitive market.
What key traits would you look for in someone wanting to work within your industry?
The key traits for me would be enthusiasm, a broad base of knowledge, the ability to write well and different interests outside of sport.
What are your impressions of UCFB?
It’s a great setup here and it’s been fantastic to meet all the students who asked some excellent questions. That made the session really interesting. I think the new campus in Manchester at the Etihad Stadium will be a great place for students to study, especially with it being such an iconic venue. I’m sure it will be very inspirational.
