Football editor at BBC Sport on why Manchester is the perfect place to study sport

The football editor of BBC Sport has been speaking about why Greater Manchester is a fantastic place to study sport.

Alice McKeegan, on a visit to UCFB Manchester, spoke to us about why she thinks the region is “the capital of football.”

Alice began her life in media as a Greater Manchester local news reporter for the Rochdale Observer, before moving to the Manchester Evening News in 2009.

Working as a reporter and then news editor, she became head of sport after seven years at the newspaper.

After nearly 15 years at the MEN, she moved across Manchester to MediaCityUK where she joined BBC as a commissioning producer before going on to become football editor in 2025.

“Well, I’m probably biased,” she said, “because I’m from the Greater Manchester region but I have always said that Manchester is the capital of football. We’re known not just in this country for football but globally.

“Manchester United are obviously a storied institution but also Manchester City are now, in global terms, in terms of their recent success, and also their history.

“And so, in terms of being a journalist based in Manchester, it’s an incredible place to learn an incredible place to work, because you do have two of the biggest clubs in the world.

“So yeah, I am biased, but I just love Manchester. And it’s a great city with great people as well.”

UCFB Manchester offers students a full grasp on one of the top sporting and student-focused cities in the world.

With facilities dedicated to our unique degrees’ needs, such as our Belle Vue facility for coaching students and Quay Plaza for media students, on the doorstep of MediaCityUK, UCFB Manchester spreads out across a compact but culturally rich part of the UK.

Find out more about this unique campus and all it offers our students aiming to forge their dream career in sport.

Want to study in Manchester as early as this September? Apply to UCFB through Clearing and take the first step towards your dream career in football and sport.