In The Hot Seat: UCFB Sports Broadcasting lecturer David Johnson

UCFB lecturer David Johnson is the latest guest of our ‘In The Hot Seat’ podcast series, talking about his career not just at UCFB but also in the world of sports media.

David is a lecturer at UCFB Manchester in BA (Hons) Sports Business and Sports Broadcasting, and joined us to chat through his achievements in the specialised field.

He spoke about starting out in media at Liverpool Live before going on to covering competitions such as World Cups, European Championships and Olympic Games.

Speaking about the highlights of his career, he said: “I mean, the World Cup Final in Qatar. That was my fourth World Cup.

“It’s a very, very competitive world. You’re up against world-renowned international broadcasters. So, it was nice to finally get the opportunity to work on the final.

“But my overarching memory is probably Barcelona vs Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final in 2002.

“99,500 people in the venue. It’s still the biggest ever Champions League game attendance. And I’m pitchside, running the venue from a broadcast perspective.

“But it kicked off late by about 90 seconds. And that was my fault, because I was taking it in as a fan. I was just, Wow, this is just like being in the Colosseum, or what I can imagine what it was like.”

With decades of experience in the industry, David then spoke about why he chose to take up an academic role at UCFB.

“It just fell right,” he said. “I’d come off the back of working on the Qatar World Cup. I’d achieved a lifetime’s ambition, working on the World Cup Final in broadcast.

“I was the only British person working on it from the host broadcaster’s perspective, though.  I just found it really disappointing and actually slightly embarrassing that there were no other Brits involved. And so I’m thinking we need to raise the bar a bit further than it currently is.

“That was my remit, and hopefully I’m delivering on that. We’ve got people who have graduated that now are solidly working in the industry full time.

“Others were gone freelance, so hopefully it’s proven the point. And going forward with having a brand-new studio here in Manchester, it will only get better at UCFB.”

He then finished by offering advice for people wanting that career in sports broadcasting.

“I think the key thing is to find something you’re either really good at or become experts in, even if it’s not the area you may not want to do.

“But I also think you’ve got to value yourself. So even as students, get those placements, by all means, and do some work experience. And what the great thing here is, the Employability and Career Planning Team do a broad range of things.

“And I think generally it’s to try and act as a sponge. You’ve got to always have that burning desire to want to get better and improve and keep learning, and that’s why I love working on the major events because you work with people you can still learn from.

“And people look up to you as well. But the point is, even after all these years, it’s great to turn up and learn something new.”

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