Shrewsbury Town CEO looks back on time studying at UCFB

A UCFB graduate has been talking about how his Executive Education qualification helps him in his role as CEO of a football club.

Liam Dooley, who is chief executive officer for Shrewsbury Town, studied on UCFB and VSI Executive Education’s CEO of a Sports Organisation course.

Liam, who was already working in football at the time of his studying, said: “I think that taking yourself away from a work capacity, because football’s all you’re living and breathing, taking those two days a month away from your day-to-day life was really good.

He added: “The biggest thing for me actually was a network of people that have come across.

“I’m here today with Chris Millard from the Barmy Army, who has become one of my really close friends from being on the course two or three years ago.

“And what I find in football now is meeting with a ticketing provider who was on the course. There’s so many times that you pick up the phone now and you’re speaking to people that you’ve met on the course.

“I think that network of people is the thing I took most out of the course itself.”

Prior to becoming CEO at Shrewsbury Town, Liam worked as chief operating officer at Sheffield Wednesday, the club he has supported all his life.

“It was difficult,” he said, “because I love the club. I still do, I always will, from being a supporter on the terrace from five years old to still a supporter now.

“But what I would say is as soon as you stop working for the football club, you still have got that deep down.

“But you don’t think about anything other than the club that you’re in. So I go to bed thinking about Shrewsbury Town now and wake up thinking about how to improve Shrewsbury Town.

“I couldn’t tell you who the Wednesday squad is anymore because of… You’re all encompassed in the role that you’re in.

“What I would say,” he added, “is because where I’m from, there’s a lot of Sheffield Wednesday fans, it was difficult because you’d get to doing something with your friends on a weekend and they’d be moaning that this wasn’t quite right.

“My pie was cold, my beer was warm. And you’ve got to try and answer that question and then try and switch off.

“Whereas what I quite like now is being at a club that I don’t necessarily live and spend all my time away from.

“When I come to events like today, people go, “How’s Shrewsbury?” That’s the end of the conversation. Whereas when you go back home and it’s something that your friends are involved in, it’s difficult to take yourself away from that environment.”

Speaking about the role of a chief operating officer, Liam said: “You can be the head chef and the bottle wash at the same time.

“You’re literally running around doing one thing at a high level; the next minute you’ve got a supporter moaning about bird muck on seats.

“You’ve got to be all things to all people, and you work hard, you work long hours, but you’re surrounded by people, usually in football, that work for the badge, that give it everything they’ve got.

“They’re usually underpaid, but they always work as hard as they possibly can because usually they bleed for the colours that they work for.”

He finished by offering advice for people wanting a career in football.

“Ask questions and ask to take on more responsibility,” he said. “Whether that’s coming in and doing unpaid voluntary work to get an internship, that’s what clubs value because not many football clubs have got the money to throw at.

“When you’re in that position, ask for more because there’s always somebody above you that’s doing more than they need to do and will welcome the help.

“From my own perspective, as I’ve gone up the ladder, it’s been me asking for more responsibility that’s helped me.

“Ask the questions. Don’t be silent. If there’s an opportunity to do something, take it.

“You might be good at it, you might be bad at it, but you’ll learn from it. So always ask to do more is my advice.”

Do you want a career in football and sport? Take a look at UCFB’s wide range of industry-focused degree courses, looking at fields from sports media and business and coaching and science.

You can also learn all about our range of Executive Education courses, for those wanting to become future executives of the sports industry.