BA (Hons) Football Business & Marketing student Sufian Alam has landed a role at one of this season’s great Premier League’s success stories – Brentford FC. Eager to soak up the palpable excitement and adrenaline at the club, his role as Supporter Liaison Officer gives Sufian one of the best seats in the house. Here, he shares how he secured the role and his favourite moments with the club so far…

Tell us about your role at Brentford and how you landed it.

At Brentford I work as a Supporter Liaison Officer and have also done work as an Area Leader, taking charge of a team situated in a certain section of the stadium. The role mainly consists of making myself available to supporters and ensuring that should they have any questions that I can help and answer them. Having done this for both Brentford FC and London Irish matches, it has been interesting to see how a stadium handles supporters from football and rugby differently. It is certainly more regimented for the football supporters.

I found this role using the UCFB JobTeaser page. Having had a meeting with the UCFB careers team I managed to build an effective CV and cover letter. The tools the team sent me to help write my cover letter assisted very well when I began creating it. The careers team were very helpful and efficient; I was able to book and attend a meeting on the same day.

After Brentford’s brilliant start, what have been your personal highlights so far?

Personally, it must be the Liverpool match. As a Liverpool fan I was hoping for a better result, however the atmosphere in and around the stadium from both sets of fans was electric and the noise is something I’ll never forget.

What have you taken into the role from your time at UCFB?

I think UCFB has really helped in building my ability to get my name out there. Networking at UCFB is essential because you never really know who may have an opportunity that you’re interested in. I talk to a lot of people whilst working at Brentford, and there are always opportunities to get my name heard by new people.

What is the atmosphere at the club like given their electric start in their first season in the Premier League?

The Bees are buzzing right now, that’s for sure! The atmosphere around the club is brilliant. All the supporters that I have spoken to have been really enjoying this adventure in the Premier League, especially since they weren’t able to watch their team for a while due to the pandemic. Hopefully nothing changes with the atmosphere as it’s a pleasure to work in the environment the club has worked very hard to create.

Previously to this, you were a Marketing Assistant at WD Sportz. How did you find this role and how did your degree help you in it?

I found this role through a friend at UCFB, although I still had to send my CV over and have an interview. My role mostly consisted of website editing and making sure the website was updated with current events in the footballing world.

The website was built using WordPress and although I hadn’t used that software before I had used other website building software’s like WIX as a part of my digital marketing module in my second year. This module set me up very well for my role and made the acclimatisation period very smooth. I was able to look out for things on the website that made the user experience less friendly and change them to boost the click retention on the site.

How have you found your time at UCFB so far?

I’ve really enjoyed my time at UCFB so far but it hasn’t been without difficulty. Having just two in-person lectures during my second year due the pandemic was not ideal, especially as I find it much harder to engage in the work from behind a computer screen. It also put a stop to the UCFB rugby team for 18 months, but the team is all back together again with some fresh faces and ready for our first game next week.

What advice would you pass on to anyone looking to study at UCFB?

My best piece of advice would be simply to get involved as much as possible. I’ve learnt that in the sports industry it’s who you know, not what you know, when you’re trying to find your feet. Studying at Wembley Stadium you never know who you’re going to meet and so being ready to introduce yourself is always a massive help.

Furthermore, apps like LinkedIn are vital to networking and finding out what roles are out there, as well as forming professional relationships with others in the industry.