Students flock to St George’s Park for 2023 UCFB Future Leaders Conference

Dozens of students travelled to ‘The Home of England’ St George’s Park, for the 2023 UCFB Future Leaders Conference.

The conference was well attended as the students, from both Wembley and Manchester campuses, listened and networked with professionals from across the sports industry.

These guests included former Premier League footballer, turned pundit and TV presenter, Dion Dublin.

Other guest speakers included:

• Kevin Sanders – elite sports and partnerships account manager in the operations department at St Georges Park
• Liam Gill – St. George’s Park marketing manager
• Daniel Simpson – game insights analyst at the FA, and Ian Bateman – FA youth coach developer at The FA
• Jeremy Stone, director of Legal Williams Racing
• Jamie Cox – director of cricket and operations at Marylebone Cricket Club
• Holly Crane – strategy and insights at England Rugby

Students began the day with some inter-campus networking, before being taken on a tour of the £105m facility, where all 23 England teams train.

The tour included the museum, seeing artefact such as Sir Geoff Hurst’s top from the 1966 FIFA World Cup Final.

They also got to see around the state-of-the-art indoor and outdoor pitches, changing rooms, the gym and the educational classrooms within the park.

Daniel Simpson said: “I think events like the Future Leaders Conference are very important, as it gives the people an understanding of what it is like in the real world, and the knowledge they gain can be used in a practical setting.”