A UCFB graduate has landed his first full-time role in football shortly after finishing his studies at UCFB, as media and communications officer at Grimsby Town.

Ed Simpson has just graduated from UCFB with a degree in BA (Hons) Multimedia Sports Journalism at our Manchester Campus.

Gaining more than three years of industry experience alongside his studies, Ed worked in the media department at National League clubs Guiseley AFC and FC Halifax Town.

Speaking about his new role, he said: “The role consists of a lot of types of media in terms of planning, posting, producing and connecting external media to the football club.

“I was fortunate enough to be given the chance at my previous club to try all these types of media, so for me to be able to come into Grimsby and hit the ground running and continuing what I had already previously done was a real bonus for me.

“When I moved away from Manchester and back to Hull in July, I was instantly determined to land a full-time job in football media within a year. To be able to say I achieved that in less than six months is incredible.”

When asked about his time at UCFB, he said: “I enjoyed my time at UCFB for many different reasons, I think the main one being the chance to explore and become an independent person by moving away to a different city completely by myself.

“UCFB helped me in settling into a new city and then gave me the tools to be able to put in three years of dedicated work and be able to say I’m a UCFB graduate at the end of it.

“UCFB being in its own category really sold it for me, knowing I was going to be studying alongside other students wanting to achieve the exact same goals as well.”

He added: “You don’t achieve a degree by being lazy and passive, you have to go out and put in a lot of work and I think employers will see that when applying for jobs.

“You need to learn off people that already work in the industry as they know the ins and outs, they can shape you into being a better person and employee and that’s exactly what happened for me.

“The opportunities I was given gave me everything I’ve needed to go out into the world to get a job full time.”

He finished: “Never take your foot off the gas when it comes to striving to achieve. If you want to achieve something in sports media, it’s more than possible as long as you have the patience but determination to see it through.

“Start off by doing voluntary work in the game, and by then you will build up your own worth, experience and credibility within the years and before you know it you will have landed a role you’ll have dreamed for.”

To find out more about UCFB’s industry partners who offer our students so much work experience alongside their studies, click here.

You can also score your career goals by viewing a UCFB prospectus here.