Not many people are fortunate enough to say they work at one of the biggest sporting institutions in the world, but UCFB graduate Alice Birch certainly can.

Marrying her hard work and ambition with an invaluable degree and an armful of work placements, Alice has landed the role of Sponsorship Operations Assistant at Premier League giants Manchester United.

Based at the club’s London office, Alice’s role, though mostly confidential, comprises of helping to bring in sponsorship and partnership deals for the club from all over the world. With the club being a huge global brand, Alice’s days are invariably busy.

She graduated from UCFB in 2016 from the BA (Hons) Football Business & Marketing programme and has already fulfilled a lifelong ambition to work at a football club.

With further ambitions of one day being a Chief Executive at a leading football club, Alice cites West Ham United’s Vice-Chair Karren Brady as an inspiration and wants to see more women involved in the elite levels of the game.

Alice said: “There’s not as many women as I think there should be doing these [business] roles, but my boss at United is a woman and the office is divided which I found very interesting as I thought there would be a lot of men. But whether it’s the design team or the operations team, there is a 50/50 divide which is good to see.”

She added: “Whether it’s here at United or at UCFB, women really support eachother and push eachother to be the best we can.”

Alice’s time at UCFB saw her take part in a number of work placement roles to boost her CV, something UCFB actively promote amongst its students. Roles for The Football Association at St. George’s Park and working at a summer camp for UK Learning Centre saw Alice take on board the advice and skills learnt at UCFB.

Going forward, Alice feels the game needs educated individuals capable of running and managing football clubs to avoid the financial pitfalls seen by many British clubs over recent years.

Alice added: “I think people need to be educated and that’s why UCFB is such a great place to study, because you get that experience. I know I have to work my way up the ladder and I know I have to prove myself, and maybe work at different clubs and in different departments.

 “I know there is a lot to learn. I learn something new every day, and football is an industry that changes on a daily basis.”