Having graduated from the BA (Hons) Football Business & Marketing programme this year, Sam Heason has secured a full-time role as Supporter Marketing Executive at Oxford United FC. Here, he tells us about what the job involves and how his time at UCFB Wembley set him up for it…

Tell us about your role as Supporter Marketing Executive at Oxford United and what it entails.

Due to the size of club, my role as Supporter Marketing Executive at Oxford United has a pretty broad scope and covers everything from match day communications to full marketing campaigns, such as season ticket renewals and kit launches. We work very closely with other departments and players within the club as a large part of the role is conveying the information they would like to portray in an exciting and engaging way.

More specifically, my role predominantly focuses on email marketing and content creation but varies considerably between on and off season. During the season there’s plenty of pre-match information to distribute and match day content to post, whereas during the summer months, such as now, we are focussing on kit launches, season ticket renewals and transfer news. Anything the public can see from Oxford United has probably come through our marketing team at some stage.

How did you land the role?

I started at Oxford United six months prior to landing the role as Supporter Marketing Executive. My lecturer, Andy Paterson, posted an advert for the position of a six-month internship at the club on his LinkedIn during my final year at UCFB. I spent the six months working at the club and, even though we were in and out of lockdown during that time, I hit the ground running with not only the role but also many people at the club. At the end of my internship the club were pleased with my progress and, after thoroughly enjoying it myself, they offered me a full-time position as a Supporter Marketing Executive.

What have been some of the highlights at Oxford United so far?

It’s hard to pick just one as there’s been so many but for me, the biggest highlight was being involved with the Oxford United Poppy Shirt give away. We wanted to celebrate the unsung heroes of the pandemic by giving away a handful of signed limited edition Oxford United Poppy shirts to people that had been nominated by others for the great work they had been doing. We had nearly 400 nominations and reading them all was amazing. Each of the winners were unaware that they had been nominated and so being part of surprising them with the shirt over Zoom, and then again when we introduced them to one of the first team players, was special.

Being part of the season ticket launch was also a great experience for me. Although we outsourced the physical filming of our launch video, we played a vital role in choosing and designing the overall aesthetic of the video which included the use of fans from the age of six to 96. The planning leading up to the day and the day of filming was a learning curve for me and talking with the supporters, players, and film crew was a great experience in understanding how much time and effort goes into producing even a short five-minute clip for social media.

What have you brought into the role from your BA (Hons) Football Business & Marketing programme?

My Football Business & Marketing course provided me with the knowledge of marketing which I could then use to gain practical experience within the area. An example of this would be using CRM systems. Within my course we learnt a lot about the use of CRM systems and the advantages of having a detailed CRM system to store users’ information in order to tailor information specific to them. This allowed me to convert this knowledge into practical experience as now I use our CRM system every day in order to ensure that the information I am sending out to supporters is relevant for them. You don’t want season ticket renewal information if you’ve never been a season ticket holder.

How did you find your time at UCFB?

The final 15 months of my course were spent in a pandemic so it has thrown numerous obstacles in the way for everyone, but the support I’ve had throughout has enabled me to achieve more than I thought I was capable of. The guest speaker sessions I’ve attended, both in person and online, have allowed me to gain an insight into a variety of roles within football and have made me develop a greater understanding of the skills and knowledge needed to achieve within the industry.

Prior to coming to UCFB, I was unsure about going to university as I wasn’t the most academic and didn’t think that it would be for me, but I can safely say that my three years at UCFB have forced me to become more resilient and have made me realise that football is the industry that I want to be in. The importance of networking has become more apparent and UCFB have supported me in this, enabling me to realise that the greater variety of people you know, the more doors open and the more knowledge you can gain.

What are your career aspirations in the future?

The role has cemented the idea that the football industry is right for me and for the time being I’m going to enjoy every moment I have within the marketing side of things. Marketing allows you to have fun and do things a bit differently, which is why I enjoy it so much. Personally, I’d like to climb the footballing pyramid but ultimately in a role surrounding player care and team operations. This role is something I didn’t know existed a few years ago but after searching through roles that might interest me, I found the role of Player Liaison and working closely with the players to ensure that they can focus on their footballing ability instead of the highs and lows of being a professional footballer. This is where I aspire to get to.

What advice do you have to anyone looking to study at UCFB through the clearing process?

Take the opportunity. I think that goes with everything you do – including throughout higher education. There’s going to be so many opportunities and some you may look at and think ‘I can’t do that’ or ‘it’s too hard’, but you never know what that opportunity could turn into or who you might meet along the way. I worked full time for six months unpaid and the hard work paid off but that was all because I took the opportunity. The opportunities are there but it’s up to you to take them; you never know where they might lead.