As a BA (Hons) International student, Anna Chapman has eagerly embraced the work placements on offer at UCFB, having gained experience in football, basketball and a sports agency. Here, she tells us about her time studying at Wembley so far, what she’s enjoyed most and why she supports Arsenal FC…

Tell us about your role as Social Media Assistant at Aylesford FC and what you get up to.

Although I have only recently started in my role at Aylesford FC, I have been quite busy! My role hasn’t fully developed as of the time I’m writing this, but I primarily organise and schedule posts about the various Aylesford teams on their social media accounts. This includes content that you would expect to see from a football team, such as match results or promotion on youth sessions.

Aylesford FC have also recently announced the construction of a brand new 3G community sports pitch in the village, with the build only having started recently! I will certainly be trying to promote this as much as possible, as something like this is great to get as many people as possible in the community involved with football!

What have you brought into the role from your BA (Hons) International Football Business degree?

The module in marketing that I studied in my first year has certainly helped in terms of how to apply certain strategies on social media to have lots of views and engagement with the post. Whilst studying for my degree, I have also learnt that time management is invaluable and that it is very important to find a balance between your work and social life.

You’ve also worked at Sevenoaks Suns Basketball Club. How did you find that experience and what have you gained from working across different sports?

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Sevenoaks Suns – they are a fantastic basketball club and allowed me to test new features on social media platforms that hadn’t been used before at the club, such as Instagram Reels, which proved to be a success!

There are some obvious differences of working across different sports but I believe that the core ideas of posting on social media are the same. Personally, I have found that fans interact most with posts directly linked to the teams, such as game scores or team news. However, if short and engaging, game highlights and tournament information posts have proven to be a success as well.

How have you found your time at UCFB so far?

My time at UCFB has been great – I can’t believe that I’m in my final year already! Although online learning due to COVID has been difficult, we’ve all done our best to adapt to it as it is new for everyone.

I have also had the chance to develop numerous transferable skills whilst at university, including some obvious ones such as time management, research, organisation, and networking as well as self-motivation and confidence in my work and ideas. Having a view of the Wembley Stadium pitch from your lecture room is also a bonus…

What’s your favourite thing about your course?

My favourite thing about my course is the opportunity to learn about multiple sectors of the industry, such as stadium management, finance, marketing, and the wider international football business industry. The core principles of each module can be applied to any sport as well, not just football.

Why do you love football?

My dad was the one who really got me into football, and I support Arsenal because of him. Growing up throughout primary and secondary school there still wasn’t much of an opportunity for girls to play football personally, so I really enjoyed watching the games every weekend with him (which we still do to this day). It’s a sport that brings people together no matter their background, age, or gender because I think it’s a game full of excitement and anticipation – there’s hardly a boring moment.

What advice would you give to anyone looking to study at UCFB?

Make sure you study the degree that you want to study – UCFB offers plenty of degrees so choose one that you feel like you could excel in or one that would interest you. Try not to get discouraged over coursework or exam grades as there’s a huge support network and you can always talk to course mates, friends, or lecture and seminar tutors for advice.

Finally, make it a goal to try new things – make use of the UCFB JobTeaser site and engage in as many talks as you can. There’s also a work experience sector of the site which is invaluable – I’ve gained two previous work experiences from networking after talks and applying for jobs via JobTeaser!