Football Business Master's cohort have been assessing fans’ experience at a National League club, as their most recent module is focusing on improving the matchday experience for fans at football grounds.
The students visited Boundary Park, home of Oldham Athletic, where they assessed the matchday experience for fans via the website, social media and the game itself, looking at it from each stands’ perspective.
The opportunity for students to get the first-hand experience came about through Callum Irving, a UCFB graduate who is now the media officer at the OAFC Community Trust.
Students attended a matchday, and were split up into three sub-groups, with each assessing every touch point from initially going onto the website, to leaving the car park at the end of the game.
Students were then invited back to Boundary Park, where they presented their findings to Oldham Athletic’s CEO, head of community and to Callum.
Programme leader Darren Bernstein said: “Students were able to provide a deep understanding of the operational side of a matchday and how the processes utilised by the club could be improved to assist with improving the experiences and importantly lead to an increase in secondary spend on a matchday.
“Students were able to develop analytical skills, implementation in a football context of the seven Ps of marketing, and importantly key experience in presenting to senior officials of a professional football club, ensuring that they are ready to enter the industry on graduation.
“The students did us proud and were fantastic. The CEO was really impressed with the level of detail and their understanding of the issues.
“Definitely a worthwhile exercise and one to repeat next year.”
To find out more about the partnership between UCFB and the National League, click here.
