A UCFB student has been talking us through his placement role as commercial executive at National League side Southend United.

Rylee Doe, who studies BA (Hons) Football Business and Marketing at UCFB Wembley, is gaining vital sports industry experience alongside his studies in the commercial department at the Shrimpers.

UCFB has a proud partnership with the National League, who invite students from both UCFB Wembley and Manchester to work at the league’s 54 clubs while studying for their degrees.

Speaking about his role, Rylee said: “I originally reached out to the club to help out in the media/marketing department and spent my first year writing articles for the website and looking after the club's Instagram on a matchday, as well as the occasional match report.

“At the end of my first year, I asked to move over to the commercial department because I've always had an interest in business and negotiations. Within a week of joining, I was able to bring on board Gilbert & Rose as a main club partner. My manager then offered me a paid role where I've been since and have loved every second.

“Moving over to the commercial department has been a real blessing, and helped me affirm my passion for a career in sports.”

“As part of this role, my main responsibility is to bring on board local and regional businesses as club partners to help boost our revenue streams and foster better relationships in the community.

“Once we've brought the businesses on board, it's also my job to make sure they are kept happy, and are seeing a return on their considerable investments.

“I'm also responsible for growing our Blues Business Club networking events, which has grown from just over 30 representatives on our first event to over 140 at our last event.

“I also look after all of our hospitality at the club, and ensure all supporters have a seamless experience when upgrading their matchday to one of our lounges.”

He added: “One highlight from my time at Southend was organising our recent 'An Evening with The Consortium' at our local theatre.

“As the club enters a new era, perhaps the most exciting in its history, we know the importance of rebuilding a relationship with our greatest asset, the fans.

“A lot of hard work went into the event, because we all knew it was the first chance supporters would have hearing from the incoming custodians and it all paid off with a faultless evening, and over 1,300 Shrimpers in attendance- more than the average league attendance of half the teams in our league!”

When asked his time at university so far, he said: “I think the best thing about studying at UCFB is the passion shown from lecturers. Not only are these people hugely experienced in their fields and knowledgeable, the passion shown during lectures or seminars makes you want to try a little bit harder each time and impress as much as possible.

“Being able to transfer skills into a workplace environment has also been enjoyable. In our second year, when tasked with running a charitable event, we combined my connections at Southend and held a sportsman's dinner, hosted by former Liverpool and England striker Stan Collymore whilst raising over £4,000 for the Justin Edinburgh 3 Foundation.”

He added: “It's been pretty full on juggling a full-time degree with my role at the club, but I wouldn't have changed it for the world.

“As football is such a fast-paced environment, no two days are the same and with that comes new highlights and new challenges which ultimately has grown my experience tenfold.”

He finished: “I think the best advice would be go for it! You learn so much more and gain so much real-world experience from being at a football club as opposed from the four walls of a lecture hall, and you learn all sorts of things that you just can't pick up from a book.”

To find out more about our industry partners and the experiences and opportunities they offer to UCFB students, click here.

You can also click here to view a UCFB prospectus and score your career goals in the football and wider sports industry.