Andy Golding
UCFB Wembley
Course Lecturer and Executive Educator
Andy has over 30 years’ experience in the further education and higher education sector as a lecturer, director and principal. For the past 18 years, he has been owner and managing director of a training and education solutions company with a particular specialism in face-to-face, online and blended learning. In this capacity, he has worked with a range of UK and overseas universities, having developed undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes by distance learning that are used by thousands of learners worldwide.
He is also a quality expert, having advised over 30 further education colleges and private training providers in the UK, and works on a range of Erasmus+ projects on behalf of UK and European university partners as a quality consultant and external auditor.
Andy holds specialist degrees in Sports Studies and Sports Sciences. He is active in his specialist sport of rugby, where he played at senior club and national league level. Having stopped playing some time ago due to injury, Andy has been head coach, chairman and currently director of rugby at Maidstone Rugby Club. He is also trustee of the Kent Cricket Youth Trust.
He is currently developing a PhD Research Proposal to provide a framework for the growth and sustainability of professional rugby union.
Areas of expertise
- Sports Business (strategy, finance, marketing, technology and innovation, entrepreneurship)
- Governance and Sports Law
- Global Sports Leadership
- Football Business, Operations and Business Development
- Event Management
Industry expertise
- Senior Sports Administrator (Director and Chairman)
- Global sports business consultant and CEO
- Global HE education consultant (over 600 published online learning models used in over 150
countries). - Strategic and growth specialist for sports organisations
- Global Sports and Entertainment Board Advisor (leadership business modelling, grass roots
pipelines); Non-Executive Director (nature and outdoor education, football and rugby); Trustee
(cricket)
- Sports Business
- Global Sports Leadership
- Applied Sports Finance
- Sports Business Modelling
- Governance and Sports Law
- BA (Joint Studies) – Sports Studies/English Literature
- MSc Sports Sciences (majoring in Biomechanics)
- PhD by Article – Business Sustainability of Professional Rugby Union (on-going).
- Golding, A., Plumley, D., & Wilson, R. (2023). Introducing a model of business sustainability in
English professional rugby union. Managing Sport and Leisure, 30(3), 305–320.
https://doi.org/10.1080/23750472.2023.2171903 - Golding, A., Plumley, D., & Wilson, R., Weaver, M. (2025). Financial turmoil in English
professional rugby: a holistic performance assessment of English rugby union clubs (2003 –
2022). Sport, Business and Management: An international Journal, Volume 15, Number 3, pp.
264-282 (19). https://doi.org/10.1108/SBM-07-2024-0086 - Plumley, D., Golding, A., & Wilson, R., (July, 2025). Rugby union in England: How can financial
sustainability be achieved. Economic Observatory, Available at: Rugby union in England: how
can financial sustainability be achieved? – Economics Observatory - Expert Contributor To:
The first-ever industry led performance index on the financial health of English Premiership
rugby between 2018/19 to 2022/23. Dyson, J., Wilson, R., & Plumley, D. (2024). Leonard Curtis,
Rugby Finance Report. Available at : https://www.leonardcurtis.co.uk-finance-report-2024. - Expert Contributor To:
The first-ever industry led performance index on the financial health of English domestic
cricket. Dyson, J., Millar, R., Plumley, D., & Wilson, R. (2025). Leonard Curtis, Cricket Finance
Report. Available at : https://leonardcurtis.co.uk/cricket-finance-report-2025