Wembley Stadium is a busy place these days, just ask UCFB graduate Ben Friend. If it isn’t England internationals, it’s FA Cup matches. Then there’s the numerous games around the country with the Women’s team and the Under-21 side.
Since graduating from his BA (Hons) Football Business & Marketing programme in 2015, Ben has been a valuable asset to The FA, first as an Event Coordinator, and now as an Event Manager. His role and his team sit within the operations division of the governing body, and Ben helps to lead the match organisation of The FA’s events.
Event management wasn’t always on his radar though and only came into focus once he started at UCFB and undertook a work placement with The FA’s events team. During his time at UCFB Ben also undertook placements with the marketing team at Orlando City in the US, as well as the marketing and sales team at Turf Moor with Burnley, to help bolster his impressive CV.
As well as telling prospective UCFB students to be open-minded about their career path within the sports industry, Ben added: “I think if you’re passionate about what you do, the whole point of UCFB is there’s somewhere for you to go and study, learn and thrive in an environment that you care about. If you’re working in that it will come naturally to you.”
