Working with Portsmouth Football Club

We're the Main Club Partner of Portsmouth Football Club (PFC), one of the best known and most well-loved organisations in the city. This relationship began with the 2018/19 season and, in 2021, we expanded our sponsorship to include both the men’s and women’s teams.

We’ve partnered with the club because we share the same ambitions:
We want to play a key role in the economic, educational and cultural life of our city and region
We want to increase participation in higher education and raise the aspirations of young people throughout the city
We’re proud to be part of the city of Portsmouth and we want to increase awareness

As a leading university in England for sports science, it is a natural fit for us to work together with Portsmouth Football Club. We are ambitious for the success of the University, the Club and our great city.

Professor Graham Galbraith, University of Portsmouth Vice-Chancellor

Meet the new Portsmouth Football Club Scholar

Nadine Smith practically lives in the shadow of Fratton Park so is a fitting recipient of the Portsmouth FC Scholarship.

Nadine, who has just started her BA (Hons) Graphic Design degree with the University, is the second student to receive the scholarship, which is part of the University's partnership with the club.

The scholarship sees the club support students throughout their three-year course via financial support of their tuition fees as well as offering direct work experience.

The whole point of this relationship is to inspire young people to see university as an option for them, and so I think it's particularly good that we have this scholarship available.

Part of the partnership is all about raising educational attainment within Portsmouth and giving people really, really good, exciting futures. And with Nadine now coming in, it's fantastic to have somebody local on our doorstep, have the opportunity to go to university and to be part of that is really, really special for the football club.

To start with, I honestly didn't think I'd get the scholarship. I applied for it, obviously just off chance and it obviously is an amazing opportunity. Doing graphic design, it is about reputation and getting your name out there and obviously being able to work with Portsmouth Football Club, it gives me work experience and obviously builds my skills working with an actual company. So that will helps a lot with the graphic design, learning the practical side.

It is a massive first step into my career of being a graphic designer. I’m looking forward to the social aspect, meeting a lot of new people from different places. Also getting the opportunity to learn a lot more skills within graphic design, obviously they have a lot more opportunities there with their facilities. The university’s all about giving opportunities for young people in the city to succeed and so, I'm really pleased for her that she's been successful and I think she'll have a fantastic time at university.

Benefits of the partnership

Working together means we help the community and each other in many different ways:

The Portsmouth FC Scholarship champions one local student each year through three years of their degree with financial support and direct work experience with the club
We inspire young people to get into higher education by visiting colleges and schools together
Our students and academics work with Portsmouth FC staff and players on collaborative research projects
We share our facilities and knowledge with each other. For example the club uses University pitches for out-of-season training and also testing and dental facilities in the Science and Health Faculty
We promote each other by publicising our partnership and shared support of the city
University staff and students get discounted match tickets for all Pompey’s home League One matches (see below for more information)

Education is the foundation of a prosperous community and by working together, we can encourage young people to consider futures they may not have believed achievable in the past.

Professor Graham Galbraith, University of Portsmouth Vice-Chancellor

Work experience for students

Strength and Conditioning: Students of Portsmouth Football Club

Oliver Reeves

At the University of Portsmouth, I'm doing a Masters in Strength Conditioning and Rehabilitation and then my role here is a Sports Scientist at Portsmouth Football Club with the first team. Monday and Tuesday, I'm in with the football club trying to help out with the sports science team and then Thursday and Friday I have my lectures so I can apply what I've learned.

Richard Hughes

The students that we’re lucky enough to have here provide a real big elements of the work we do, they're gaining a great experience from their personal perspective as well, but also they provide an invaluable service towards in functioning the football club on a day to day basis and getting an understanding of what an elite football club looks like and what that environment is, is really important.

Oliver Reeves

I'm a big football fan, so having the opportunity to come in and work with footballers day to day is something I get really excited about. We normally head out onto the pitch and then we get the GPS set up. We can split a session up into different sections and then from there we can monitor how intense each section of the training session was and then we can feed that back to the coaches. So we're kind of more in the monitoring of that data.

Richard Hughes

It's hugely important for us to have this partnership with the University of Portsmouth. If you look at what this city is, there's a football club, there's obviously the naval heritage, and then there's the university and I think where we can create a synergy between those things is really important because they're all deeply woven into the fabric of the city.

Oliver Reeves

For them to unite and come together, it's a bit of no brainer in terms of what the university can offer in terms of students. Then, what the football club gets out is a load of S&C sports scientists, physios, which are going to progress and they may be able to employ in the future.

Richard Hughes

With my background, I came through an internship programme at Stoke City and I was lucky enough to be part of the analysis support and I always like to try and give people opportunities and getting people that are really hungry to be successful.

Oliver Reeves

I mean, I'm a Pompey fan, so it's kind of my dream role really to be working with the players and all the first team staff and even with the academy, it is just an absolute dream so I'm really proud of myself.

Hundreds of students have benefited from the partnership by working directly with the club, be that full-time or part-time paid roles, placement and post-grad positions or work experience within the football and business departments of the club. Examples include:

Match filming and managing the Fratton Park big screen, operating cameras and carrying out vision mixing
Part-time work in hospitality, the club shop and stewarding on match days
Work placements in the club's coaching academy for undergraduate and postgraduate Sport and Exercise Science students
Volunteering experience around partnership campaign such as Restart a Heart
A number of graduates have gone on to secure full-time employment with the club in marketing, hospitality and sports science
Our dental students give dental health checks to first team and academy players

Find out how our Careers and Employability team can support you

Being part of the city of Portsmouth as chairman of their football club, while having a close relationship with a high-quality university is a magic combination.

Michael Eisner, Portsmouth Football Club Chairman

Purple Ticket discount for students and staff

As part of the partnership, staff and students at the University can watch Pompey in action at Fratton Park for a discounted price of £16.

To book, first register with the Pompey e-ticket site then, once logged in, click on this link to access the £16 discounted University of Portsmouth tickets. Once you’ve selected your seat in your match of choice, scroll down the Price Class Options to find the University of Portsmouth ticket.