Fratton Park stadium

Key Stage 3/4 video resource

How to land a career in football

If students have a passion for the game and want to build a career around it, there are dozens of opportunities to make that happen. From sports science and operations through to marketing and commercial, there are countless ways to get into the sport, develop a career and combine skills with passion.

Through our partnership with ‪Portsmouth Football Club‬, we've highlighted just some of options open to young people, how their staff got into their roles and what they enjoy about professional football being their day to day.

How to land a career in football | University of Portsmouth

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Seeing Fratton Park filled with 20,000 passionate supporters,
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there's nothing like it.
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Being part of a journey to create
0:09
something really special and make history,
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it gives me goosebumps on the back of my neck.
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It's all geared around what are our priorities?
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And inevitably that's the football.
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For example, if there's a match happening on a Saturday,
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what are the priorities needed for me
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and my team to hit that match date and ensure
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everybody is well prepared,
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organised and knows what they're doing?
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Anything can happen.
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That's what football’s all about.
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I often get a lot of contact
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from disabled supporters
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about match days and book their ticket.
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What I love about my job
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as a senior safeguarding manager,
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is no two days are the same.
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My role at the club is working day to day
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trying to manage the squad
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and manage the injured lads
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and push the recovery as much as we can.
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One of the myths I heard
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when I was getting into football is
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you can only work for a football club
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if you know football.
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And since I've come here,
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I’ve realised some of the people
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who are top of their jobs
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have no football background.
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You can play the sport if you're good enough,
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but also there's a range of opportunities
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out there for people that link
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well to the careers and football industry.
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Marketing is there shouting
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about all the amazing things that we do.
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We might be looking at what the
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website looks like or
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scheduling some stories for our social media.
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The fundraising side of things is making
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sure we've got the money to do those things.
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We might be going out to see partners,
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networking events, things like that.
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It's phenomenal
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to see how Pompey makes such an impact
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in the community as a family.
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Football is a 24/7 business
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and there are so many jobs within a football club.
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There's a lot of different jobs out there,
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some that you wouldn't even think of.
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If you think of a player performing at their best,
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it’s who sits around them
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to make them perform at their best.
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They all come together with one shared goal.
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It's more than just a one size fits all.
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If you don't make it on the pitch,
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then there are plenty of opportunities out there.
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Working in professional football,
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it's not like having a real job.
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The variation we get to have the good times,
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the bad times, the connections you get with people,
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it's an absolute privilege
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to work in football professionally.
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Being a part of a team that are so
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committed and passionate
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about providing a brilliant service
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to all supporters, that's not lost on any of us.
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I love being sort of in
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and around with the supporters
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and seeing the atmosphere.
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When you're there on a match day
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and 3o’clock comes and the game starts,
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it's just that real feeling that,
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you know, we've all come together to do this
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as a group of people.
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So it's really enjoyable.
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My route into football
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was that I’d done
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my undergrad degree in sports therapy.
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Then once I finished that,
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I applied for an internship role
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and within that time
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I had done my masters in strength and conditioning.
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I then started at Portsmouth.
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I did a management degree,
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and then after that I did masters in marketing.
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You don't have to do a degree,
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but actually they've been really key
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to teach me the things I need to know
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in order to do the role.
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I actually didn't study PE at GCSE level,
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I went straight into it at college and A-level
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and then went to university.
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I studied sport and exercise science
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and allowed it to sort of shape
3:24
where I've ended up to now.
3:26
The University of Portsmouth
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and the football club both work as a partnership.
3:30
We work together by going into schools
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and promoting education within the city,
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and it's really inspiring
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that these avenues do exist
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and that's going to continue to grow as well.
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Really, really proud of the opportunity.
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You hear generally it's all about finding your passion
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and I don't really believe in that.
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I think you really create your passion
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by becoming really good at something.
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If you know you have the love for football,
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I think you have to try and explore
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as many things as possible.
3:59
Getting involved in those projects
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and giving your time
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really helps build
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that experience that you might need.
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In order to create something,
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and get really good at something,
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you just have to start.
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Don't be afraid to fail and
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see where it takes you.


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