English Schools' Football Association

The University Campus of Football Business (UCFB) – the world’s first higher education establishment dedicated to football and sports degrees – has joined up with the English Schools’ FA to improve career prospects for students through football.

UCFB, which has campuses with the Etihad Stadium and Wembley Stadium at their heart, has this week signed a one-year deal to be an English Schools’ Football Association (ESFA) Foundation Partner for Higher Education.

The deal means that there will be new employability opportunities for UCFB students at the ESFA and County School FAs as well as the prospect of an ESFA bursary at UCFB.

The partnership will also deliver new research opportunities for UCFB postgraduate and events students, plus rewards and recognition for volunteers with the aim of increasing participation and engagement.

There will be a variety of marketing and student recruitment collaborations between UCFB and the ESFA to offer new opportunities to students hoping to develop careers in the football and sports industry.

A football match between the English schoolboys U18 squad and UCFB’s own team will also be held as part of the deal, to take place in February 2019.

Andrea Chilton, CEO of ESFA: “The English Schools’ FA is thrilled to be entering a formal partnership with UCFB, the first higher education institution in the world dedicated to the delivery of university degrees in the football and sports industry.

“Our joint missions, using football as a platform for personal development, educational attainment and career progression, makes this a particularly exciting joint venture through which we aim to enhance each other’s services for the benefit of our players, students and pupils.”

Andrea’s comments were echoed by Sharona Friedman, Chief Marketing Officer of UCFB. Sharona added: “We’ve been working on formalising a link with the English Schools’ FA for some time, so it’s great that we can announce this partnership today.

“It means that there will be lots of added opportunities for our students with the ESFA. We are thrilled to have agreed this deal – and we’re excited about the potential benefits for the ESFA players and UCFB students.”

UCFB was recently ranked as the best higher education institution in the UK for employment prospects at the University Compare Annual Student Experience Awards 2017, based on 10,000 graduate reviews from around the country.

UCFB graduates are currently employed at Premier League clubs, including Manchester City and Manchester United, with numerous ex-students also in roles at The Football Association, the Scottish Professional Football League, dozens of English Football League clubs, several county football associations and other sports governing bodies including the Rugby Football League and British Cycling.

The ESFA are thrilled to be able to work with UCFB and look forward to sharing updates and opportunities with our members.