Brompton Academy

Football

Sector Outlook The economic impact of football is quite staggering given its national popularity. Spor ts tourism alone is wor th £2.3 billion to Britain with every £1 spent generating £7.73 to the wider UK economy. The Premier League is one or the richest in the world generating revenues of £3 billion (2014). English clubs have invested year on year in new stadia and training facilities despite their current debts. The spor t employs a variety of people, with diverse skill sets and relevant exper tise. Obvious jobs such as a professional footballer, coach or a referee immediately come to mind, but there are many other jobs as football is a business. Roles exist in marketing, accounts, management, hospitality, spor ts science, product development and manufacture. Around 20,000 people are employed directly within 200 professional and semi pro clubs, the FA, SFA and other football organisations. This par t of the sector is small and very competitive, and industry professionals often look for those with experience, training, and dedication. Entry ultimately depends on what job role you want to do. A keen interest in football and being very committed to developing the necessary skills are essential to getting in. You could star t training as a referee as young as 14 but to be a pro footballer you need to be displaying talent and commitment at an early age. If you love football, you could study it a degree level and go on to work as a coach, scout or in other par ts of the industry. There are many other oppor tunities in this sector; a great star ting place is to join one of the 37,000 clubs where around 400,000 volunteers are involved. As well as searching on job websites for oppor tunities you also should consider looking at football clubs and their career pages. Many oppor tunities exist abroad if you are willing to relocate. In par ticular, the USA has seen explosive growth in people playing soccer. Presently, three million young people play soccer in the USA with growing number of girls getting into the spor t. As well as the 14 MLS clubs you could explore work with academies, schools or at summer camps.