Year 2021 - Dubai - Dublin - Liverpool

2021 started on a high in Dubai with the arrival of FC Zenit for a training camp, my first with CBF and a fantastic experience of working with an elite club. The club spent just over two weeks with us and used the fantastic Nad Al Sheba complex whose facilities are truly best in class.

A worrying rise in Covid-19 cases and restrictions meant the following few months were a challenge. We had the difficult decision of postponing the much anticipated Mina Cup which was scheduled for March and the experience of handling such news across various stakeholder groups.

My mind focused on the remainder of the year with much uncertainty still clouding the football industry, cementing my idea of returning to University and using this time to broaden my knowledge and network.

With that, there was no place I would rather go than to Merseyside and I was fortunate to secure a place on the Football Industries MBA at the University of Liverpool. The most well-respected football industry course with an alumni network which remains second to none within the global game.

A brief return to the Football Association of Ireland for the summer months afforded me with an experience of an organisation in change with reforms taking place and the Grassroots and domestic game thriving. Here I assisted the Communications Team and helped shape and deliver stories across the four corners of Ireland.

September included a Paris Half Marathon which Covid-19 had taken victim in the early days of the pandemic before a sailing to Liverpool and return to studies. And there was no resting there as the first semester began in earnest with Football Economics and Analytics, Marketing and Supply Chain Management and Managing Financial Resources.

Delivered by Professor Babatunde Buraimo, Football Economics and Analytics proved fascinating. It helped open my eyes to industry considerations such as the drivers of match attendances, TV audiences. The module also focused on issues around governance and match fixing. On the topic of match fixing, we were treated to a special Q&A and screening of FIMBA alumni Jean Fran?ois’ movie ‘Fixed: A Football Comedy’ which tells the tale of the infamous 2010 match between Togo and Bahrain.

The module also included an introduction to the world of football analytics from Professor Ian McHale which showcased the growing role it is playing both on the field and also in the boardroom. The module assignment saw me conduct research into methods for sharing broadcast revenue within football as its value has become the most significant of all revenue sources. This allowed me to explore the much-lauded English model and also to see the strives being made in LaLiga and the Eredivisie. With the international broadcast rights set to surpass domestic rights for the Premier League, it is interesting to see the reported lack of care being shown for legacy fans and the emergence of the proposed European Super League.

Marketing and Supply Chain Management rekindled theory’s first explored during my undergraduate degree with Michael Porter and his Five Forces still very much front and centre in the field. Supply Chain was intriguing given the difficulties it has faced during the Covid-19 pandemic. While I was not able to provide all the answers, I was able to conduct research on the fantastic Irish fashion brand Gym+Coffee. Here I profiled their current target market and proposed a new potential segment to target and how the supply chain would be impacted. This was their sustainable range which has been a trend on the rise.

As a keen listener to the Price of Football Podcast, it was a pleasure to sit in a lecturer hall and learn from Kieran Maguire. Although our Football Finance module kicks-off next year, his style of delivery made crunching numbers slightly less boring than it seems. For assessment purposes, I reviewed the books of BrewDog who have had their ups and downs in the past few years both in and out of their annual reports.

The next three modules commenced in November with Strategy, Leadership and Organisational Behaviour and International Football Industry coming to the fore alongside the first opportunity to work in groups.

Strategy encouraged me to look at the bigger picture – the view from the balcony- as MBA Director Dane Anderton, presented real-life case studies to challenge our thinking. The module presented methods and means to create, analyse, and transform strategies while also looking at why they fail and ways they can be transformed. The project work involved tackling the strategy of Disney+ which showed how even the Magical Kingdom has had some strategy issues over the years.

Running alongside was Leadership and Organisational Behaviour where I learned how teams or pseudo teams tick. How different leaders emerge and the personality traits such as the Big 5 (openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism) and the dark triad. Plenty of references were made to Sheldon Cooper, Jurgen Klopp and even Boris Johnson. A real highlight was a three-hour group simulation where we climbed Mount Everest adapting to individuals’ goals and motivations throughout. As a group we then examined a job role and applied the theory to re-design it to make it more motivating and rewarding for the individual.

International Football Industry was delivered magnificently by Associate Professor David Cockayne. Once again case studies were used as we were challenged to constantly zoom in and zoom out. Learning about key stakeholders and trends within the game such as the rise in private equity and ownership models. The assignment due in January will see me produce a report for a minority investor for a stake in a football club in one of Europe’s lower leagues. This will see me rank countries and potential clubs to match the investors interests be them business or personal.

The year ended with some sessions on Becoming a Football Executive which is fine tuned to help us as we look to carve out a long and successful career in the industry. Dr. Dan Parnell got us to look at our networks and how we can build upon it and set out a career development plan to help us reach out goals. Guest appearances from Sean Magee (Dundee United), Emma Clark and Paulina Rodríguez Báez (both FIMBA Alumni) enhanced the experience and reiterated the power of carving out a strong network.

All of this was flanked by a careers session with experts helping to develop our CV, cover letter, networking and team working skills. And a guest speaker series with leaders in the world of football and business such as Rick Parry (ex-Liverpool CEO and Chairman of the EFL), Paul Barber (Brighton & Hove Albion CEO), Dr Tom Markham (Sports Interactive), Dr Oliver Gottmann (Wigan Athletic), Richard Kenyon (Director of Communications, Revenue and International Growth, Everton FC), David Lockwood and Laura Doyle (ICM Stellar Sports), Joe O’Brien (Everton FC), Michael O’Brien (Match Manager) and many more.?

It was most certainly an action packed and eventful 2021 with another nine months for the FIMBA to go, 2022 is looking equally exciting. My first task will be to identify work placement opportunities where I will be able to take my learning and try to help an organisation solve a current problem. All the time, I will look at ways to grow my network, shape my career path and look for opportunities for September 2022. New Years resolution number one is to get to more matches, not a bad place to start. ?