Studying our Football Business BA (Hons) course will equip you with the knowledge and skills around the sports industry, marketing and management. You will gain a broad understanding of the football industry as well as its impact on contemporary society in our units in an Introduction to Football Studies, The Football Industry and Contemporary Issues in Football. You will look closely at the causes of fandom and question what makes people support a particular team - successful or unsuccessful – while also examining how economic factors have shaped football into a global cultural phenomenon. In areas of business, you will explore the recent changes within the football industry such as stadium reconstruction and development, the relationship between clubs and fans, and the relationship between football and the media in The Business of Football unit. Furthermore, you will discuss the impact of football on local and international economies, how differing ownership models for football clubs affect their position in the industry, and factor in the role of marketing within football in our Sport Marketing unit by examining how owners maximise revenue potential. With this approach, you will also look at research into Football Governance to understand how football organisations operate at all levels.

Moreover, our Football Finance unit aims to outline the financial and economic aspects of the football industry for you to assess the financial strength of such organisations in the field. Another key factor you will consider is environmental sustainability, and you will analyse how committed sport governing bodies and event organisers are to this cause alongside international development and world peace in our Sport in a Global Context: Sustainability and Development unit. Regarding sport management, our Strategic Sport Management unit will expose you firsthand to the strategic management processes behind the development of sport and physical activity. Based on real-life case studies, you will critically analyse the vital issues and approaches to creating sports programmes while assessing the needs of participants and managing the provision of sport and physical activity. Similarly, our unit in Sport and Physical Activity Management will allow you to consider the management and provision issues that arise from constraints and pressures of the commercial sector. You will then learn to apply this knowledge within sport organisations in our Sport in Action: Management unit while examining the role of the state, non-profit and professional sectors in sport. In addition, you will also learn the discipline of Managing Elite Sport and the role of high-performance directors in athlete success as a developing area of study.

You will also be exposed to units focused on individual performance and career, such as by developing practical coaching skills to provide positive learning environments for performers in our Foundations for Football Coaching unit. This closely links to our Football Development unit where you will assess youth development programmes in football from around the world to highlight best practice used to identify and support talented young players. Similarly, you will also explore current biographies of famous sports figures and other research in sports sociology in our Sport, Physical Activity and Life Story unit. Finally, you will have the opportunity to complete a Dissertation for Sport and Physical Activity where you will identify a key issue relevant to your study and examine it using the skills and knowledge gained from your academic study. To help you with this, our units in Dissertation Preparation, Research Methods for Sport, Exercise and Physical Activity, and an Introduction to Research Methods will support you in reading and understanding research, and to complete a proposal with ethical documentation. Alternatively, you can complete a Work Placement Project that will allow you to undertake work experience in the field that can be used to develop reflective practice, critical evaluation and work-based skills.

To prepare you for your career, our Working in Sport and Physical Education unit will introduce you to multiple career pathways available within the Sport & Physical Activity industry. You will then acquire the skills for the job application and interview process in our Professional Development and Employability unit, while also learning how to apply for grant funding. Furthermore, our Professional Development (Sport Policy Enactment) unit is where you will engage in project management to design a school or community-based intervention based on your knowledge of government policy, partnership and grant applications. To add to this, you can also undertake a Professional Practice Year (Sport Science and Physical Activity) that will allow you to gain work experience while developing your professional skills.

Working In Sport

This unit will introduce you to the multiple career pathways available within the Sport & Physical Activity industry. 

The unit will start by introducing the key agencies and organisations within the sector and consider the current situation within the industry. You will explore the challenges facing the sector and review examples of best practice.

The unit will help you consider your pathway into the sector and allow you to recognise your skills and experience as well as providing opportunities for you to consider your personal development needs.

In doing this, the unit will enable you to plan for your on-going personal development and consider your future employability. The unit will help you prepare for applying for both volunteering and potentially paid employment opportunities within local schools and community based sports clubs.

Introduction To Research Methods

This unit introduces you to quantitative and qualitative research, consequently serving as a foundation stone for either the BA or BSc research methods units at Level 5. The knowledge and skills gained are essential for successful degree study. The research concepts and skills in this unit apply to each of the disciplines encountered on the Sport and Physical Education degree programme.

It introduces the concept of research methodologies and overviews basic quantitative and qualitative paradigms, research designs, data collection methods, sampling, analysis and validity/trustworthiness. You will also consider the overlaps between these approaches. Overall, the unit aims to:

Provide an introduction to the concept of methodological approaches to research and basic qualitative methods

Provide an overview of basic quantitative research methods

Introduce students to designing and undertaking research projects that apply to contemporary issues in sport and physical education disciplines

Introduction To Football Studies

The aim of this unit is to provide students with a broad understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of the football industry. Both current and relevant research will be used during all teaching sessions to deliver content on a wide range of topics. The relevance of this unit is to prepare students for the subjects covered at both levels 5 and 6.

Sport In Action: Management

This unit provides a comprehensive introduction to the practical application of management principles within sport organisations.

The unit examines the nature of the sport industry and the role of the state, non-profit and professional sectors in sport. It also focuses on core management principles and their application in a sporting context, highlighting the unique challenges faced in a career in sport management.

The unit is ideal for students studying sport management related courses as well as those focussed on physical education courses who are seeking an overview of sport management principles.

Professional Development And Employability

Building upon the skills identified and developed at Level 4 this unit will develop your PDP and tailor your development to seeking employment in Physical Education, Physical Activity and Health or Sport. The focus on grant funding knowledge reflects the high level of reliance within the industry of applying to agencies to enable a range of youth sport initiatives to increase participation. You will align your development of youth sport activities with current policy objectives and target groups.

The unit aims to provide you with:

The knowledge to identify and apply for grant funding

Project development aligned to policy and strategy: 'Sporting Future: Towards an Active Nation' (HM Government, 2015), Towards an Active Nation 2021 (Sport England, 2016).

Understand ‘partnership working’ and identify potential partners with whom to engage for your project at Level 6

Acquire the skills required relevant to the job application and interview process

Understanding the multilingual approach in youth sport

Sport And Physical Activity Management

This unit is designed to explore the management and provision of Sport and Physical Activity within the public private and voluntary sectors. You will therefore consider management issues within context of government policy frameworks and initiatives as well as the issues of successful provision within the constraints and pressures of the commercial sector.

The range of provision for sport and physical activity has developed in response to technological, socio-economic and political changes and these factors have also shaped the rapid growth in overall provision.  An appreciation of these issues underpins a thorough knowledge and understanding of the extent, use and operation of facilities and services.

The manager working in this sector must not only have a thorough knowledge of facilities, operations and services but must also understand how societal and political structures impact upon decision making processes.

Literature from sport management, strategic sport management and sport governance form the research basis for this unit

Contemporary Issues In Football

Football is the most popular game in the world. In many ways, what happens on the field of play is of less importance than the wider significance of the game. This unit aims to develop students understanding of issues and processes by which football has an enormous impact on contemporary society.
Consideration is given to the historical issues underpinning the modern game of British football and the ways in which the game’s development can be linked to broader aspects of society change, and commercialisation.
In addition, the unit will also focus on the issues of the day allowing students to develop a deeper understanding of the football industry

Literature from sport development, football development, sport management, and sport sociology are used as a research basis for this unit

Dissertation Preparation

The unit is fundamental to help develop the skills necessary for reading and understanding research and you will specifically design and complete a comprehensive dissertation proposal with accompanying ethical documentation. Key research areas will be discussed and students will be encouraged to read a range of peer reviewed research articles in the area they are writing a proposal in. 

Football Development

The identification and development of talented young players has become a concern for football clubs at all levels, as well as for national and international governing bodies. This unit provides an assessment of youth development programmes in football around the world, to highlight best practice and to offer recommendations for the future.
The unit also examines the various governance and economic factors which have shaped the football development and transfer industry.

Simultaneously, you will have the opportunity and scope to develop the personal and academic skills sets necessary to successfully progress into your 3rd year of study in a supportive environment.

Literature from long term athlete development, football development, football industry, football development and sport development is used as the research basis for this unit

Research Methods For Sport, Exercise And Physical Activity

This unit will expand upon the knowledge of the basic qualitative and quantitative methods and analysis covered during the Introduction to Research Methods unit at level 4. During this unit you will examine and conduct research using a range of methods of data collection and analysis within the field of sport, exercise and physical activity. The unit is fundamental to help continue develop the skills necessary for reading and understanding research.

Sports Marketing

Sport is arguably one of the most important industries in the world and the marketing of sport has become an increasingly important issue, as clubs and product owners need to maximise revenue

Sport marketing has become a benchmarking standard from which other organisations learn. The practices and processes of such an established industry are important lessons to learn for those who want to work in the sport industry

This units provides a comprehensive and global approach to the subject of sport marketing

Literature from sport marketing, marketing, sport business and strategic sport management are used as a research basis for this unit

Football Governance

Football Governance provides a comprehensive guide to the practical application of governance principles to grass roots and professional football organisations operating at all levels
The unit presents a balanced view between accepted practice and academic theory.
The unit is essential for those wishing to work and volunteer in the football sector and those seeking to undertake research into the governance of football organisations

Literature from sport management, sport governance and strategic sport management is used as the research basis for this unit

Dissertation For Sport Science And Physical Activity

This unit is a structured independent study which involves selecting a topic that is approved by an appropriate staff member of the School of Sport Science and Physical Activity who will subsequently become your supervisor. You will conduct an in-depth scientific study of that topic. The topic chosen should be one that is of interest to you and is also deemed to be an important topic within the field of Sport Science and Physical Activity. You will be expected to engage in considerable independent scholarly activity, building upon the initial topic and reading material discussed with your supervisor. The topic chosen should relate to some aspect of the content and issues within an appropriate discipline, and should examine a limited area in depth rather than attempt any wide-ranging generalised investigation. You will be required to meet your supervisor on a regular basis to discuss your progress. You will be required to complete ethical documentation before you start your data collection. This will be reviewed by the Undergraduate School Ethics Committee via specific meetings throughout the unit. 

Work Placement Project

This unit aims to enhance student awareness of the vocational opportunities available in their chosen subject discipline and the associated desirable skills alongside opportunity for project development in a specific topic related to the work experience. Students will develop reflective practice, critical evaluation and work-based competencies as well as undertaking a project requiring data analysis. In order to achieve this, students are expected to find and maintain a suitable work placement for a minimum of 60 hours. The placement project topic chosen should relate to some aspect of the content and issues within an appropriate discipline, and should examine a limited area in depth rather than attempt any wide-ranging generalised investigation. You will be required to meet your supervisor on a regular basis to discuss your progress. You will be required to complete ethical documentation before you start your data collection. This will be reviewed by the Undergraduate School Ethics Committee via specific meetings throughout the unit. 

Professional Development (Sport Policy Enactment)

This unit aims to:

In pursuing future employment within your chosen sector you are increasingly being expected to become familiar with discourses of health, sport and education. With decreasing budgets, but increasing opportunities to grant funding, this unit will develop your knowledge of project development. You will use your knowledge of working in partnership, grant applications and government policy to design a school or community based intervention to be delivered over a minimum period of 6 weeks.

You will be required to collate data to effectively monitor and evaluate your project against your agreed project outcomes. This will enable you to critically reflect upon your project design and delivery, including project limitations and/or suggested improvements.  These skills are increasingly becoming required for entry level roles within the sport sector but also develop your understanding of whole school improvement plans 

This unit will provide you with a wide range of transferable skills.  These include report writing, working collectively with others and delivering presentations with a core focus on enhancing your communication skills.

Managing Elite Sport

As the discipline of sport management matures, elite sport management has emerged as a developing branch of knowledge.
The high-performance industry and sport practitioners are leading the way by adopting practices that recognise the significance of managing elite sport. Indicative of these practices is also the recognition and establishment of the role of high-performance directors on athlete performance.
These shifts in industry practices (i.e. hiring high performance directors and placing an emphasis on high performance management practices) have not been matched with an equivalent focus of academic inquiry that help define the field, and distinguish it from other fields and illustrate its significance.
This unit develops an inquiry into defining the discipline of managing elite sport and the roles of high-performance directors in athlete success.

Literature from sport management, strategic sport management, sport governance and sport development will be the research basis for this unit

Sport In A Global Context: Sustainability And Development

The central question that this unit aims to address is:

What social responsibility should sport governing bodies and sport mega-event organisers fulfill and how committed are they to environmental sustainability, international development and world peace in the contemporary world?

The syllabus is based on the sport governing bodies’ current sustainability and development strategies and sport-for-development theory, and informed by recent research on sustainability and development issues in global sport.

Strategic Sport Management

This unit aims to enable you to examine, first-hand and in detail, the strategic management processes behind the development of sport and physical activity interventions and programmes. Programmes and interventions are the key tool used by the sports industry to engage individuals in sport. These programmes are central to creating meaningful, high quality sport and physical activity experiences.

This unit deals directly with the essential strategic management elements of sport and physical activity planning and provision. The unit explores the strategic planning and management processes undertaken by private, voluntary, and public sector organisations to enable the provision of sport and physical activity experiences.

With reference to real-to-life case studies, you will critically consider and develop first-hand experience of the vital issues and the variety of approaches involved in creating sports programmes. This includes undertaking a strategic approach, assessing the needs of participants, developing a programme, reviewing the feasibility and managing the provision.

The Business Of Football

The increasing commercialisation of the football industry, the growing power of the media, the transformation of clubs into PLC’s and changes in club ownership have had significant impacts upon the game within the United Kingdom and the world over recent years.

This unit outlines recent changes in the football industry, in particular those concerned with the structure of football, the relationships between clubs and fans, the relationship between football and the media, stadium reconstruction and development and the impact of football on local and international economies.

The unit also considers the different ownership models that exist with professional football clubs and how these can affect a clubs position within the football industry

In addition the unit also examines the role of marketing with football as clubs and owners seek to maximize revenue potential.

Literature from sport management, sport marketing, strategic sport management and football business is used as the research basis of this unit

Studying Sport In Higher Education

This is a subject specific unit that builds on the knowledge and understanding that students gained in semester one of their foundation year. The unit is focused on developing students’ skills and applied knowledge relevant to their future degree study of sport. During this unit students will gain knowledge and understanding of sport in a higher education environment through exploring a range of topics and activities reflecting the variety of sport degrees within the University. The students will produce assessment work that demonstrates the development of sport specific knowledge and academic skills that are applicable in a higher education environment. This unit aims to extend students’ confidence to explore new research topics and themes relating to studying sport in higher education.

Individuals In Society (Sport)

This unit has been designed to enable you to develop your understanding of some of the core intellectual themes and issues that you will encounter as part of your degree study within the Faculty of Education and Sport.

Within the unit you will be studying aspects of current Government policy and consider how it is influencing sport, health and wellbeing. To support this you will be introduced to aspects of sociological and psychological thinking. You will use this knowledge of the underpinning theories and concepts that relate to: you as an individual; the society in which you live; the subject area that you will be focussing on during your degree.

The unit content serves the combined purposes of developing knowledge and understanding that will form the foundation for your degree studies; developing the ability to apply theory to real world examples while becoming familiar with some of the issues, skills and techniques that you will meet in your degree studies.

Studying For He (Sport)

In this unit you will be introduced to what academic study in Higher Education involves both generally and related to studying specific subjects. You will be given opportunities to develop the skills, attitudes, confidence and strategies to help you succeed in the course meeting the entry requirements for university study. 

You will be supported in identifying where you have scope to develop skills and abilities using planning for your on-going personal development, through exploring what works best for you. Tutors will guide you towards the options best suited for the subject area you are hoping to study in your degree.

As you go through the year you will notice that you will be able to link the learning that you do in this unit with other parts of the course and apply the learning to the assessments you will be doing.

Examining Research (Sport)

This unit applies subject knowledge and critical thinking that you have developed during the course. It will give you the opportunity to think about what research is and how different people in your subject area develop the research process. You will examine some research that has been done in relation to a subject that you will be studying on your degree. This is your chance to analyse what the researchers have done and assess its strengths and weaknesses

You will learn about the process of developing a small scale research project from the point of view of students and staff who have experience of doing it. You will get the opportunity to think about the advantages and disadvantages of some of the most commonly used research tools by looking at how others have used them.

 As this is an introduction before you get the opportunity to study research design and methods in more depth, the aim is to give you the opportunity to look at a variety of examples to develop an informed understanding of different approaches.

The project that you produce will demonstrate the development and application of your subject knowledge through using the academic skills that you have gained in the other units of the course. This will give you the confidence to know that you will be able to develop your skills and in future participate in work of this kind on your degree studies.

Professional Practice Year (Sport Science And Physical Activity)

This unit aims to provide appropriate work experience based learning and experience in the responsibilities of the work place. This unit will allow students to develop their professional and transferable skills in the work place and will assess individuals reflection based on key models of reflective literature and examination of professional behaviours.

Football Finance

The increasing commercialisation of the football industry, the growing power of the media, the transformation of clubs into commercial organisations and changes in club ownership have had significant impacts upon the game within the United Kingdom and the world over recent years.

This unit draws on literature an research from the fields of economics and sport to outline the financial and economic characteristics of the football industry, enabling to students to assess the financial strength of organisations within the football industry.