Paul Merson visited UCFB Wembley for a guest speaker session during Welcome Week, talking about his life and career in football.

As someone who has been a professional footballer, a coach and a pundit, he had plenty of words of wisdom to offer to UCFB students looking to score their career goals in the football and wider sports industry.

Now working as a pundit on Soccer Saturday, as he has done for almost 20 years, Paul offered some guidance to UCFB students wanting a career in the world of sports media.

“Be honest and be confident,” he said. “Being honest is the one. Don’t worry about who you upset. If you’ve upset people because you’ve told the truth, that’s not your problem. But don’t go the other way, either. Give credit where credit is due.”

He also spoke about the UCFB students who aspire to be coaches and managers, but are going down the academic route as opposed to having the professional playing career.

“Work hard. Go for it. Some of the greatest managers have never kicked a ball. I could reel off great footballers who struggled. I was a good footballer but struggled. It wasn’t the right time.

“Mourinho is one of the greatest managers of all time. I’m a much better footballer than Jurgen Klopp, 100 times a better player. He’s 1000 times a better manager.

“Never worry about not having the playing career. If you can get your badges, there’s always coaching, always. There’s kids to be coached, women to be coached, men to be coached.”

Finally, as someone who during his playing career featured for clubs in London, the Midlands and the North, Paul offered guidance to students relocating to UCFB Wembley or UCFB Manchester for their university experience.

“Relocating is hard. I’m not going to lie, it’s hard. I found it hard at Middlesbrough and Aston Villa. It is hard.

“It’s keeping it in the day. Don’t move down and think ‘I’m moving down for three years.’ You’re moving down for one day at a time, and just take it in small steps.

“Nobody lives in the day. You’ve got to live in the day. Small steps. Don’t blow it out of proportion.”

To find out more about UCFB’s wide array of undergraduate sports industry-related degree courses, click here.

You can also click here and view a UCFB prospectus to kick off your own career in the sports industry.