A UCFB sports law student has been speaking to us about the experience he is gaining at a Football League club alongside his studies.
James Ogundare, a BA (Hons) Sports Business and Sports Law student, is currently on placement at Port Vale as an academy operations intern.
James met the club’s football operations manager at the UCFB Careers Fair, which resulted in him starting on his placement in January.
Within his role, James shadows the operations manager across various departments, registers and releases players or trialists, assigns players to teams on PMA, and takes notes and actions at academy operations meetings.
James said: “I was very excited to have been given this position, as this was my first opportunity to experience inside a professional club, and also my first role in operations.”
He added: “From studying my degree I learnt organisation skills, the ability to balance different tasks at the same time, and how to work independently, which I have been able to apply into this placement.”
When asked about his time at university, James added: “I've enjoyed my time at UCFB, especially guest speakers and workshops. The crisis management workshop by Neil Doncaster was definitely the most fun and engaging moment at UCFB for me.
“I will take away from this placement, how academy football works, and just how demanding the football industry is on staff behind the scenes.”
He added: “After graduating, I hope to get into football operations or a Firs Team liaison role. Then eventually becoming a First Team operations manager for a Premier League or Championship team.”
James followed that by giving some advice to students: “Try your best to get as much experience in a professional club at the earliest opportunity, don't wait till end of Second or Third Year to start looking and doing stuff. Also, it’s not easy, so be patient.”
To find out more about the work experience and placement opportunities available at UCFB, click here.
