UCFB welcomes new honorary fellows at Manchester and Wembley graduation ceremonies

UCFB is delighted to have welcomed five new honorary members across the five different ceremonies which took place at the Class of 2024 graduations at both UCFB Wembley and UCFB Manchester.

Our honorary fellows do such inspiring work in the fields of both sport and education, such as offering unrivalled opportunities to students, promoting equality or diversity across the industries, and making strides in the development of sport from grassroots to elite level.

The awarding of an honorary fellow is not just an acknowledgment of their achievements and work, but also allows the individual, their organisation and UCFB to work together to further the progress made.

At our first graduation ceremony, held at the Etihad Stadium for UCFB Manchester graduands, three new inidivudals were named honorary fellows of UCFB.

Andrea Chilton

Andrea is the chief executive of the English Schools’ Football Association, where she had leading multiple initiatives and programmes to improve the quality of physical education in England and increase the number of opportunities for young people from all backgrounds to have access to sport and physical activity.

Under her leadership, the association has focused on the improving of governance, safeguarding and development opportunities.

Furthermore, the ESFA has bolstered in terms of partnerships, particularly with the Football Association and local schools, ensuring more structured and inclusive competitions to take place nationwide.

Anthony Burnett

Anthony Burnett was CEO of Kick It Out for three years before retiring in 2024, after working a multitiude of diversity and inclusion-related roles in industries such as policing, motoring and banking.

With this experience working in both the public and private sectors, Anthony has done much to promote equality and diversity, particularly within sport as chief executive of Kick It Out.

Over the last few years, UCFB’s partnership with Kick It Out, of which Anthony has been at the heart, has provided incredible opportunities and experiences for UCFB students, particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds.

Mushtaq Al Waeli

Mushtaq was a key figure of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, spearheading the Generation Amazing campaign in the lead up to the tournament, bringing together more than one million young people across the Middle East to use football as a force for good through education and community development programmes.

Forming a relationship with UCFB during his nine years as senior adviser to the president at the Qatar Football Association, he allowed UCFB students behind-the-scenes access into planning a major football tournament in the build-up to the 2022
World Cup, as well as helping set up projects for students to identify how football can be used to
address social issues around the world.

Furthermore after the World Cup, UCFB students carried out an impact analysis of the tournament
alongside Mushtaq, offering them a real-world experience at the height of elite-level football.

Then at our Wembley Campus graduation, two more honorary fellows were named:

Jo Tongue

CEO of sports agency Tongue Tied Management, Jo was recently awarded an MBE for
services to football and gender equality.

A long-time advocate for female involvement within sport, Jo is also a board member of Women in Football, and is known for mentoring and supporting many young women aiming to score their career goals within the industry.

This she has done through her relationship with UCFB, partnering with us to create a scholarship which supports female UCFB students, not only with their university experience, but also with industry experience alongside their studies, working at Tongue Tied Management.

Baroness Sue Campbell

Baroness Sue Campbell is an influential figure in women’s football, having been the FA’s director of the women’s game for almost ten years, in arguably the most important era of women’s football in the history of the sport in England.

Overseeing the success of the Lionesses, she has been instrumental in growing women’s football
across the country, bringing professional opportunities to women within sport and also focusing
on grassroots, increasing the opportunities for young girls to get involved in the sport.

Even before she got involved in women’s football, she was the chair of UK Sport for ten years,
seeing remarkable growth and transformation, while also overseeing Britain’s successful bids for
the 2012 London Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games.

For her pioneering work in sport, she was awarded a CBE in 2003 and a DBE in 2020.

We welcome these new honorary fellows of UCFB and look forward to contiunuing our work alongside them to further progress, develop and shape the future of the sports industry.

Find out more about UCFB’s wide array of undergraduate degree courses by clicking here.