Member Article

Two famous faces join team at sports business college

Revolutionary sports business college UCFB Wembley and Burnley has strengthened its team of advisory board members with the appointment of two leading industry professionals.

The higher education institution, which has bases at both Burnley Football Club and Wembley Stadium, is the first of its kind dedicated to the business side of football and the sport industry.

UCFB has appointed former assistant manager of Manchester United, Mike Phelan, and The FA’s director of National Game and Women’s Football, Kelly Simmons MBE, to its board.

Phelan, who has previously played for Burnley FC and Norwich City, has a career spanning 30 years in professional football. He joined Manchester United as assistant manager in 2008 and worked alongside Alex Ferguson to secure six Premier League titles, an FA Cup triumph, two in the League Cup, one World Club Challenge and the Champions League title in 2008.

Simmons, who has worked for The FA for more than 20 years, was appointed to oversee the National Game in January 2013. Based at Wembley Stadium, she was previously The FA’s Head of Football Development and is a current member of UEFA Grassroots Panel and FIFA Women’s Committee. She was awarded an MBE in 2001 for her achievements in football.

They join the board at UCFB, which is chaired by former chief executive of The Football Assocation, Brian Barwick, to provide specialist support and direction to the higher education institution’s academic structure.

Philip Wilson, Provost and Chief Executive of UCFB Wembley and Burnley, said: “We’re thrilled to be welcoming such influential and leading figures from today’s British sport to our team of advisors.

“We’re incredibly lucky to have an existing repertoire of forward-thinking advisors supporting us, including Alastair Campbell, Neil Doncaster and Martin Prothero, each of whom brings with them valuable knowledge from all areas of football and sport industries.

“With the addition of Mike and Kelly, UCFB is in a stronger position to offer something unique to our current and prospective students – a dynamic learning environment, and one which enables our undergraduates to build both their knowledge of the industry and their career prospects, with rare access to the support of industry experts.

“I am confident that they will both quickly become an integral part of UCFB and we look forward to working with them.”

UCFB enables undergraduates to study a traditional academic subject within the context of an industry for which they have a genuine interest. Its business degrees are designed to prepare students for rewarding careers within the exciting and inspiring football and sports industries, taught at its Wembley and Burnley campus locations.

The colleage launched in Burnley in 2011 and since then has gone from strength to strength; with facilities that overlook the famous Turf Moor stadium, students not only benefit from practical assignments but also by being surrounded by the operational machinery of a football club. They are immersed in all of the business aspects of the sport on a daily basis.

UCFB Wembley’s first student intake arrives in September 2014 and prospective undergraduates have been flooding in on open days to find out more about the exclusive offering of being taught within this iconic and global stadium.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Malia .