BA (Hons) Football Studies and Business (Full Time)

Gain a valuable business perspective on Solent's successful football studies with business degree course.

Course overview

Southampton Solent University is one of the country’s leading centres for the academic study of football. The University has been providing training for the professional football industry, and undergraduate programmes for those seeking to enter it, for a number of years. During this time the University has developed extensive links with many of the game’s key stakeholders including; the Football Association, the Premier League, the League Managers Association, the Institute of Football Management and Administration, the Professional Footballers’ Association and many professional clubs. Our academic staff have excellent links in football. They have helped national teams prepare for World Cup Finals, have attended Parliament to discuss aspects of football with the Government, are regularly consulted by the professional industry, and run an academy in Africa.

The BA (Hons) Football Studies and Business degree offers students a wide and varied range of opportunities during their three years of study. A focus is placed on both the football and business related knowledge needed for developing future professionals in the industry. These include units in coaching, psychology, sociology, health and fitness, football development and research, and, marketing, finance, law and human resource management. The course also offers excellent work placement opportunities with professional clubs and organisations, and the opportunity to tap into the University’s extensive network of contacts in the game. When you finish this highly enjoyable and stimulating course you will be in the best possible position to secure a career in football.

Since 2003, BA (Hons) Football Studies and Football Studies and Business students have secured work-based learning opportunities, internships and full-time employment with a number of clubs and associations, which include: Premier League, Fulham FC, Tottenham Hotspur FC, Birmingham City FC, Newcastle United FC, West Ham Utd FC, Brighton & Hove Albion FC, Crystal Palace FC, Portsmouth FC, Reading FC, Southampton FC, AFC Bournemouth, Brentford FC, Aldershot Town FC, Northampton Town FC, Forest Green Rovers FC, Glentoran FC, Rhyl FC, Klepp Elite FC (Norway), FC Spartak Moscow, Lithuanian Football Federation, Latvian Football Federation, Major League Soccer, Sharjah FC (Dubai), among others.

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Industrial focus

The course offers excellent work placement opportunities with professional clubs and organisations.

Course content

Year 1

Six core units:

• Industry Practice and Research
• Principles of Coaching Football
• Football and Society
• Leisure Marketing
• Finance for Sport
• Organisation Behaviour for Sport.

Year 2

Five core units and one option unit:

• Research Methods for Sport
• Service Operations Management
• Sociology of Football
• Economics of Sport
• Football Development.

Options:

• Outdoor recreation
• Financial Appraisal
• Managing Human Resources
• Customer Service Management
• Sport and the Law
• Event organisation
• Sports massage
• Coaching for football
• Employment and Society
• Marketing Communications
• European Business Environment
• Event Sponsorship
• Sport Psychology
• Services Marketing Management
• Extreme Sports
• Applied Principles of Sport Performance Analysis
• Languages
• Curriculum Plus.

Year 3

Three core units and two option units:

• Project
• Globalisation of Football
• Strategy for Business.

Options:

• Sport Tourism
• Hospitality Management
• Sport Development
• Applied Sports Psychology
• Sports Conditioning
• International Marketing
• Integrated Marketing Communications and Strategy
• Human Resource Management for Leisure and Sport
• Small Business Enterprise
• Cross Cultural Management
• Contemporary Sports Issues
• Sport and the Law
• Outdoor Recreation
• Event Organisation
• Sociology of Extreme and Lifestyle Sports
• Football Management
• Physical Education
• Professional Practice of Sport Performance Analysis
• Languages
• Curriculum Plus. 

Why choose this course?

• Solent is one of the UK’s leading providers of football specific education.
• The University provides education and training for FIFA, the Football Association, Premier League, Football League, Football Conference and professional clubs.
• Excellent record of employment for students in professional football.
• An accredited centre for Football coaching with 1st4Sport and the FA.
• Home to the Lawrie McMenemy Centre for Football Research, one of the country’s leading research and consultancy centres for the professional industry.
• Tap into the University’s extensive network of links in the game.

Assessment

Work is assessed by a combination of essays, written examinations, seminar presentations, written reports, case studies and a project.

Key career skills

Presentations, problem solving, communication, IT and numeracy, organising people, time management, team working.

Projects/work experience

Internship opportunities and work based learning programmes are available with a range of professional clubs and organisations including Reading FC, Portsmouth FC, Southampton FC and Aldershot Town FC.