My ambition since leaving school had been to work in the football or wider sports industry in a business/financial capacity, but I knew it would take time to get there. I identified the Football Industries MBA back then as my best chance of breaking into the industry, and worked towards gaining a place on the course. Eight years, a Bachelors and a professional qualification later, the time was right to apply and it all went from there! As the only football specific MBA out there, it was an easy choice to make.
As part of my course, I completed a dissertation over the summer which allowed me to interview high profile figures across the football industry, making and enhancing valuable contacts in the process.
Shortly after graduating, I joined Adidas in a Senior Risk Management role before joining the Deloitte Sports Business Group as a Sports Business Consultant a year later. If I hadn't done the FIMBA, I wouldn't have been able to break into the industry, let alone get the 'dream job' I have now. In my position at Deloitte I work with football clubs and wider sporting organisations to help solve their financial and strategic challenges, as well as co-author our well known publications, the Deloitte Football Money League and the Deloitte Annual Review of Football Finance. Given the varying types of work, many aspects of the course lend themselves to my work, while the professional network I was able to build up on my FIMBA continues to serve me well.
Liverpool was without doubt the best year of my life so far. The city became my home, and it still feels that way now. But it was the people that made it. I had a great group of friends around me in halls, and as a cohort on FIMBA we gelled as one big family, working and socialising together on a daily basis.