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Kick off your career in football

This summer saw the University’s first-ever Football Careers Day being held on campus, with 21 alumni speakers ranging from coaches to managers to sports reporters. Here’s a snapshot of some of the career opportunities that exist in the sport.

Will Brant

  • Male football physiotherapist holding a football

    Position: Physical Performance Coach

    Club: Birmingham City

    Player history: BSc Sport and Exercise Sciences, 2019

    Profile: Will supports the on-field conditioning of the Under-18 players at Birmingham City and assists coaches in designing training sessions. Short-term, he prepares the players for the next match, but also ensures they are being prepared to move through Birmingham’s academy structure up to the first team.

    The University of Birmingham was always his first choice to study, with the degree providing a strong general foundation from which he could then choose his specialism.

    Words of wisdom: Get experience as early as you can. Use opportunities within university sports teams, non-league clubs, or professional clubs.

David Ikeije

  • Position: First Team Physiotherapist

    Club: Aston Villa Women

    Player history: BSc Sport and Exercise Sciences, 2019; MPhys Physiotherapy, 2022

    Profile: As a First Team Physiotherapist at Aston Villa Women, David plays a key role in delivering sports medicine and performance support in the top flight of English women’s football. Working with elite international footballers, he assesses, diagnoses, treats and rehabilitates injuries within a multidisciplinary team, combining evidence-based practice with innovative strategies.

    David credits the University with giving him the tools needed to excel in his career through practical sessions, outstanding research and teaching as well as great facilities.

    Words of wisdom: Keep the drive and hunger to keep learning and developing, as physiotherapy is an evolving career.

Clare Avery

  • Woman in business dress talking at a conference

    Position: Head of People and Culture

    Club: Birmingham City

    Player history: BA English Literature and American/Canadian Studies, 2006

    Profile: Responsible for advancing the Club’s people agenda, cultivating a high-performance culture, and aligning talent strategies with City’s ambitions on and off the pitch. Clare began her career in football HR at Everton, and also worked at Nottingham Forest as Director of People and Culture before moving to Birmingham.

    At the University, Clare learned to use an analytical and curious mindset to better understand complex people scenarios.

    Words of wisdom: Be self-reflective, understand yourself and have confidence in your strengths.

Mark Fairbrother

  • Male speaker at a conference

    Position: Trustee and Managing Director

    Club: Millwall

    Player history: BSc Money, Banking and Finance, 2001; MBA Executive Management, 2014

    Profile: Managing Director of Millwall Football Club and Trustee of Millwall Community Trust, having previously served as Chief Financial Officer for the Lions. Mark’s career spans senior finance roles across elite sport, including Vice-President at Formula E, Chief Financial Officer at Gloucester Rugby and Head of Finance at Aston Villa.

    His undergraduate degree gave him the technical grounding that underpins a finance career. His MBA taught him how to translate financial strategy into actionable decision making and how to lead people rather than just manage numbers.

    Words of wisdom: A football club is so much more than just the 90 minutes, and the people who succeed are the ones who genuinely understand that.

Varshini Balasubramanian

  • Woman speaking at a conference

    Position: Head of Academy Medical

    Club: Charlton Athletic

    Player history: PGDip Exercise and Sports Medicine (Football), 2023

    Profile: A Doctor of Physical Therapy and a Sports Therapist with experience supporting elite athletes across football, rugby, golf, and beyond. Her career has taken her from Boston to Madrid, Mumbai to London; including working with the Spanish National Rugby Team preparing for the 2023 Rugby World Cup, and learning to speak fluent Spanish alongside Real Madrid’s clinicians. She currently oversees the care of Charlton’s Under- 21s and Academy squads.

    Her degree particularly helped her develop her ability to research effectively, critically appraise evidence and apply the latest research to clinical practice.

    Words of wisdom: Keep networking. Building relationships is just as important as developing your technical skills.

Elizabeth Conway

  • Elizabeth Conway standing with a BBC sport microphone

    Position: Sports Reporter

    Club: BBC

    Player history: BA Modern Languages and English Language, 2020

    Profile: Elizabeth works across TV, radio, online and social media as the BBC’s Spanish Football Reporter, taking her skills to the World Cup last summer. Elizabeth began her career with student radio station Burn FM and Redbrick, learning how to package radio shows, broadcast news and publish and propagate stories. A bursary meant she could undertake work experience at Sky Sports and encourage the pursuit of her career.

    Words of wisdom: Rejection is redirection! Every rejection I had led to another opportunity that was more suited to me. Although each was hard to take, I learned to embrace it and move on.

Find out more about our alumni in football

  • Will Brant

    Alumni

    Will graduated from Birmingham and now works as a U18 Physical Performance Coach at Birmingham City Football Club.

    • Home country: Information for UK-based international students

  • David Ikeije

    Alumni

    David is Aston Villa Women’s first team Physiotherapist, where I provide musculoskeletal physiotherapy services to our under-21s team.

    • Home country: Information for UK-based international students

  • Elizabeth Conway

    Alumni

    Elizabeth works as a BBC Sport journalist on the BBC Journalism Trainee Scheme.

    • Home country: Information for UK-based international students
Athlete lying on bed being assessed by two physiotherapists

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