I have gained valuable experience from working alongside industry professionals who are in positions that I aspire to hold in the future.
I have been involved in football all my life; whether I am playing, watching or coaching the game. I take inspiration from the great players and managers of my childhood; including Ronaldinho, Steven Gerrard, Rafa Benitez and Jose Mourinho. I was intrigued by their stories and how they came to be the best by completely dedicating themselves to their craft and embodying their own individual style and flair.
As a result, I wanted to work in an exciting, engaging and entertaining industry where I can constantly improve myself and positively impact the lives of others; just like my childhood heroes had once done. Therefore, I started my football coaching badges with the FA and coached within an academy set up to help with the talent development of the next generation of footballers. I then joined The FBA to help me achieve my future aspirations to direct and manage a football club.
Fast forward to Summer 2019 and I have now finished an internship with double pass, a company based in Belgium, who assess and advise football clubs, leagues & (con)federations on optimising their talent development. The project that I worked on has the potential to make a big impact on the football industry and is closely aligned with my career aspirations, which is why it has interested me so much.
The work involved investigating and analysing the current state of football leagues across the world and providing an insight into the potential that they possess. In addition, we contacted industry stakeholders to gain valuable insights into the functions of a football club. I worked with an international team who have a wealth of knowledge which I have been able to learn from and share ideas with. Most importantly, I was able to apply the theory that I had learned from Modules 1 & 2 of The FBA program to my work, most notably; Law in Football and Financial Strategy.
My favourite part of the internship was initiating and developing new ideas from scratch with a team of interns. It was a challenging process but ultimately rewarding when we were given the responsibility to formalise the ideas into business plans that were presented to potential investors. Furthermore, I have gained valuable experience from working alongside industry professionals who are in positions that I aspire to hold in the future.
The FBA and double pass were extremely helpful in making the internship work for me. The majority of the work was online and I had frequent Skype calls with colleagues in Belgium, which enabled me to work remotely from home in the UK and continue my coaching job.
Finally, I would like to thank everyone who was involved in making this internship possible and providing me with the opportunity to develop within this fantastic industry.
Pavan Dhillon is a Candidate of The FBA’s Professional Master in Football Business 3rd Edition. He can be contacted via LinkedIn.
