How To Start A Career in The Football Industry if You Aren’t a Professional Player

If you are an avid football fan and know a thing or two about the game and the industry generally, you might want to consider a job that will let you get closer to your passion and earn money while you’re at it. Becoming a professional player would seem like the most obvious and straightforward path, but it also happens to be the hardest. The truth of the matter is that very few people have the physical aptitudes, skills and talent required for a successful career as a professional player. Unless you are absolutely sure about your performance as a player and your future potential, you should avoid this career choice, as it will only lead to disappointment and depression down the line.

Fortunately, there are numerous other occupations that can bring you closer to football and help you earn your keep while doing what you love. The range is broad – from turning yourself into a football analyst, to getting a job as football scout, to even becoming a football anchor or commentator – the choices are extremely varied, which means that you are almost guaranteed to find a job that fits your personality and skillset.

First, you must consider your skills and abilities, and analyse your own character. This self-assessment is extremely important, as it will eventually give you clarity with regards to your desired career strategy. It is a great idea to start by evaluating your skills by means of the many free online evaluation tools. “Measure” your hard skills (technical skills, computer skills, management, marketing, project management, analytical skills etc.) with the use of quizzes and tests, preferably certifiable ones – this will help you draw a conventional diagram of what you are able or unable to do. To evaluate your soft skills (problem-solving, time management, communication, decision-making, teamwork, stress management etc.), start by taking a Myers-Briggs Type Indicator questionnaire, which will help you identify with one of the 16 standard personality types. Finally, use all the results from your self-assessments to draw up a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) matrix of yourself. This will constitute the basis of the roadmap for your professional career. Let us discuss several examples of the paths that you can take, depending on your personality, skills and experience.

If your physical condition is great and you already play football on a near-professional level, the logical thing to do is to aim for a job as a referee. This is literally as close as you can get to the game without actually playing it, and some referees are known to become football stars in their own right. However, the job is hard and extremely responsible, competition is exceptionally high, and it will take a lot of time and effort to get there. You will need to attend referee courses and get certified, then start refereeing amateur leagues and tournaments, before you get a chance to move up to a more professional level. There are several guides available online on how to become a referee, with the exact steps and milestones.

On the other hand, if you play well but are not keen on the idea of becoming a referee, you can consider coaching instead. Coaches are some of the most important members of a football team – they lead practices to help players stay fit and maximize their performance, while advising them on and off the field. For this job, it is practically mandatory to have experience as a player. Furthermore, same as with the referee job, you will need to get educated, by attending professional courses and coaching “clinics”, or even getting a degree in physical education or sports medicine. You can then get certified and apply for a coaching license. To get started on your career ladder, you can either volunteer to coach a local amateur team or alternatively try to get employed as an assistant coach, to learn from an experienced mentor.

If you are somewhat of a people person and have relevant experience, such as working in Human Resources and Management, you might consider becoming a football scout, or even a football manager. Football scouts are the specialists who are constantly seeking out new talent for the benefit of their employers, the clubs. They visit schools, sports centres, and even local neighbourhood games, to look for the next rising star. To become a successful scout, you need to be a very good judge of character and to have a great eye for performance and talent, coupled with an ability to attract and recruit people according to your goals. A football manager, a.k.a. head coach, does a lot more than that – besides buying and selling players, he manages the team directly, by selecting players and their formation for each match and instructing them on and off the pitch, develops strategies and tactics for each game, manages the schedule for games and events, and works with the marketing team on PR efforts and media coverage. Most football managers are former professional players who have developed themselves into this managerial role. Consequently, having management and marketing experience is extremely helpful.  However, please keep in mind that becoming a football manager arguably represents the pinnacle of a professional football career, and therefore it is an extremely ambitious goal, hard if not impossible to reach for most.

Even if you are more of an artistic nature and are creatively inclined, as opposed to having technical or managerial experience, there are many opportunities for you in the professional football industry. As it happens, some of the most interesting jobs in the business do require a great deal of creativity. These occupations include, but are not limited to football writer, football editor, anchor or broadcaster, football analyst or pundit. These jobs are part football and part journalism, so you will need top-notch writing and communication skills. The good news is that the internet has made these occupations a lot more accessible than they were some twenty years ago – as long as you are good at what you are doing, you will always find a media outlet and a target audience that works for you.

Whatever you choose as your career path in professional football, please keep in mind the following simple tips and recommendations:

• Do try to take things gradually. Divide your career strategy into several separate phases and concentrate all your efforts on your current phase, without thinking too much of the next one.
• Get educated. Professional trainings, courses, certifications, licenses, and degrees will all represent an immense boost to your career.
• Learn from the experience of others. Start doing internships or seeking out assistant roles – only by working side by side with great professionals can you get a chance to make a name for yourself and get access to all the underlying knowledge.
• Be patient and persistent. A serious, successful career takes years to build, with tremendous amounts of effort and dedication.
• Never give up on your dreams! Cheers!