Behind the Scenes at Edgeley Park: My Work Experience Journey
Northumbria University, Sports Management student, Arlo Clare talks about his work experience week at Stockport County.
I am a second year student at Northumbria University studying a sports management
degree, one of my modules tasked me with acquiring industry relevant work experience.
With the help of Dave Marchbank and his connections with the club I was able to get 4 days of work experience in April. This opportunity meant I was fortunate enough to gain an insight into several different areas of the club’s operations and learn from a variety of staff members.
Firstly, I want to thank Olivia Hanvey, Commercial Operations Director, for helping organise the placement and giving me the opportunity to experience what it would be like to work in the footballing world. It was an incredible and insightful experience which had given me more ideas to bring to the table for my university course.
Throughout the week I mainly worked alongside the event management and food and beverage team in the modern office space located at the stadium, particularly under the stewardship of Ben Greenwood. I was able to learn how much work goes into preparing the different event spaces around Edgeley Park.
Before this week, I don’t think I fully appreciated just how much planning and organisation happens behind the scenes outside of matchdays for all the various events that they put on. It goes further than just setting up rooms and being prepared for different event types, while working with the events and food and beverage team I was able to truly appreciate how much work the team has to do for each event they have.
Particularly in the set up for the event “An Evening With Nigel Benn”, where I was able to take part in the set up of the event and meet the premier events memorabilia team and I was given a real insight of how an event of that high standard
comes together and works smoothly.
I also had the chance to sit in on meetings with the finance team, which gave me an insight into another side of football operations that supporters don’t often get to see. It showed me how many different departments, particularly the events team and accounting team, work together to keep the club moving forward both on and off the pitch as I learnt nearly all
revenue has the aim of producing returns on the field.
As someone studying sport management at university, it was great being able to connect things I’ve learned academically to a real football environment. It was also excellent preparation for next year where I will be tasked to set up a sporting event for my university degree.
This experience has truly helped in giving me ideas and insights in how to set up my event for this module next year. The experience definitely opened my eyes to the variety of careers within football and sport, not just the parts supporters see on a Saturday afternoon.
Overall, it was a brilliant experience working in an excellent environment and everyone around the club made me feel really welcome throughout the week. I’m grateful to everyone who took the time to speak to me, answer questions and show me how things operate behind the scenes at the club.