The UCFB Sports Entrepreneur Competition is a ‘Dragon’s Den’ style competition for ambitious UCFB students to pitch their innovative ideas for sports companies to a panel of successful business leaders.

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2024 UCFB Sports Entrepreneurship Award

This inspiring competition is led by UCFB Chairman & Chief Executive Brendan Flood and provides students with an unprecedented opportunity to compete for vital company investment of up to £5,000. Students are asked to pitch their sports business ideas to the esteemed UCFB Executive Board and field any questions.

Redford Elton - The Fans Perspective (2024 winner)

We aim to create consistent, high quality football orientated content for our audience but without the extortionate fees of the large-scale broadcasters. We aim to be the convenient alternative if you will.

I know a lot about the industry, the competitors, and potential supporters because if I am being honest, if I am not making this sort of content, I am watching it so I’m very involved. My idea surrounding the campus league documentary came to me because I can only see the positives. It shines a light on what the uni provides and the atmosphere it creates, and it gives a role to those who enjoy campus league but may not have the quality or abilities to be a part of the on-field team. Finally, the unity allows us to create a high-quality finished product to add to a CV.

Redford Elton
Owner at the Fans Perspective
Chelsea Pope & Tristan Cropley - Mini-Match Coaching (2024 winners)

Mini-Match Coaching is a football coaching business that utilises the power of small sided games to help prevent dropout in football. We operate in primary schools, with the mission to provide children with positive experiences in football, at an early age. As a business, we pride ourselves on being fun, positive and inclusive. 

We found the UCFB Entrepreneurship competition very rewarding! The support from the staff was incredible and gave us optimal opportunity to excel and start something special. We were provided with invaluable insight into how we setup and run a business, through various workshops with people already working in these areas. Thanks to this competition and the support and belief from the staff, we now feel ready to work hard and grow Mini-Match Coaching.

Chelsea Pope & Tristan Cropley
Owners at Mini-Match Coaching
Michael Clark – Saint Arta LTD (2024 winner)

Saint Arta LTD (stylised as st. arta) is a creative studio focused on design and visual storytelling.

ÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹û and culture are deeply intertwined worldwide. We intend to highlight this relationship, and further interconnect the beautiful game with the arts.

The studio offers its expertise to assist with branding, creative direction, and to oversee artistic projects for stakeholders in the football industry.

The UCFB Entrepreneur Competition was such an invaluable experience. It truly helped me evolve something that I believed was a good idea, and made sense in my head, into a fully-functioning business. The fact the panel could see the potential, and gave me great advice to develop further, really resonated with me and reaffirmed that I was onto something that could be great in the long run. To any students considering entering, I would say to ignore any doubts and just go ahead and enter. The best growth often occurs when stepping outside your comfort zone!

Michael Clark
Owner at Saint Arta LTD
Aiden Brookes - UCFB Development (2024 winner)

At UCFB Development our philosophy is to inspire our players through our trainer’s personality, communication, and experiences at   the highest level of football. We want our players to be fuelled by our coaches so they feel able to play with confidence, whatever level they are playing at. Our environment is extremely high paced, energetic, and loud. We believe in creating good relationships with our players so they can feel completely welcome and accepted in our setting, while knowing they will be asked to come out and give their best every time they see us.

Our professional football coaching services include a Development Centre, Private Training Sessions and a variety of Holiday Training Programs.  These are delivered by UEFA and FA qualified coaches with experience working inside Premier League Academies in the North West. We are proud to be working in partnership with UCFB to help develop students as well as supporting them in the pursuit of a long term career in football.

UCFB Development coaches believe it is our role to improve knowledge around all aspects of football, giving players the best opportunity for success. We aim to use the pitch as our classroom to help educate young minds, teaching them to be creative and embrace failures, producing an environment to develop stronger individuals on and off the pitch.

The Entrepreneur Event has been really beneficial for me and my business. Oli and the team were great at organizing workshops to help us develop our business proposals and pitch decks, ensuring we had covered all bases in preparation for the final presentation. The pitch day was a great experience, talking and learning about other people's pitches, and discussing plans for the future with other like minded people. I cannot wait to see where this opportunity takes both me, and UCFB Development in the near future!

Aiden Brooks
Owner at UCFB Development

On the Award, The UCFB Sports Entrepreneur Award is a truly unique opportunity for our students to engage their minds and receive invaluable support for their sports business ideas. We encourage all students at UCFB to enter the competition and look forward to seeing their entrepreneurial spirit and creativity.

Brendan FloodUCFB Chairman & Chief Executive
UCFB Employability & Career Planning portal

The Employability & Career Planning team are here to help you maximise your potential in securing employment and gain the knowledge and skills required to work within the world of football and sport. Start looking for work placements today, attend networking events, and much more through our JobTeaser platform! Available to UCFB students and alumni only.