Football club’s business school goes nationwide
Mar 15 2008 by Andrew Mernin, The Journal
AN INITIATIVE which teaches business skills to youngsters through football and was pioneered at Middlesbrough FC, is set to be rolled out across the country.
Six years ago, Middlesbrough FC launched the Middlesbrough Enterprise Academy (MEA) – a pioneering scheme which teaches schoolchildren essential business and entrepreneurial skills.
A similar project has since been launched at Blackburn Rovers FC, but now the Government plans to roll out the model at football clubs up and down the country. Speaking during a visit to Middlesbrough’s Enterprise Academy yesterday, Business Secretary John Hutton said: “These initiatives bring business to life by using real football club examples to make enterprise more relevant to young people.
“Through designing football kits, taking part in ‘management challenges’ and learning about real life budgetary issues like season ticket sales, kids learn what it means to be an entrepreneur.
“Helping a new generation of youngsters build confidence in their ability to set up and run their own companies is essential if we’re to make the UK the most enterprising country in the world. I thank the Premier League and football clubs across the country for their commitment to making this a reality.”
The announcement came as the MEA was awarded £400,000 in funding from regional development agency One NorthEast and £300,000 from the Premier League Development Fund to spend on improving the initiative.
Yesterday, Aston Villa and Manchester City confirmed they will be the next two clubs to take part in introducing community programmes to deliver education to local 13 and 14 year olds in curriculum time.
The intention is to extend the programme to all Premier League football clubs, with support from their regional development agencies.
MEA manager Anthony Emmerson said: “Using Middlesbrough FC as a business model to engage and inspire, the Enterprise Academy has benefited more than 30,000 young people aged 11 to 19 from across the Tees Valley over the last six years. The latest funding from One NorthEast and the Premier League will enable us to extend our work to inspire entrepreneurial skills to young people who are considering a business start-up.”
George Cooke, chairman of Middlesbrough Football Club in the Community, said: “We are absolutely delighted that Middlesbrough FC’s groundbreaking initiative is the inspiration behind football enterprise schemes being extended to other football clubs throughout the country.”
