If you are like me, you will be a big football fan but not someone with any skills the football industry would want. In other words, you are 100% unemployable at a football club.
Or so you might think.
Before I started this website I was looking into jobs at football clubs, and found quite a few that anyone can do. You don’t need football related skills for them, in fact you don’t need any skills or qualifications for most of them. Although it would certainly help if you enjoyed the sport.
There must be thousands of people out there who would love to work at the club they support. The issue for most is that the jobs available don’t fit with their chosen careers.
But what about those people who just want a regular job. A wage without the stress and responsibility of a career. Maybe part time work. Maybe casual work. Or even full time low skilled work (I hate that term but you know what I mean).
Most clubs need people to fill roles that fit this description, and that means anyone can find work at a football club if they really want to.
Everyone thinks about the coaches, the physio, the sporting director etc. when football jobs are mentioned. Well here is a list of alternative jobs in football you may not have considered before.
Match Day Staff
It goes without saying that football stadiums are very busy places on match days and mostly quiet places on regular days. This means they need extra staff when hosting a game to deal with all of the fans who turn out to watch.
These roles are usually entry level, low skill, easy to apply for and attain. You often see youngsters doing them or people looking for some casual additional income.
- Catering: All those hungry fans need food. Whether it’s at an outlet in one of the stands or in the hospitality areas, cooking or serving, there are lots of catering jobs available.
- Bar Staff: As above. Bar staff are always required and the turnaround is quite high. Getting work on the bar is no tall order.
- Stadium Stewards: The rules are a bit more complicated for stewards. If directly employed by the club then no SIA badge is needed, but stewards supplied by 3rd party contractors often need them. There are also limits on the duties that stewards can carry out based on their qualifications.
- Hospitality Hosts: You will be responsible for a specific box or group of guests, making sure they have everything they need and ensuring their experience is top notch. You might be looking after well known celebrities so you need a cool head.
- Security: As above. Although the roles are a little different. Security might be patrolling the ground, based at the turnstiles, or in the car park. Very basic training will be required but it’s not a difficult job to get.
- Cleaners: It takes an army of cleaners to tidy up a stadium after a game. You should be able to walk into this sort of role, although some clubs might use agencies rather than hiring their own.
- Mascot: Every team has a mascot, and the only qualification is being able to fit into the costume. The mascot may have assistants too (it’s hard to see inside those things) which provides a couple of extra roles. They sometimes share as it gets hot inside the costume. And smelly.
Non Match Day Staff
Office based staff are more likely to be on full time contracts, but there are other customer service roles that could be available on zero hours contracts or part time.
Many roles exist within this category but they are often very similar despite having slightly different responsibilities. They are usually entry level jobs though, so simply showing up with enthusiasm and a can do attitude is enough to get you through the door.
- Ticket Office/Fan Services: Handling sales and queries from home and visiting fans. Answering questions about accessibility, making arrangements for parking for VIPs – you could be doing all sorts in this role.
- Club Shop: This would be just like working in any other retail outlet, except it’s all about the club you support.
- Receptionist: The stadium and the training facilities will have a front desk. The receptionist is the first face people see when they come in, so the role requires people skills as well as organisation skills.
- Office Admin: The big clubs especially will need a lot of people doing grunt work in the office. This is another entry level position that anyone can do with the right attitude. Filing, data entry, emails, that sort of thing.
- Stadium Tour Guide: A good one for extroverts. Tour guides do need training, but it’s so specific to the club that anyone can do the role provided they show the potential and confidence to engage visitors wanting to tour the stadium.
Every Job is Important
Some people may read this and think these jobs are less important since they don’t directly relate to what goes on during the game.
They couldn’t be more wrong.
Big clubs know that their non-footballing staff, whether they be full time well paid positions like office managers or low skill low paid casual roles like stewards, are what make their club special.
The culture of a football club extends to the people the press never mention, in fact, when these people are respected it is usually a sing that the club’s culture is healthy.
Think about Manchester United’s reaction to the death of Kath Phipps in 2024. Kath, a United fan, had been a switchboard operator in the 1960s and done numerous other roles too, but was best known as the receptionist at Carrington, their training ground. She had been an institution there.
Everyone at the club knew her, past and present, from Matt Busby and Alex Ferguson to youth players who never made the grade. After her death aged 85, the outpouring of grief from pretty much everyone who had ever played or worked at the club was incredible. She was like the mother of the whole club.
No one can tell me that non-footballing jobs at football clubs are not important, whatever they may be.
A familiar face, an ally, a fan, a club legend – these labels can apply to anyone from the cleaner to the hospitality host. It’s about who the person is and how well they do their job.
So if you are interested in finding work at a football club, even if you don’t have many qualifications or in demand skills, I bet there is a role for you there somewhere.
Who knows, you might even be the next Kath Phipps.