Footballers pursue management qualifications while continuing playing careers

Professional footballers are increasingly pursuing formal qualifications to prepare for careers in management, coaching and sporting direction while continuing their playing careers. The trend was highlighted at the 2026 graduation ceremony of the PFA Business School at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium. Everton midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Coventry City striker Taiwo Awoniyi were among the graduates, while former Chelsea and Spain captain César Azpilicueta also attended.

Dewsbury-Hall, 28, completed a postgraduate diploma in global football sport directorship. He told BBC Sport that he wanted to keep learning rather than wait until his playing career ended before considering his future. Awoniyi completed his third academic qualification.

The Coventry striker already holds a degree in business management and another diploma, and said his father had encouraged him to study alongside football from an early age. He said professional players could find opportunities to study because their work did not always follow a conventional nine-to-five schedule. Awoniyi added that footballers were also ordinary people whose interests extended beyond the pitch.

Azpilicueta’s studies have included an MBA at Harvard University, completed during his nine-year spell at Chelsea. He said education helped him focus away from football and was useful not only for life after retirement but also for personal development during a playing career. The PFA programme is structured around players’ professional commitments, with seminars arranged to reduce clashes with training and matches and coursework completed in students’ own time.

Former Bournemouth captain Steve Cook was also among those pursuing further qualifications. The graduates’ eventual paths may include coaching, executive work or sporting-director roles.