An MBA in what??

iSporter Anand Narayanan begins penning a series sharing his experiences while pursuing MBA in Football Industries with the University of Liverpool, UK. Yes, MBA in Football Industries! Read on. And look out for the rest of his series to find out more.

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As I arrived at Mumbai airport to leave to do my MBA, I was left wondering about the journey that lay ahead. Classes, assignments, long days and even longer nights. It was going to be hard work. Afterall, it had been years since I really studied for anything. (Work does that to you. You start living on next month's salary and spending more money than you earn!!) So how would I cope? Will I be able to handle it? Will the course be tough? So many questions were shooting through my mind that I felt like The Riddler! And then I told myself, "Wait a minute! It's going to be fun. It's going to be exciting. It is afterall, an MBA in Football!!"

What?? An MBA in Football? Really? How? Where? When? Why? And once again...really??

I can almost hear all of you thinking that. And yes, fellow football fanatics, I kid you not! It exists. And here, I'll try to give you as much information about it as possible, including my experiences, trips, guest speakers and whatever else I can think of!

So let's address the basic: What? Where? When?

The Course: MBA Football Industries

The University: University of Liverpool, United Kingdom

Start Date: September end (Every year)

Duration: 1 year (September to September)

The Fees: GBP 15750/-

Website: www.liv.ac.uk/footballindustry

So, now that the basic has been covered, let's delve a bit more into what to expect!

It's the only course of its kind in the world, so you are truly entering a niche course which will give you a foothold into the football industry. There is a competing course run by CIES in Switzerland, called the FIFA Masters. But this is more for the people who are already into the industry and need a management course to help them in their careers. You can always Google this and give it a shot if you feel you want to compare the courses yourself.

The application for the course is a straight forward process. You can apply online on the website provided above. They keep updating the information here which will keep you updated about the course as well as the fee structure for each academic year. To complete your application you require:

1) Personal statement: A statement of purpose detailing why you should be accepted on the course. This is what will sell you to the University, so give it some serious thought.

2) 2 recommendations: One from your supervisor at work and an academic recommendation. (This should be on the company or university letterhead)

3) Your Resume: If you've worked, concentrate on that. Make sure you try and link your experience with how you could add value to the course and the sports industry in general after the course.

4) Marksheets: Your university and college mark sheets.

5) English Qualification: You need to check if you need to give the IELTS. For scores above a particular percentage in English in school and college, you don't need to give the IELTS. Your English scores will suffice. Please confirm this with the university when you apply.

The university usually puts up the application deadlines on the website for each year. It is usually sometime in June or July. Try and apply as early as possible to give yourself enough time to sort your finances and VISA out. (As a point of note, your finances and VISA might take upto 3 months to get done.)

Now the next big question. Do you need to have a prior sports background?

No. You don't need to have had any direct exposure to football or sports at any capacity to successfully apply for this course. I have individuals from law, finance backgrounds and even a guy who worked for a beer company! What you need to show, is a genuine interest in the field and a desire to apply the skills you have gained in seeking employment in the football industry.

I'll cover other topics in subsequent articles over the next few weeks. If anyone has a particular question or a topic they want addressed, I'll try to do that as well.