INTRODUCTION
Are you someone who loves the game of football and has an eye for the details involved in the game? You don’t always have to be a football player to be in the stadium. Many professions revolve around football, which is behind the scenes and handles the aftermath of the game. Today’s article is about Football Jobs.
There are many job opportunities in the football game. If you are someone who loves football but can’t play it. Yet, if you want to have a career in football so that you remain associated with it, we’ve got you covered. There are many job titles in the football industry other than soccer players.
Here, in this article, we will present to you the careers of those who play the game of football. Through this, you can earn and enjoy simultaneously. It involves the announcer/commentator, referee, security officer, and many other professions.
Football Jobs
Football Data scout
A football data scout handles collecting data on the football match that is going on.
The key duties of a football data scout are as follows:
• Attending various sports events as assigned to collect data.
• Traveling to different sports venues to collect data.
• Being precise at recording and data collecting about the match.
• Good knowledge of football games for collecting data.
• Familiar with the data collection tool and has to provide feedback on the same with the help of the quality control team and scout manager.
• Can coordinate with the support teams to ensure correct data collection.
• Can perform tasks with accuracy and detail.
• Availability during match days (including weekends).
Salary expectations
Recent statistics by Glassdoor report that the salary of a data scout is around $43,000 yearly.
A football Talent scout
Scouts find talented football players from different games. Scouts have to convince players to play for the team and understand their needs.
The tactical scouts attend matches of opposite teams to observe their strategies, strengths, and weaknesses so that their team can work to develop strategies against the opposing team.
Qualities
A graduation degree in any field. Yet, graduation in fields like exercise science, kinesiology, or sports management is always preferred.
Experienced with rules and regulations of soccer.
A football talent scout should be someone who has knowledge and experience in playing or coaching football. Talent scouts can work as freelancers, as well as under the association of a football team.
Good interpersonal and communication skills to communicate with different players.
Salary expectations
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics states that the annual salary of a sports scout is around $45,000.
Football recruitment assistant
This position is as its name suggests. A recruiting assistant is someone who assists the recruiting team. He/she handles completing different recruitment tasks with other teams, including;
• Adjusting and enacting mail and other correspondence according to the team’s requirements.
• Keeping a record of the football staff.
• Assisting the various recruitment needs of the football staff. Managing those needs and organizing different functions according to them.
• Sometimes a recruiter can also find professionals for other roles, like coaches.
• A football recruiting assistant can find a job with college football teams, various sports clubs, and even professional teams according to their interests and abilities.
Qualities
• A graduation degree.
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office, Outlook, and recruiting radar, etc.
• To become a sports recruiter, one has to have good knowledge of the sports industry in which they work (here, football).
Salary expectations
Recent surveys by Glassdoor report the annual salary of a recruiting assistant to be around $39k per annum.
Social media content coordinator
As with any other organization or website, football teams also have to manage their social media presence. Football players need a good social media presence, and a content coordinator helps with that.
The basic requirements for a content coordinator are as follows:
• Working on creating catchy social media captions, posts, etc.
• Managing the football team’s social media presence.
• Who can create and craft good content by coordinating with the team members?
• Keeping the social media account of the team’s/players updated.
Qualities
There is no such specific qualification, but background knowledge of social media or digital media is always preferred.
Good knowledge of different digital marketing techniques.
Salary expectations
According to Payscale.com, the expected salary of a social media content coordinator is about $38,651. If the person has some specialization like e-mail marketing or SEO optimization, then salaries can also increase.
Announcer
Also, known as sports commentators, they provide real-time commentary of the game. Announcers do the voice-over that we hear during a television match broadcast.
Imagining a football match without commentary is impossible. The lively commentary hooks us up with the game. This sentence shows the importance of announcers during a football match.
Some of the famous football commentators include Ian Darke, Jon Champion, Jim Beglin, Andy Gray, and Alan Smith.
There are three types of commentators: play-by-play commentator, color commentator, and sideline reporter.
The “play-by-play” commentator is the main commentator who announces every detail of the game in a fast-moving play.
The color commentator provides analysis on the moves and strategies of the team and can narrate the occasional humorous anecdote related to the game, etc.
A side-line reporter is someone who gives live updates on injuries and other breaking news and can conduct interviews with athletes.
A sports announcer should have excellent speaking, reading, and writing skills and basic knowledge of technical skills required for broadcasting.
Salary expectations
According to the United States Bureau, of Labour Statistics, there is a 9% decrease in commentator jobs. The salary is also expected to be around $50,000 per annum.
Football coach
A football coach’s role is very crucial in making a good football team and guiding it to success. A coach can train children, school students, at the college level, or for the national team depending on their interests and experience.
The time of your job depends on the coaching that you are providing. For entry-level training, work hours are less and for higher levels, it requires more time.
The key responsibilities of a coach are the following:
• Performance assessment of all team members.
• Providing feedback on individual strengths and weaknesses and working on them.
• Helping the team to maintain good mental and physical health.
• Taking care of the team’s different requirements and managing them with other teams (physiotherapy, nutrition, or types of equipment).
Qualities
The coaching course with the Football Association is necessary.
If you are planning to work with children, then you need to go through a DBS check after you have completed the FA safeguarding children workshop. Taking a course on An introduction to First Aid in Football (AIFAF) is also required.
Salary expectations
Again, salaries at different levels of the coaching career also differ. Indeed. it says that the average salary of soccer coaches in the USA is $17.42/hr.
The salaries of college football coaches and professional football team coaches also vary.
Football players
A football player is a central career in football, around which other jobs also revolve. Football players are the ones who play football professionally. Other than playing, there are other duties that a football player does. Like, practicing for matches and working on the shortcomings to perform better.
Qualities
• To become a football player, interest and practice from a small age towards football are necessary.
• To become a football player, one must have some training and experience in playing football. One had to play through many small teams and maintain a good game record so that he could grab a coach’s attention.
• Becoming a football player is not at all easy. It requires a lot of practice, coming out of one’s comfort zone, a lot of physical and mental disciplines to become one of the best football players.
• A football player has to play for his/her team at different sports events such as FIFA, UEFA champion’s league, and UEFA women’s champion league, premier League, etc.
• A football player has to score more goals than the opposing team within the time frame by following the Law of the Game.
Salary expectations
The salaries of the players depend on their playing skills. Some players can get paid $40,000 and some top players may get paid $1 million too.
Sports agent
A sports agent helps football players decide which team they should play for. How much should they charge? Etc. There’s a term “super-agent” associated with sports agents. These are proficient individuals in their field. Jorge Mendes and Mino Railo are recent examples of super agents.
Let’s look at the work that a sports agent does.
• promoting the player through marketing and endorsements.
• Contract negotiations for the players have occurred several times.
• Searching for the best offers for football players, etc.
• Sometimes an agent is also asked to manage the athlete’s public relations by arranging interviews for them.
Qualities
To become a sports agent, there are no specific requirements. As it requires a substantial amount of financial and legal planning, business management or sports management is also a good choice.
Interested candidates can start their journey with sports agencies or athletic centers.
To become an official agent, registering with the country’s football association is mandatory.
Salary expectations
Depending on several factors, a football agent’s salary may vary. It can range from $29,000 to $92,000 per annum.
The U.S. Bureau of labor and statistics suggests that a soccer agent’s job will increase by 10% from 2018 to 2028.
Referee
The referee ensures that players follow the rules and the game continues without any trouble.
A referee is the final decision-making authority during the match. He gives instructions on how to start and stop the match. Two assistant referees assist the main referee and help him in observing details which he might miss. The final decision-maker is always the main referee.
Pierluigi Collina is one of the respected football referees. He earned FIFI’s best referee award six times consecutively from 1998-2003.
The key responsibilities and duties of a referee are as follows:
• The referee may stop the game if someone disobeys the rules and laws of the game.
• Can take disciplinary actions against any player found guilty of making any mistake.
• Keeping a record of the match is important as it starts and stops at the right time.
• Providing the signal for an injured player to leave the field. A player can only leave the field after the instructions of a referee.
• It can punish players for committing serious offenses. Taking care that all the equipment is according to the law.
• Any unauthorized person doesn’t enter the fields.
Qualities
There are no specific qualifications to become a referee. To become a referee, extensive knowledge of the game is equally important. Starting as an assistant referee can help you build a strong foundation and gain knowledge of the game.
Skills like decision-making, discipline, the ability to conduct a match without any misconduct, and providing unbiased judgments are crucial in a referee’s career.
Salary expectations
Usually, a football referee earns around $10,000 per match, and an assistant referee can earn around $2,000-3,000 per match. It is not a rule of thumb, and referees with more experience can earn more and vice versa.
A nutritionist
Football players have to go through a lot of physical training and practices, and that’s why their body needs special nutrition requirements.
Nutrients like carbohydrates, proteins, and vitamins, etc., keep them active, and fit to help in their training, and that’s where sports nutritionists come into play.
A football team’s nutritionist plans and looks after the balanced and nutrient-rich diet of the football team’s players. Nutritionists consult with players and manage their diet plans.
Qualities
A sports nutritionist should have an educational degree in nutrition. Experience in fields like exercise science, nutrition, kinesiology, food science, and dietetics can also help.
Some states ask for a nutritionist license while some states don’t. Although it is not necessary, some nutritionists seek credentials from the Commission on Dietic Registration (CDR).
Salary expectations
According to the United States Bureau, of Labor Statistics, there is an expected 21% increment in nutritionist and dietitian jobs.
Salary.com estimates a nutritionist’s salary to be 59k per annum.
Physiotherapist
A physiotherapist diagnoses and treats physical injuries of the players. There are many instances when players get some type of sickness. It may happen during practices or even during final matches, and to treat and recover, players need a physiotherapist near them. This makes the physiotherapist’s role very important.
A physiotherapist’s duties include
• Assessing various musculoskeletal conditions of a player.
• Treating mild physical injuries
• Familiar with various muscular and intramuscular conditions and their treatments.
• Keeping track of an individual player’s physical health history and providing them with various safety measures.
• Conducting periodic sessions with players, educating them on how they can prevent small injuries and physical problems.
• They report to the coaching staff and other management staff about the physical conditions of players.
Qualities
• An educational background in BSc physiotherapy or MSc pre-registry physiotherapy is essential.
• Compulsory registration with HCPC.
• Must complete the FA Advanced Resuscitation and Emergency Aid (AREA) course or FA Intermediate First Aid for Sports Qualification (IFAS).
• A physiotherapist should have good communication and empathetic skills to communicate with players better.
• Prior experience in the field is always preferred.
• A football physiotherapist has to work in coordination with other teams, so a person who can adjust to a team environment can grow better.
Salary expectations
According to Salary.com, a football team’s physiotherapist can earn between $75,000-85,000.
Football event manager
Soccer has a huge audience, and as they come to see the sport, it becomes important to provide facilities like proper seat sanitation, security visibility, etc. So that they get good experience.
These are frequently behind-the-scenes jobs that do not pique our interest. The sports event manager takes care of every minute detail to make the sporting event successful and safe.
Not only does the audience need good experience, but players and other officials such as coaches, referees, and commentators also need good facilities.
Some of the duties of football event managers are
• Negotiating with sponsors for various sporting events and preparing for the event on time, rather ahead of schedule.
• Taking care of all the preparations.
• Bidding on different football events
• To take all security measures for viewers and athletes at the stadium.
Qualities
As far as education is concerned, a sports management degree can help enthusiasts pursue a career in this field.
After that, anyone can start applying to organizing committees, national governing bodies, and sports commissions.
Soft skills like adaptability, excellent communication skills, and networking skills can help individuals excel in this career.
Salary expectations
According to statistics by Glassdoor, a football event manager can earn $75k per annum.
The security officer
For any event, players’ security is important, and security officers help in maintaining security at the event. The job requires a very basic educational qualification. But this job is more focused on security maintenance so that part of the applicant’s abilities should be strong.
A security officer’s key responsibilities are as follows:
• Establishing safety guidelines and priorities.
• Ensuring that those safety guidelines are being followed.
• Managing the security staff and distributing their different duties.
• Taking care of any emergencies and taking action at that time.
• To grab the job of a security officer, experience at some security departments can help.
Salary expectations
The U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics estimates that this job requirement could increase by 10% between 2016 and 2026. Some of the highest-paying security guards can earn up to $50,000 per annum.
The attendant at a football stadium
For a successful match, a well-conditioned field is as important as the good health of the players. A football field can provide players with both a happy and sad experience, and stadium attendants ensure that players have a positive experience while playing there.
A football stadium attendant’s work is more about maintaining the ground, equipment, and things related to or involved in the football match. This profession requires physical activity. As match venues change from time to time, stadium attendants get to see many different locations.
The responsibilities of a football stadium attendant involve:
• Maintaining sports grounds in a good position to ensure a match is completed successfully is a priority.
• Aerating, fertilizing and seeding the ground as per the requirements.
• Prepare the stadium by marking it as per instructions.
• Repair and maintain sports equipment such as gloves, time clocks, scoreboards, etc. so that the match is completed without any problems.
Qualities
A sports attendant’s education is very basic. Anyone who has a high school diploma or any GED equivalent can apply for this role. But this position demands other qualities, such as knowledge about different cleaning equipment.
Salary expectations
Similarly, it states that sports attendants earn an average of $19,280 a year, and the highest that they can get paid is $29,130.
Conclusion
Football careers are as numerous as their huge audience. As someone who has good skills in their fields, there are many opportunities to have a good career. Some jobs are in the field, while some are off the field. On-field jobs include players, coaches, and referees, whereas off-field jobs include nutritionists, social media coordinators, and agents.
The interesting fact is that many of the jobs don’t even require you to be a player, so if you are passionate about the game and want to work around it, you can apply for the job openings. So it is with football. To earn well in any field, one needs to be efficient at their work.
Many of these jobs don’t even need you to take some special courses.
Here, some professionals can get paid $19,000 per annum. And some of the professionals are even paid around $19,000 per project.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
Q1: When do football players retire?
Usually, football players take retirement at the age of 35.
Q2: When can I start playing football?
Football training can start at any age, but it is best to start it at a young age. The smallest age for signing a football game contract is 16.
Q3: What is the number of players on a football team?
A football team can have a maximum of 11 players and a minimum of seven players among which one is a goalkeeper. A game can’t continue without minimum players in either of two teams.
Q4: Who are some of the best football coaches?
Some of the top coaches are Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola, Stephen Constantine, Joachim Low, Mauricio Pochettino, Zinedine Zidane, Syed Naemuddin.
Q5: Who are the top soccer players?
Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Robert Lewandowski, Mohammed Salah, Kevin De Bruyne are some of the top players.
Q6. How much can I earn working as a football nutritionist?
Usually, a professional football team’s nutritionist can earn around $59k.
Q7: How to become an NFL coach?
An NFL coach must have some experience in coaching football. A previous player can make his way to the NFL or can start working as an assistant coach.
