BUCS Emerging Club Leaders is a programme that aims to make volunteering in Football a viable pathway for development for young people at university in off-pitch roles to drive the growth of community clubs. After a successful pilot in 2024-25 with 6 universities, 31 students and over 1250 hours of volunteering, the programme has expanded for the 2025-26 season.
13 universities are involved this year, and recruitment is live now to place 100+ students at National League System (steps 2-6) and Women’s National League clubs. Students will be placed in 1 of 6 off-pitch roles in areas such as Media, Finance and Operations. This allows students that are on sport degrees and studying other subjects to apply their degree specific knowledge to a football club environment.
To provide an exceptional student experience, BUCS has designed the programme to overcome key barriers to volunteering for young people. Students accepted onto the programme will have their travel expenses covered, be supported with regular check-ins and have access to a full Learning & Development programme.
A few roles have recruited for, and a new partnership has been established for the 2025-26 season to deliver this project at scale.
EdExPro will be working with BUCS to support student recruitment to the programme. All roles will be hosted on their platform, which requires applicants to create a video application rather than upload their CV. This forward-thinking approach aligns with the aims of the programme, allowing students to apply for multiple roles easily whilst still demonstrating their qualities.
Laura Smith has been recruited in the Club Liaison Consultant role to manage the relationship between clubs on the programme and BUCS. Laura played an important role in supporting BUCS as an FA Club Consultant during the pilot and we are delighted to have her on board for the 2025-26 season. Laura’s experience with The FA, as a County FA CEO and CEO of Aldershot Town combined with her passion for developing young people will ensure she is a great asset to our team. On joining the team, Laura has said ‘I'm delighted to be involved in the ECL programme again this season. Clubs within the National League System are of huge importance not only to the sport itself but also to the communities within which they are based. The clubs' leaders are so deserving of the support this programme provides through the student placements. I'm really looking forward to working with clubs across the country, so they maximise the impact this programme can provide whilst also giving students a fantastic volunteering experience. They are our potential club leaders of the future, and this programme provides them with a great first taste of what volunteering in football really means.’
BUCS will continue to work with CREAS Sports Consulting to monitor and evaluate the impact the programme is having on students, universities and clubs. CREAS produced an impact report for the 2024-25 pilot, which can be read as part of the BUCS Football Development end of season review.
Additionally, five Learning & Development Mentors have been recruited. Their responsibility will be to provide mentor support relevant to each of the student’s roles at their club. They will also deliver masterclasses related to their roles during the season to students to ensure they are learning from industry experts. The five mentors are:
Helen Beales – Head of Operations at Northumberland FA - supporting students in Fundraising & Sponsorship roles
Dan Simmonite – Social Media and Marketing Consultant- supporting students in Media & Marketing roles
Florence Haines – Team Operations Manager (Women’s) at Football Association of Wales - supporting students in Facilities and Operations roles
Joshua Stockdale – National Football Development Officer at Association of Colleges Sport - supporting students in Community Engagement and Fan Experience roles
Benson Miyoba – Director and Founder at Two Seven Seven - supporting all students at Development Days to develop the soft skills to maximise their placement experience
To find out more about the programme, please visit the Emerging Club Leaders home page.Students from eligible universities can apply for roles from 1 October. Please view the student information pack to find out if your university is participating and how you can apply for roles via the EdExPro portal.
