What Comes After Winning the Premier League: Wes Morgan on Studying with GIS

Not many can say they’ve captained a Premier League-winning team, but GIS graduate Wes Morgan is one of the few who can.

Leading Leicester City to their iconic, 5,000–to–1 Premier League triumph in the 2015/16 season, Wes became only the third outfield player in Premier League history to play every minute of a title-winning season.

He is also the first Jamaican to win a Premier League medal and to score in the UEFA Champions League. It’s safe to say that the centre-back had a very accomplished career.

After retiring in 2021, Wes decided that he wanted to stay in the football world, choosing GIS to get his foot in the door.

“The transition from on-field football activities to academic learning, reading and writing has been a big change but it’s something that I’ve thought about pursuing post-career,” he said.

A club captain for most of his career, the responsibility that this brings has been influential on his future career goals, he explained.

“As a captain, I’ve always enjoyed that responsibility of being the bridge between players and staff and solving problems. That’s where my move into this side of the industry came from.”

“I want to be in a position where I’m making big choices and responsible decisions,” he added.

The ability to make decisions in high-pressure situations is key in the sports industry, and having worked with multiple managers throughout his career, Wes feels as though he’s been able to learn from them and their skill sets.

“I’d like to say I’ve studied those different managers and seen the attributes they possess. I’ve taken the best of those and adapted them into my own style and direction I’m heading in. I’d like to go into a senior leadership or management role and the qualities I’ve taken will definitely help me on my journey.”

“I’m at a stage now where I want to learn,” he continued. “I wouldn’t want to go into something and not be capable of completing the job or fulfilling the tasks.”

One of our ex-professional footballers who has studied at GIS, Wes advises any current athletes to start thinking about their future as soon as possible.

“You can’t be thinking ‘I’ll get to 35, then I’ll start thinking about what I want to do next’.”

“It’ll come quickly and before you know it you’ve not thought about the next step until you’ve actually finished. You need to start preparing for life after football as soon as possible.”

A current GIS student who has taken this advice is Harrison Bruton. Goalkeeper for Al Qabila FC in Dubai, Harrison started his MSc Performance Analysis in Football with us at 22 years old, telling GIS: “When you finish sport, you won’t want to sit around and do nothing, you’ll want something to aim towards a bit and have a goal, so working towards that before your career ends gives you a great head start.”

For those not sure where they’d want to take their career, Wes Morgan proposed some questions to consider.

“Ask yourself questions like what do I want to do, what are my interests? Once you’ve established that then start looking at courses, speak to people in those areas, or you can get a mentor to help you get the necessary qualifications and contacts to eventually start getting into your chosen area.

“The most difficult thing for players is actually taking that side of things seriously and being prepared for when it’s over. In football, you sometimes get blinded and only focus on the game. But it doesn’t last forever and you need to be prepared for life after football, so my advice is start preparing as soon as possible.”

Whether you’re an athlete planning for your next steps, or a student aspiring to break into the sports industry, our courses aim to provide you with the knowledge and network required to kickstart your career. To learn more, discover our course offerings page.

Article by Zakaria Anani