The Certificate in Professional Football Management and Administration operates as a partnership venture between the Global Institute of Sport (GIS), the League Managers Association (LMA), and the Institute of Football Management and Administration (IFMA). Since its introduction in the late 1990s, the CPFMA has become widely recognised as the ‘industry-standard' qualification for administrators employed within professional football. To date, the Certificate has been studied for by representatives from FIFA, the Football Association, the Premier League, the Football League and more than two thirds of the country’s professional football clubs.
Split into six modules and completed part-time over a two-year period, the course is designed to develop knowledge and understanding of a range of football club operations. This includes core components of football administration and regulation, as well as finance, media operations, human resource management, law, and equality, diversity, and inclusion.
Modules
Social issues, core concepts, law/policy, words/behaviours, leadership/change.
Football regs, disciplinary matters, contracts, transfers, betting and intermediaries.
Finance basics, Big-Five picture, regulation, reading financial statements, contemporary issues.
Civil and criminal law, legal principles.
Managing TV, radio, press, social/new media.
Structures and cultures, recruitment and management.
Programme Leader
Richard holds degrees from the University of Winchester (BA Hons), the University of Leicester (MSc) and Loughborough University (PhD). He has 20 years' experience working with elite athletes, clubs, associations and major sports brands.
Read moreLearning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the course, learners should be able to:
- Identify a range of issues related to equality, diversity, and inclusion in football contexts, and be able to apply suitable approaches to address them.
- Interpret rules and regulations as they relate to a range of football contexts and the ways in which they should be administered
- Demonstrate knowledge of football finance and the role that its effective management plays in football club operation.
- Recognise basic principles of law and evaluate their application as they relate to football clubs.
- Explain the relationship that exists between football and the media and evaluate the suitability of media and practices to given sporting contexts and environments.
- Describe the ways in which human resource management is applied in professional football club environments.
Entry Requirements
Applicants must be members of the League Administrators Association (LAA) and must commit to attending six in-person sessions held at Wembley Stadium in each of the two years of their studies.
Fees
Click here to register your interest and find out more about the course, including fees.
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