Morecambe FC’s new Globe Arena will be the club’s new home from the coming football season
Many kids in England want to be professional footballers. When that dream gets crushed, around age 14, most would settle for the next best thing: working in football.
Stephen Yeung is doing the next best thing. Yeung, who was born in Preston and whose parents came to the UK from Hong Kong, is a project manager at Morecambe Football Club.
Yeung, an alum of Lancaster University Management School, took time to tell us how he made the jump into UK professional football.
What were you doing before your MBA?
Before my MBA I was head of Sport, Culture and Volunteering at Kings College London. I managed a team that was responsible for delivering a large and diverse program of sport, culture and volunteering opportunities to our 22,000 students at our four campuses across London.
I also headed a special projects unit which included delivering the King’s College London Fresher’s Fair which is the single largest event that the institution holds every year.
What did you learn on the Lancaster MBA program?
Three main things. Firstly, I accrued a large amount of knowledge regarding many facets of business ranging from marketing to strategy, from change management to brand management and many more topics in between.
Second, I learned how these different facets of business interact with each other, for example, how a strategy decision can influence how the business operates its finances or even how it can influence organizational behavior.
Thirdly, I would say I learnt the most about myself and how I operate as a manager, leader and an individual under all manner of different pressures.
The intensity of the program holds no prisoners and it was definitely one of the most challenging experiences of my life.
However, the fact that everyone is experiencing the same pressures binds everyone together and even made the experience enjoyable to some degree!
Lancaster alumni Stephen Yeung is now a project manager at Morecambe Football Club
How did you land the role at Morecambe football club?
As part of my sports marketing dissertation, I worked on a live project with Morecambe Football Club analyzing their income and expenditure streams as they were preparing the business plan for their new stadium.
A couple of months after my graduation, I was contacted by their Executive Director and asked to manage various elements of strategic planning for new business units, their organizational development and their marketing operations. As I was already integrated into the project and familiar with the key players, I was able to hit the ground running from day one.
What are the best and worst parts of the job?
The best part is that I am mixing two of my passions, professional football and business. I have been able to apply a lot of what I learned from my MBA and the fact that this is in an arena that greatly interests me is most certainly a bonus!
There’s no “worst part of the job” so to speak but the degree of change on a day-to-day basis sometimes makes it challenging to effectively manage projects.
As a recent MBA, what's it like managing in a professional football club?
At the moment, I am working in an office that is away from the site of the new stadium so it doesn’t feel as if I am working in football.
I’m sure that when we eventually move into the new state-of-the-art Globe Arena, which is complete with conferencing and banqueting facilities, corporate hospitality rooms and outdoor sports facilities, I will feel like I have finally arrived at a professional football club!
Most Asian parents want their children to be doctors or lawyers. What do your parents think about your job?
I don’t think my parents had dreams of me working in football but I certainly hope I will do them proud!
What would you say to someone who is considering Lancaster right now?
I would say that you must know why you want to do an MBA at this stage of your life. It is a very expensive process and will certainly put you under a degree of stress and pressure as well as moving you well out of your comfort zone.
However, if you are prepared to work hard, it can be fun and you will make some friends for life.
As with all management schools, LUMS has it strengths and its weaknesses. Its strengths are undoubtedly its program that is comprehensive and diverse. The practical nature of the course is also excellent as you get to work with companies on projects that matter. This complements the class learning very well.
Sunny Li, former staff writer at BusinessBecause.com, is a football journalist at CuJu8.com, the English Premier League's official broadcast partner in China. He also commentates football matches for IMG.
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