Working in football content creation
Making videos with fans and players at his local football club is all in a day's work for Jacob.
He's a content creator for Bolton Wanderers FC, coming up with new ideas for social media, filming videos and posting them onto official pages. The aim is to encourage people to follow the club.
Jacob:
If someone would've said to me I'd be doing this as a job when I was 12, I wouldn't have believed them.
My name's Jacob. I'm a content creator, and I work with Bolton Wanderers.
My role here at Bolton is coming up with new ideas for social media, to try new concepts, filming stuff, and then posting them onto Bolton's pages and trying to help people follow the club. In my opinion, I think it's one of the funnest jobs in football, and it's brilliant.
Jacob to footballer:
Right. Welcome to Bolton, Larra. I hope I said that right. I'm going to teach you some Bolton twang to help you settle in.
Jacob:
My passion for football when I was growing up started at a very young age. My dad used to take me to the football matches, and I got my very first season ticket when I was five years old in the 2010/11 season, when Bolton was in the Premiership. Being something I loved as a kid, to turn it into my job is amazing.
I work here at least two days a week, obviously filming content, producing content,and then on match day, I'll be filming mostly with fans, and I love it.
Jacob to fan:
What's Bolton as a town?
Fan:
As a town? Well, for us, it's lovely. Yeah.
Jacob:
Mondays, meetings. We have the marketing meeting, so that gives you an idea of what the week holds, what I'm going to do on a match day with the fans. And then in the week, I either film in with players, retail, commercial,whatever department needs help producing videos.
Some of the skills I use, I think one of them's got to be communication. You've got to be able to talk to people, talk to fans, and if you're watching this and you're a bit shy, or you think you can't communicate with people as well, I was like that inhigh school, so you learn it as you get older. But working in football, you've got to be adaptable because one minute you're doing a new signing, next minute you're working with the players, next minute it's a match day, next minute the season's over.
I'd say another one is being creative. That's probably the most important one because without being creative, you won't be able to put a video together.
So when I was 16 in high school, that's where my journey started. I did videos, which got me a number of followers. I always struggled in the classroom side in high school, but creating content and creating ideas and being creative, I was always really, really good at in high school, whether that would be doing something drama-related or English, writing, creating stories. I always knew I had a passion for creative pieces of work and being able to now do it as a job, it suits me down to the ground.
I didn't go to college. I didn't go to uni. I left high school with no GCSEs, but I've always had a real passion for football, so that's how I got in contact with Bolton Wanderers. I started doing some videos here at Bolton with the fans and that, and then it turned into going to the training ground and filming with the players, working with the commercial team, retail team, all the different departmentsaround the football club to eventually getting a paid role in football.
I think don't wait for an opportunity to come to you. Get out there and try. If you're good at it, it does then sometimes lead into getting a role there. But if it doesn't, then you've also created a portfolio working with different people, different businesses, different companies, and it's really good for your CV and for future opportunities with different companies.
The highlight of my career so far, probably looking back, being resilient enough to create my own career path in doing something I love.
Jacob to footballer:
When you score this season, you might be chuffed.
Footballer: Chuffed?
Jacob to footballer:
Yeah.
Jacob:
If you're passionate about football, you're a bit creative, and you're good in front of the camera, content creation infootball might be a job for you.
To find out what other careers you can have in football, explore the BBC Bitesize Follow Your Passion collection.
My passion for football started at a very young age. To turn something I loved as a kid into my job is amazing
Jacob's career pathway
- Grew up loving football, went to Bolton Wanderers FC games with his dad and got his first season ticket at the age of five!
- At school, he made viral videos about rating school dinners
- Left high school without GCSEs but loved creative subjects like English, drama and writing
- Contacted Bolton and started making videos with fans
- A growing audience for his videos led to more work at Bolton, including making videos with players and different departments at the club
What's career progression like in football content creation?
There are many different ways to develop a career in football content creation, from apprenticeships to freelance work and full-time employment. It isn't just about making videos - content creators need to understanding their audience, respond to analytics and adapt material for different platforms
Jacob works as a content creator for Bolton Wanderers and his career progression has followed this path:
Voluntary work at Bolton --> Professional content creator
While it might look simple, he's had to be resilient - and one of the biggest obstacles he faced was convincing Bolton to create his role. "Don't wait for an opportunity to come to you," he says. "If you're good at it, it does then sometimes lead into getting a role. If it doesn't, you've created a portfolio and it's really good for your CV and future opportunities."
Jacob's top tips for getting into football content creation
- Create your own career path: Get out there and work with different clubs and companies to see where it leads you. Jacob explains: "The more work you put in, the more you get out",
- Be adaptable: You'll be filming at matches, chatting with players and fans and trying out new concepts, depending on what your audience is responding to. Being ready for anything will get you a long way.
- Hone your communication skills: It's essential to be comfortable talking to everyone from supporters and coaching staff to footballers. Don't worry if you're not quite there yet - Jacob says he was shy in school, but his communication skills improved as he got older.
How much can you earn as a football content creator?
Jacob says salaries can range from £26,000 to around £40,000 for roles like his. Like him, some content creators start by doing it as a hobby while they improve their skills. While some content creators are full-time employees, many are freelancers so their average salaries can be variable.
Find out more about the role of a content creator below. Content creation roles can come under a range of titles including social media manager or content manager.
What to expect if you want to be a football content creator
- Content creator average salary: Variable
- Content creator typical working hours: Variable, especially if you're freelance or self-employed. Jacob works two days a week, and on match days, but for other people it could be a full-time role.
What qualifications do you need to be a football content creator?
You could get into this role via a college course (to get practical skills in video editing and production, or a T Level in Marketing), an apprenticeship, volunteering, short private training courses and also teaching yourself.
This information is a guide and is constantly changing. Please check the National Careers Service website for the latest information and all the qualifications needed and the GOV.UK website for more on T-levels.
For careers advice in all parts of the UK visit: National Careers Service (England), nidirect (Northern Ireland), My World of Work (Scotland) and Careers Wales (Wales).
Explore more from Bitesize Careers Follow Your Passion
Bitesize Careers, in partnership with The Open University, has launched the Follow Your Passion campaign, exploring how you can draw on your passions and interests to find your future jobs, with the focus on football.
From content creation to computer game design, nutrition to number-crunching, check out the Bitesize Careers Follow Your Passion collection for loads of inspiring careers content.
Bitesize Careers Follow Your Passion
Find more careers in football on the Bitesize Careers Follow Your Passion page.
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