UEFA · free preview
UEFA Strategic Communications Compact Course
The press conference, the interview, social media and the crisis: communicating for a club under scrutiny.
€3,400 (about £2,900) · four days face-to-face · for communications staff at clubs, leagues and associations
Free lesson · Media relations and the press conference
The course, and why a manager takes it
The UEFA Strategic Communications Compact Course is run by the UEFA Academy for the people who handle communications at national associations, clubs and leagues. It is the only notable UEFA-level qualification for club and association media officers.
| The real course | |
|---|---|
| Who it is for | Communications professionals already working for an association, club or league |
| Entry | Application through the UEFA Academy |
| Format | Four days, face-to-face |
| Cost | €3,400 |
| Assessment | Course completion — no exam, and no expiry |
| Curriculum | Media relations; social and digital strategy; crisis communication; interview and spokesperson skills |
There is no licence for press work in football. Club media staff are usually recruited on journalism or PR qualifications (the NCTJ route is common) plus experience. The Premier League and EFL oblige clubs to give the media access, but they certify no one.
In this game you take it as a manager in post. You are the club’s most-quoted voice, and you lead the press officer who briefs you every week. Learn their craft and you work with them, not around them.
Source: Specialist & support roles reference · UEFA Strategic Communications Compact Course
The syllabus: 4 modules, 15 lessons
- 1
Media relations and the press conference
- The course, and why a manager takes it free preview
- How a club’s communications function works
- The press conference as a performance
- Message discipline and matchday obligations
- 2
Social and digital strategy
- Owned channels and social platforms
- Players are broadcasters: the social-media policy
- Leaks, rumours and online abuse
- 3
Crisis communication
- Kinds of crisis, and preparing before one
- The first hour: speed, accuracy, one voice
- Never lie, people first, and how to apologise
- Sporting crises in public, and after-care
- 4
Interview and spokesperson skills
- Four techniques: bridge, flag, headline, pause
- The trap question: “Have you lost the dressing room?”
- Using the media strategically, and ethically
- The forgotten half: communicating inside the club