UCFB has an Advisory Board of industry professionals which is chaired by Brian Barwick, whose career in sport, media and business includes his unrivalled experience as Chief Executive of the Football Association, Head of BBC Sport and Head of ITV Sport. He is chairman of Barwick Media & Sport and also Visiting Professor of Strategic Management at the University of Liverpool.

The Board’s role is to offer informed advice on the strategic direction of UCFB and to ensure its courses and activities are relevant to the real worlds of football and business.

Professor Brian Barwick

Chairman of the UCFB Advisory Board

Brian Barwick, UCFB Advisory Board

Chairman of the Rugby Football League and Super League

Chairman of the Football Conference

Former Chief Executive of The Football Association

Former Head of BBC Sport

Former Head of ITV Sport

Professor Philip Wilson

Provost & Chief Executive, UCFB

Director and Founder of UCFB

Professor Philip Wilson, UCFB Advisory Board

Professor Philip Wilson is a founder and creator of UCFB. Philip has created the ethos of the institution to put each student at the centre of everything that UCFB does.

Philip is a member of the Institute of Directors (IoD), the UK’s largest and oldest membership organisation for directors and professional leaders.

Graduating first class in the Management School with an MBA in Football Industries from the University of Liverpool, Philip was awarded the Paul Roy Award for outstanding achievement. His specialist area of academic interest is The Mitigation and Management of Financial Risk of Player Transfers and Manager Selection.

Philip is a Trustee of Burnley FC Community Sports Trust, a registered charity delivering community activities on behalf of Burnley Football Club.

Alastair Campbell

Former Government Director of Communications & Strategy

Alastair Campbell, UCFB Advisory Board

Alastair is a fanatical Burnley Football Club supporter. With ten years at the heart of government as a communications strategist and chief spokesman, he has a unique insight into the business of sport, politics and the media surrounding it. Alastair currently splits his time between writing, charitable fundraising and campaigns. He is the Chairman of fundraising for Leukaemia Research.

Neil Doncaster

Chief Executive of the Scottish Professional Football League

Neil Doncaster, UCFB Advisory Board

Neil was appointed as Chief Executive of the Scottish Professional Football League in July 2009, having previously held the same position at Norwich City FC. During his time at Norwich, he took an active role in English football, which included being a director of The Football League. In July 2008, he was elected to the board of The Football Association as one of two representatives of The Football League.

Martin Prothero

Former Senior Vice President, Sports Marketing, UMBRO

Martin Prothero, UCFB Advisory Board

Martin’s role encapsulated global responsibility for UMBRO’s relationship with the game at all levels, although Martin’s primary involvement was at the highest level of the sport. He cemented the UMBRO relationship with the FA over the last 25 years, many Club relationships such as Santos, FC Lille, Manchester City and many sponsorship agreements with players over that time including Alan Shearer, Michael Owen and Deco. Martin is also the former Director of Charlton Athletic Football Club.

A keen Burnley fan, he grew up watching his hero Dave Thomas and went on to play in the Burnley Youth team under Frank Casper.

Paul Fletcher MBE

Director and Founder of UCFB, Former Chief Executive at Burnley Football Club

Paul Fletcher, UCFB Advisory Board

Paul was appointed Chief Executive of Burnley Football Club in 2008. In his playing career, Paul was a popular figure as a Clarets player at Turf Moor as well as his home town club Bolton Wanderers.  In 1996 returned to Bolton Wanderers as Chief Executive and after two years at the Reebok he was invited by the FA to become Commercial Director of the new £500m Wembley National Stadium. He later took up the position as Chief Executive at the £64m Ricoh Arena in Coventry and joined the Board of Coventry City Football Club as Managing Director. Paul was awarded the MBE for services to football in 2007.

Mike Phelan

Assistant Manager at Hull City Football Club and Former Assistant Manager of Manchester United

Mike Phelan, UCFB Advisory Board

Mike has gained decades of experience playing football. As a player he spent most of his career at Burnley, Norwich City and Manchester United. He took up a role at Manchester United’s Centre of Excellence in the summer of 2001 and was then promoted to first-team coach. He was then appointed assistant manager of Manchester United. Mike has extensive experience with conducting interviews with programmes such as Match of the Day. Mike brings to UCFB a wealth of experience to help create a dynamic learning environment for our students to build both their knowledge of the industry and their career prospects.

Kelly Simmons MBE

Director of The National Game and Women’s Football at The FA

Kelly Simmons, UCFB Advisory Board

Kelly joined The FA after graduating from Warwick University in 1990. She has worked for the FA for more than 20 years and oversees the delivery of The FA’s National Game Strategy as the Director of the National Game. She is also a member of UEFA Grassroots Panel and FIFA Women’s Committee. She was made an MBE in 2001 for her achievements in football. Kelly was previously Head of Football Development, establishing The FA Football Development Department and delivering The FA Football Development Strategy.

Roger Maslin

Managing Director at Wembley National Stadium Ltd

Roger Maslin, UCFB Advisory Board

Ray Stubbs

Sports Broadcaster and Former Professional Football Player

Ray Stubbs, UCFB Advisory Board