Value Proposition
With a passion for exploring the social impact of football, I focus on assessing the value generated by a football club's activities within its local community — how they connect with their local context and create dialogue among different stakeholders.
Drawing on my academic research into social impact, as well as community and fan engagement, and through a collaboration with AFC Sudbury, a volunteer-driven, non-profit football club based in Suffolk, I have developed a social value assessment framework to evaluate the local economic and social impact of sports clubs, charities, and organisations, supporting community-based strategies and enhancing both funding opportunities and visibility.
'AFC Sudbury For Our Community' Social Value Project
AFC Sudbury promotes health, well-being, and social inclusion through programmes ranging from men’s and women’s football, grassroots football, the Youth Development Phase, and its Academy, to Walking Football and Disability Football.
Through surveys, interviews, and the analysis of qualitative, financial, and quantitative data, the framework provided strategic metrics to measure the club's impact from both economic and non-economic perspectives.
The analysis highlighted results such as the importance of increasing female role models within the Club and improving communication to raise awareness of its social activities, potentially strengthening brand reputation, enhance local engagement, and improve the organisation's overall positioning within its community, helping to attract new funding and revenue opportunities, as well as long-term decision-making within the Club’s business model.
‘The report provided a range of methodical recommendations for various strategies to further enhance the value that the club is directly generating for the defined community served’.
Patrick Bell, Former CEO and Director, AFC Sudbury
Think Fan Engagement
Since July 2025, I have been collaborating with Kevin Rye and his organisation, Think Fan Engagement, supporting ad-hoc research projects related to fan engagement across football and other sports.
The work consists of developing research that analyses data on how clubs engage with and involve fans in their activities and decision-making through the Fan Engagement Index, as well as identifying emerging trends in supporter behaviour and monitoring relevant policy developments in football and sports governance and regulation. This also includes related areas such as social and community.
Publications:
WORK IN PROGRESS
Where it started
October 2023
Master in Business Administration
My Master's dissertation examined how a football stadium can serve as a gathering space for the local community beyond matchdays. The research focused on a case study of London's East End – analysing its historical, social, cultural, and economic development – as well as the externalities of the 2012 Olympics.
I proposed a process through which football clubs can better understand the local context surrounding their ground, allowing them to design meaningful initiatives. This process can be integrated within clubs' business models and potentially help attract more local supporters and generate additional revenue.
September 2021
Bachelor in Business Administration
My Bachelor's dissertation explored the reasons and processes associated with the relocation of football clubs to new stadiums in the digital age. It focused on seven London-based clubs that changed or redeveloped their home grounds between 2005 and 2021. The aim was also to provide recommendations for supporting a successful transition, considering the perspectives of various stakeholders.