I loved my time at College: I enjoyed the freedom it gave me and feel the added independence set me up well for life after College. Over the course of my two years, I played for the 2XI football team and the basketball team. Both clubs were great and I highly recommend joining a sports team as well as trying a new sport out.

College enabled me to find out what I was truly passionate about and gave me the direction I needed. At first, I wanted to go down the sport journalism route but through my PE studies, I decided I’d be better suited to sport science, as it was more active and practical.

My first-choice uni was Loughborough, as it seemed to be known as ‘the one’ to go to if you want to work in the sport industry. When I narrowly missed my grade offer, I took up a place at Liverpool John Moores University instead, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise: I found there were so many opportunities for practical and hands-on experience, and I really did throw myself into it.

During my second year, I knew I wanted to go down the nutrition path, so once I graduated, I stayed on in Liverpool and completed a Master’s in sport nutrition. Part of my Master’s year involved doing a placement with Aston Villa FC where, with the Head of Nutrition, I worked with the chefs to create menus; created fuelling and supplement plans for individual players; did body composition assessments and hydration tests; and produced material to educate and inform the players about how nutrition can help to optimise performance.

Ultimately, my placement led to a full-time internship with Villa’s first team that lasted two years. I got to travel with the team to both home and away games and was also part of their pre-season trips to Australia and Dubai.

After this, I felt ready to take on more responsibility and made the step-up to become Lead Nutritionist with Leicester City FC’s Academy and women’s team. Going from being an intern with limited responsibility to being in charge of not only the women’s first team but the whole academy for U12-U21 boys was daunting at first and still is at times! But 14 months in, I’m enjoying the challenges that each day brings. My plan is to carry on the project at Leicester and grow the nutrition department.

I’d say that if you want to work in professional sport you’ll almost certainly need a Master’s on top of your undergraduate degree. Sport Science is a popular degree and very broad, so pick an area to specialise in and study further, whether it’s strength and conditioning; psychology; nutrition; or analysis.

Working in football isn’t a Monday to Friday 9 to 5 job. You’ll work more hours than you’re contracted for and, for the most part, it can be quite poorly paid – it’s not as glamorous as you might think! You’ll work weekends and unsociable hours, but for me, it’s 100% worth it for the many benefits the job brings.

It’s crucial to ‘get yourself out there’ to gain experience and make connections. Working in sport is largely down to a combination of who you know and how hard you work. 90% of the time the people who you contact will be happy to answer your questions, and it will start to get your name out there and could open doors in the future.

Tom Jackson

Reigate College: 2015-2017

Higher Education: BSc Sport & Exercise Science and Master’s in Sport Nutrition, Liverpool John Moores University

Currently: Performance Nutritionist, Leicester City Football Club Women’s First Team (Women’s Super League) and Boys Academy (U12-U21s)