Premier League footballers graduate from PFA Business School — SkimNews
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- PFA Business School held its 2026 graduation ceremony at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium, with the cohort including Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (Everton), Taiwo Awoniyi (Coventry City) and former Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta.
- Cesar Azpilicueta told graduates he studied on the morning of Chelsea's 1-0 Champions League final win over Manchester City in Porto in 2021, and later completed an MBA at Harvard during his nine-year Chelsea spell after abandoning his degree when he turned pro at 17 with Osasuna.
- Taiwo Awoniyi, 29, has now earned three qualifications including a business management degree; he told BBC Sport the diploma was a promise to his father to keep studying while playing, and said he is "proud" to have done so.
- Awoniyi was placed in a medically induced coma in May 2025 after rupturing an intestine in a collision with a goalpost while playing for Nottingham Forest against Leicester City, an experience he cited when explaining why players should prepare for life beyond football.
- Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, 28, completed the postgraduate diploma in global football sport directorship while travelling by train from Merseyside to London, calling it preparation for a future role he hopes arrives "a long time" from now.
- Wycombe Wanderers defender Steve Cook, who captained Bournemouth in the Premier League earlier in his career, returned to formal education for the first time since school, with course sessions including input from Brighton chief executive Paul Barber.
Why it matters: The PFA's structured postgraduate diploma gives current Premier League players a credentialed route into football executive roles while still active, with industry figures like Brighton chief executive Paul Barber teaching sessions — formalizing a leadership pipeline that previously relied on informal scouting networks and post-retirement coaching badges.
Ask SkimNews
