Meet our students: Erin

Erin undertook her placement with Burnley FC, working alongside their sports science team.

During my third year, I had a placement with Burnley FC. This came about because one of our lecturers works really closely with the football club academy and was able to get two places for students to work with them over the season. We had to put an application in and were interviewed and I was one of the successful applicants. Over the summer holiday, the placement was full time (four or five days a week) and is now one or two days a week through term-time, and I did it alongside my studies. We worked with the under-18s and under-23s, helping the sports science team. We did everything from hydration testing to load monitoring and data analysis. It was an amazing experience and it’s been so cool to see how a Premier League football club works from the inside.

Personally, I’m really interested in data analysis so I did their post-match and post-training data analysis, exporting from their trackers and importing into the monitoring system. Some players have to hit certain numbers (an injury prevention system), and if they don’t hit their high speed running or sprint distances, we ran some top-up exercises with them, but we help out wherever we’re needed. In the morning we might check fatigue markers, or help out in the gym, it’s an eclectic mix of things we’ve learned.

We did get to go to matches, which is great, but the training is where we get to put what we’re learning into practice.

It was just a brilliant experience to be learning from the Sports Scientists at a Premier League side*, for me especially because my ultimate goal is to work in elite women’s football.

*Erin’s placement was over the 2021/22 season.

Since graduating, Erin has successfully completed an MSc by Research in Medical Sciences focusing on elite women’s football with Manchester United

It was just a brilliant experience to be learning from the Sports Scientists at a Premier League side, for me especially because my ultimate goal is to work in elite women’s football.

A quote from Erin - BSc (Hons) Sports and Exercise Science