Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
Carnegie School of Sport partnership
Leeds United Academy
We have been working with both Leeds United Boys and Girls Academies since 2016. The partnership allows us to offer research placements with the football club for both undergraduate and postgraduate students, helping to support its junior athletes in their coaching and development.
Our work sees us collaborate with both the Boys and Girls Academies. With the Boys Academy, we have set up a collaborative match-funded PhD between the University and the club, exploring the long-term athletic development of elite male players, as well as the club funding various MRes placements in the fields of nutrition and sports science.
Impact of our partnership
-
Student experience
The Girls Academy partnership offers a number of voluntary and funded student placements, providing our undergraduate, master’s and PhD students with valuable work and research experience, as well as allowing the Academy to receive support and expertise in the areas of sport science, strength and conditioning, nutrition and psychology.
-
Sports performance support
Our ongoing work with both the Boys and Girls Academies at Leeds United and the mutual support that we provide one another has helped the Girls Academy to achieve Tier 1 Plus status from the Football Association, making it one of just four clubs across the UK to hold this status. The Boys Academy also recently been promoted to a Category 1 Academy.
-
Internships and postgraduate research opportunities
The Girls Academy partnership offers a number of voluntary and funded student placements, providing our undergraduate, master’s and PhD students with valuable work and research experience, as well as allowing the Academy to receive support and expertise in the areas of sport science, strength and conditioning, nutrition and psychology.
-
Research with impact
Eoin Murray, formerly a PhD researcher and part-time lecturer at Leeds Beckett, now works at Leeds United Girls Academy as Director of Performance. He works alongside current and former Leeds Beckett students across the Academy’s multi-disciplinary teams to continually improve the support provided by the Academy to young female footballers.
Another alumna, Dr Stacey Emmonds, completed her studies at Leeds Beckett and went on to become Head of Academy Sport Science at Leeds United Boys for five years. After returning to Leeds Beckett as a lecturer in 2015, she now co-ordinates student research placements between the university and the Academy and is also Head of Athletic Performance for the Girls Academy.
-
Career opportunities
A key highlight of the partnership is the opportunities that it offers our students following graduation, with many of our alumni going on to secure jobs at Leeds United after working with the club as part of their studies.
