Crusaders Football Club Announce Partnership With Belfast Met

Crusaders Football Club has announced a new partnership with Belfast Met to offer employment opportunities with the club and their partners which will give students vital work experience to learn new skills to prepare them for the world of work.

Ronnie Millar, Chairman at Crusaders FC said: "Crusaders Football Club are delighted to be working with Belfast Metropolitan College on this exciting new project. The Crusaders Football Academy will create a pathway for elite footballers, male & female, with access to quality teaching & learning in subject areas of choice. We look forward to developing our relationship with the college with the addition of other community education projects at Seaview."

Sharon Rivers, Head of Health, Wellbeing and Inclusion at Belfast Met is delighted with the new Crusaders Football Academy at Belfast Met and is looking forward to the programme starting with students. She highlighted: "This really is a ground-breaking football academy which brings together the football success and employability skills opportunities afforded by Crusaders FC with the extensive education experience and learner success of Belfast Metropolitan College.

She added: "This academy will afford young aspiring footballers a truly unique opportunity to choose to study from a range of internationally recognised full time level 3 qualifications, including Sport. We are delighted to be the education partner of choice for Crusaders FC in this new venture."

Fiona Dempsey, Head of Belfast Business School at Belfast Met, confirmed: "Here at the Business School, we are very excited to welcome Crusaders Football Academy students with the opportunity to gain a Level 3 qualification in Event Management or Business. The students will have endless opportunities to put these newly acquired skills to use during their time at Crusaders and into a lifelong career."

Ian McCormick, Head of Creative and Digital Industries at Belfast Met, added: "We are delighted to be supporting this innovative academy programme with opportunities for participants to obtain a Level 3 qualification in Creative Media Production.  This will allow academy students to develop skills in content production for both social media and broadcast platforms and gain wider digital skills to support their career choices."

Applications for the Crusaders Football Academy and other courses with Belfast Metropolitan College will open on 25th January 2022.