Phil Sainsbury - "Its Like a Hobby I Get Paid For"

Phil described his path to where he is now as ‘different to many others’. When he left school, he ended up working full time for Aberdeen Leisure at the Beach Leisure Centre and Ice Arena. He then managed to secure a job with Aberdeen Journals as an admin assistant and progressed through to become national sales manager for newspaper advertising.

It was around this time that he went to visit one of his friends in Hertfordshire who had just become a football match director at Sky Sports. He went to a Luton Town football match which was being directed by his friend. Phil stood with the then floor manager of the broadcast, Nick Beaumont. Phil was curious to see what Nick's role was, so he watched him closely and picked up a basic understanding of the job.

Three days later, Phil went to another match where Nick took unwell just before the broadcast, so the radio and headphones were passed onto Phil and the rest is history. 24 years later Phil is still working as a floor manager for BT Sport and other broadcasting companies.

Phil told us that the best thing about his job is that; “It’s like a hobby that I get paid for. If you love sports, in particular football, then doing live outside broadcasts are fun. You also get the chance to know a lot of the teams in terms of players and managers and build relationships with them."

The worst thing, however, “is driving long distances driving back and forth to games as well as having to set off very early in the day and on occasions travelling back in the early hours of the morning. Also, as it is an industry where you can’t really pick and choose your dates and games, you do have to sacrifice social occasions such as Boxing Day, weddings, birthdays etc”

What advice would you give to someone who would like to get into the creative industries based on your own personal experiences?

Get a foot in the door in a role such as a runner and be polite and speak to everyone regardless of their stature. It is about building good relationships and trust with managers, media officers and match officials.

Be prepared to travel far and wide at unsociable hours and don’t be scared to work on all sports not just football.

Working in football: https://www.jobsinfootball.com/broadcast-media-technology
What is outside broadcast: https://www.mediacollege.com/video/outside-broadcast/
What does a TV floor manager do: https://www.mediacollege.com/employment/television/floor-manager.html
BBC runner jobs: https://careerssearch.bbc.co.uk/jobs/job/runner/7209

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