Universities near Premier League clubs attract more undergraduates, study finds

There are many things to consider when choosing a university: where is the best course, what is the campus like, who are the lecturers? And also, perhaps, how did the local football team get on last season?

According to research, students can be influenced in their choice of university in England by the performance of Premier League football clubs linked to the university’s town or city.

A study led by the University of Stirling suggests universities with successful local football teams may be more attractive for prospective students – but universities whose local teams struggle can see their application numbers drop.

Amid the deepening financial crisis facing universities – with warnings that tuition fees in England need to rise to £12,500 a year for them to break even – vice-chancellors should maybe consider donning their local team’s scarf and hoping they avoid the drop.

The study found that over the past 20 years, universities linked to football clubs relegated from the Premier League recorded a 4% to 8% drop in undergraduate admissions compared with those whose clubs survived.

In cases where the team bounced back to the Premier League after one season, the drop in admissions was about 4%, but that stretched to 8% if they did not immediately regain their place in the top tier.

“We found that having a football team that’s doing well can be a benefit to your admissions if you’re a university chancellor,” said Dr Carl Singleton, a senior lecturer in economics at the University of Stirling.

Researchers believe the increased brand awareness that comes from being in English football’s top flight helps lure students to associated universities. “Sport is an international language and football’s reach is incredible,” said Singleton. “The name recognition related to a place really matters.”

While understood to be the first study in England of its kind, the results did not come as a surprise to people working in university admissions, said Singleton, who added he had been contacted by admissions staff telling him they already knew the study’s findings. “The universities probably should know this already, but our paper is the first kind of one with the scientific evidence to back up the theory,” he said.

Universities already make efforts to capitalise on an association with a well-known local football club. For example, Bournemouth University – whose local team finished last season in 12th position in the Premier League – has referenced the club in its marketing materials, while staff from the University of Manchester have accompanied Manchester United on their pre-season tours in south-east Asia. “With the current environment in UK higher education, it wouldn’t be surprising to see more clubs attempting to form marketing links with their local football teams,” said Singleton.

The research, carried out with Birmingham Business School and the University of Reading, excludes small universities with fewer than 7,000 admissions a year and universities that could be associated with multiple teams, such as Manchester, Sheffield and London. It used data on annual admissions for UK universities from the Higher Education Statistics Authority and EPL season data from worldfootball.net.