Ulster University’s Centre for Sport in Society recently hosted a hugely successful Football Collective Conference bringing together over 170 delegates from over 60 institutions and 17 countries to explore football’s profound social, cultural and political significance locally, nationally and internationally.
In keeping with The Football Collective’s mission to become ‘the academic voice of football’ and ‘bring critical debate to our game’, the conference explored ways to build on existing work and offer new directions for shaping critical research and applied agendas in football.
Conference activities commenced on the Belfast campus with a talk titled ‘The Realities of Global Football and Talent Development’ led by Callum Irving, High-Performance Learning and Exchange Lead at FIFA, the world governing body for football. This was followed by two packed days at the Clearer Twist National Stadium at Windsor Park where academic researchers, students, practitioners, policymakers and industry experts came together to participate in 70 panel presentations, interactive workshops, and lots of networking.
The keynote sessions were a highlight with Professor Alan Bairner, formerly of Ulster University, sharing lessons from over 20 years of researching and offering policy advice on the politics of football in a divided Northern Ireland.
Ulster University’s Dr Katie Liston took part in a powerful keynote panel on online hate/harm in football with Jamie Hunt, Head of Digital Media at Sky Sports and Michael Carvill, Chief Executive Officer of the Professional Footballers Association of Northern Ireland.
Ultimately, the conference offered a vital platform to explore key issues in football, while reaffirming the School’s mission to lead, inspire and shape the future of sport and strengthening Ulster University’s strategic partnership with the Irish Football Association.
Dr Kyle Ferguson, Head of the School of Sport and Exercise Science and Chair of the Football Collective Conference 2025, brought the conference to Northern Ireland for the first time, said:
“The Football Collective conference not only enabled Ulster University to showcase its sports-related research and industry networks to an international audience, it also generated substantial economic benefits to the city. It is through our research and industry partnerships, such as the unique educational collaboration with the Irish Football Association, that we continue to inform and shape debates about the future of sport.”
Dr Paul Darby, Ulster University’s Centre for Sport in Society Lead and Chair of the conference Scientific Committee, added:
“The conference provided a timely opportunity for researchers, practitioners and policymakers in football to discuss and debate a range of salient issues in the game. The success of the conference has further cemented the place of Ulster University’s Centre for Sport in Society at the forefront of the social scientific study of football (and sport) locally, nationally and internationally.”
The Football Collective Conference 2025 was supported by the Belfast and Northern Ireland Conference Subvention Scheme through Visit Belfast, Belfast City Council and Tourism NI.
Find Out More:
To learn more about the Centre for Sport in Society, please visit www.ulster.ac.uk/research/topic/sport-and-exercise-sciences/centres/centre-for-sport-in-society
