Dewsbury-Hall completes sporting directorship diploma with future options in mind

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has completed a postgraduate diploma in global football sport directorship, according to BBC Sport. The Everton midfielder is among the PFA Business School’s 2026 graduates alongside Coventry City striker Taiwo Awoniyi, whose account of continuing his education offers another perspective on studying during a playing career.

Dewsbury-Hall’s diploma and possible future opportunities

Explaining his motivation to BBC Sport, Dewsbury-Hall said he was always trying to learn and develop as a person away from the pitch. His explanation places personal development at the centre of the decision to study, giving the qualification a purpose alongside his work as a footballer.

Whether he uses the diploma in the future remains to be seen, he told the BBC. If an opportunity presents itself, he said, he has something that can help him. In that sense, his account frames the course as preparation for a possibility, with its eventual use still open.

Awoniyi’s third qualification fulfils a family promise

Awoniyi told BBC Sport that he already held a degree in business management and another diploma, making this his third qualification. That detail gives his place in the graduating cohort a different personal context: this latest achievement forms part of a sequence of qualifications alongside his football career.

The striker traced his continued studies to a promise to his father: if he played football, he would keep studying. His account adds a family commitment to the educational story. Read alongside Dewsbury-Hall’s explanation, it shows how the two players describe distinct personal reasons for pursuing learning while playing.

How study fits around matches and training

BBC Sport reports that the course is designed to run alongside a football career, with seminars scheduled to minimise clashes with matches and training sessions. That scheduling addresses a practical part of combining the two commitments: making room for organised study around the demands of training and competitive fixtures.

Dewsbury-Hall also gave the BBC a glimpse of how studying featured in his football routine. He said he had received some unusual looks while working on an iPad during journeys home from away games. His example brings the subject down to an everyday setting: academic work on the return journey after an away match.