From a young age, I was passionate about writing. I started a small magazine for my friends which grew in popularity before I started contributing to online website Total Football Magazine. I produced articles for the site before becoming sub-editor after winning their Young Writers award.
My prize for the Young Writers award – an executive box at Everton
It was at Total Football that I had the opportunity to work with Blackburn, Everton and Bury Football Club interviewing the likes of Alan Shearer and Henrik Larsson. I also wrote match reports which were published on the official club websites and covered a charity event at Ewood Park.
My first taste of match reporting – covering Bury vs. Huddersfield
I was offered a role at EA Sports as a data reviewer due to the analytical skills I had demonstrated. This position involved reporting on players and giving feedback which will shape their in game statistics for their FIFA franchise.
I also worked with Football Today Magazine as temporary editor producing match reports and general features and wrote a six-page spread in At the Match Magazine under the title ‘If He Were A Holiday Destination, He Would Be’.
My article was published in At The Match Magazine
I contributed for online football websites Sport.co.uk and Football.co.uk as a featured columnist where my articles amassed over 500,000 views.
I also had my work published by Soccerlens, The Boot Room, and Anfield Edition.
As well as my online work experience, I was invited to the Liverpool Echo newspaper to complete three days of work experience and had my articles featured in the paper during my time there.
After writing for various online publications, I decided to launch my own personal blog/website where I would compile all of my work in one place – The Beautiful Game.
My own personal blog has been running since 2015 covering football and MMA
I began contributing to Bread and Butter Football whilst studying my A-levels at Sixth Form. My articles were extremely popular and I was offered the role of Chief Writer which involves writing and editing articles for the site. Bread and Butter has led to many fantastic opportunities one of which was to interview Manchester City legends Joe Corrigan and Peter Barnes.
Attending Manchester City vs. Middlesbrough in an executive box
After completing my A-levels in business, psychology and IT, I received an offer to study at UCFB’s Etihad Campus to study multi-media sports journalism. Studying at a world-class facility was a once in a lifetime opportunity.
At UCFB, I had to opportunity to work with Sky Sport’s Peter Smith on a match day commentary course and covered a game at Blackburn Rovers which gave me great insight into the industry.
I am also a member of The Football Chat Show – a podcast ran by a group of mates discussing the wonderful world of football.
My next two years will be spent studying at the Etihad Stadium
Covering Blackburn Rovers alongside Peter Smith
Filming our weekly podcast at the Etihad
If you have any media/writing opportunities, please don’t hesitate to contact me via email – azoyen@hotmail.com.
The Beautiful Game 