Club's reputation of producing talent continues to grow
Fleetwood Town’s reputation of producing top class interns continues to grow, with a number of individuals now taken on by the Club as staff after impressing in their previous roles.A number of students have walked through the Highbury doors in recent years to gain invaluable experience at a professional football club.
The work has opened their eyes to the day to day running of the Club, while also helping to expand their knowledge and expertise.
Personal and professional skills have been developed throughout their time at Highbury, and the below individuals have now become important members of staff.
Declan Cox, marketing and events officer with the Community Trust, first started working for the Club in 2012 whilst studying at Sheffield Hallam University.
Cox combined his studies for an events management degree alongside his duties at Fleetwood Town, and was a part of the Club for eight months.
He assisted in the ticket office while also enjoying time in the operations department, before being employed by the Trust in 2013.
Another to join the Club in the same year as Cox was Ashley Roche, who worked as a glass collector in Jim’s Bar before an opening arose to assist groundsman Dale Frith.
Roche first assisted Frith by relaying artificial surfaces down the sides of the Highbury pitch, before being offered a more senior position.
Alongside his duties, he has been studying for an apprenticeship since September 2012 and is due to complete this work in 2016.
Courtney Bushell is another to have followed a similar path to Cox, as he first contacted the Club’s Director of Community, Matt Hilton, in January 2013.
The local lad, who was in his second year of study at Leeds University, completed 90 hours of work experience at the Club whilst on placement.
Bushell spent a couple of weeks in the commercial and marketing departments, and was later asked to work the League Two Play-Off games by the Club.
In June 2014, following promotion to England’s third tier at Wembley, he was handed a role with the Cod Army as business development officer.
James Edwards, former Sports Journalism student at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston, became the Club’s youth team reporter in July 2013.
His work with the young Cod Army developed into a first team role, and he would often be seen on a weekly basis covering Graham Alexander’s side up and down the country.
In September 2014, he was offered a media position by the Club, and has since taken the extra responsibility in his stride.
Harry Squire decided that a college course was not for him so contacted the North Lancashire Training Group who put him in touch with Fleetwood Town.
He first started working for the Community Trust and assisted with admin tasks while also arranging sports camps.
In January 2014, he moved to work in the ticket office and Club shop before leaving for a position with BES, chairman Andy Pilley’s company, in March of this year.
Natalie Gradwell teamed up with the Cod Army in January 2014 whilst continuing with her studies at UCFB in Burnley.
The sport, business and finance student has assisted in the ticket office, shop and on matchday, while also helping out on the admin side too.
Tom Bestwick and Sam Gilliland, previous interns of the Club, now work for Derby County and Shrewsbury Town respectively, while Liz Owen was most recently at Kidderminster Harriers.