First South African woman graduates with prestigious UEFA certificate

Natalie Barlow has graduated with the highly prestigious Uefa certificate in football management.

Barlow, who is Cape Town City Football Club marketing brand manager, graduated in the period of 12 months after two international visits and ended the journey with an online e-graduation due to the pandemic.

She started her journey in August 2019 with an induction into the Uefa Academy, which was soon followed by the first official seminar at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.

The following seminar was conducted in London, England, at Wembley Stadium, which was followed by a series of lectures and seminars at the London Stadium, the home of West Ham United FC.

Due to the pandemic, which disrupted business as usual across the entire world, UEFA introduced their first-ever 100 per cent virtual simulated Uefa Champions League match day, which required the participants to join forces and run a complete match day, naturally including a series of trigger points and obstacles to overcome as a ‘normal’ Uefa Champions League match would be organised.

“This has been a challenging journey to get to my Uefa CFM graduation. We’ve been through some intense seminars, assignments and then Covid-19 turned everything on its head, but we certainly adapted in order to conquer it. The Uefa CFM programme has provided me with the necessary skills, tools and techniques to take my off-field skills to the next level.

“I have to thank my family, friends, CTC FC colleagues and the Uefa CFM First Open Edition Group for all the support. The class of 2020 is a very diverse group, which includes 22 different nationalities with positions covering a broad spectrum within the various aspects of the football industry.

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“A special thanks has to go to Cape Town City FC chairperson John Comitis for his leadership in pushing all of us at the club to improve ourselves and do our part to uplift the CTCFC brand as well as South African football. I am looking forward to sharing my knowledge and experiences with everyone at our club and the rest of the South African football fraternity,” said Barlow.

Barlow graduated on September 26, where she became the first South African to successfully complete the Uefa certificate in football management, joining the Uefa Academy alumni family – a platform where some of the top football minds from across the world share ideas and knowledge with the common goal of improving football as a whole.

“When the game starts, football belongs to the players. Yes, they are our stars, but for footballers to shine on the pitch, the hidden work of countless professionals across the industry’s multiple areas are required.”

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