BA (Hons) Sports Journalism, 2009
UCLan Sports Journalism graduate, Treve Whitford, has worked his way up the ranks and is now Head of MarComms and Customer Experience for Yorkshire County Cricket Club, where he has the responsibility to develop and oversee the marketing, communications, ticketing and retail strategy.
At the Headingley based club, Treve manages a team of three who cover all matchday activation, media management, printed materials, design, digital strategy and much more.
As a student, Treve wanted to fully prepare himself for a sports journalism profession so took on several voluntary work placements at Preston North End and local commercial radio stations. He said:
“We were told on the course that it’s what you do besides your degree that makes you standout and how essential it is to do voluntary stuff.
“The lecturers were all really supportive and gave great insight into this field which was invaluable, plus everyone on the course had a common interest in sport.”
After completing his degree in 2009, as Treve enjoyed writing and had been doing match reports for the women’s youth and reserve teams, it took just three months to land himself a job and it is here that his career began.
In October 2009, having been urged to apply for a Press Officer vacancy, Treve joined Preston North End FC where he dealt with interview requests with the players and produced written and video content for the clubs' various online and printed publications. He said:
“The degree at UCLan enabled me to develop my written skills, as well as gain an understanding of video and radio productions.”
After 18 months at the club, due to the looming threat of redundancy and a keen interest to broaden one’s horizons, Treve came to the decision to leave Preston North End as he wanted to gain more experience in a wider field.
In landing the role of Digital Delivery Manager at Lancashire County Cricket club, Treve was handed the task of increasing ticket sales at Lancashire and England matches taking place at Emirates Old Trafford and to date his biggest achievement is a digital campaign that he ran for the England v South Africa match where in just over one month, ticket sales had doubled and revenue had increased.
After a short stint at LCCC, Treve moved onto a marketing role at Leeds City Council where his job was to promote the city’s gym memberships and encourage participation in sport and active lifestyles through various Sport England initiatives.
Remaining in the Yorkshire region, Treve moved to Yorkshire County Cricket Club in 2015 where her was promoted to Head of Marketing and Communications, followed by another promotion to his current role as Head of MarComms and Customer Experience.
Speaking of his first impression of the world of journalism, Treve said it’s vital to “build trust” with all stakeholders in the sporting world and to always work hard and be reliable as reputation goes a long way. He added:
“My biggest piece of advice is to be passionate about what you are doing and writing about, as the reader/listener etc will pick up on this and it’s crucial in order to create engaging content.”