At Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium, the scene resembled an Oxbridge graduation ceremony, but those gathered in caps and gowns were Premier League footballers and former players who have won major honours in Europe and around the world. The PFA Business School was celebrating its 2026 cohort, which included Everton midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Coventry City striker Taiwo Awoniyi and Wycombe Wanderers defender Steve Cook.
Cesar Azpilicueta addressed the graduates. The former Spain defender, who retired from playing at the end of last season, recalled how studying on the morning of the 2021 Champions League final helped take his mind off the occasion before he captained Chelsea to a 1-0 win over Manchester City in Porto. He said education was not only about preparing for life after football but also about becoming a better version of yourself in your football career.
Dewsbury-Hall travelled by train from Merseyside to London for the event. The 28-year-old, who previously played for Leicester City and Chelsea, completed a postgraduate diploma in global football sport directorship. He said he hoped he had a long time left in football but was always trying to learn and develop away from the pitch. He added that he did not want to stop playing and then sit around doing nothing, and that if an opportunity ever presented itself, he would have something that could help him.
Awoniyi, 29, joined Coventry City from Nottingham Forest during the summer and remains part of Nigeria’s squad as they attempt to qualify for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations. He said the PFA qualification was his third, after a degree in business management and another diploma. Born in Ilorin, Nigeria, he progressed from the Imperial Soccer Academy to Liverpool before making his name in German football with Union Berlin. His father, Solomon, has previously spoken about his strict approach to education, which at times almost prevented his son from pursuing a career in football. Awoniyi said he promised his father that if he played football he would keep studying.
Awoniyi also pointed to the ups and downs of a footballer’s life, including the serious injury he suffered in May 2025, when he was placed in a medically induced coma after rupturing an intestine in a collision with a goalpost while playing for Nottingham Forest against Leicester City. He argued that football is not a 9-5 job and that every footballer has time in the evening for something like the business school, although it demands a lot and depends on willingness. He said there are many things bigger than football and that footballers are normal human beings too.
The PFA course is designed to run alongside a football career. Seminars are scheduled to minimise clashes with matches and training sessions, and players can study in their own time. Dewsbury-Hall said he had received some weird looks while studying on an iPad during journeys home from away games. The course includes sessions from prominent figures such as Brighton chief executive Paul Barber, aimed at helping students understand how different areas of the football industry operate.
For Steve Cook, the course marked a return to formal education for the first time since his school days. The Wycombe Wanderers defender, who captained Bournemouth in the Premier League earlier in his career, has already obtained coaching badges and knows he is approaching the end of his playing career.
Azpilicueta’s own path illustrates the balance between football and study. He turned professional with hometown club Osasuna at 17, continued studying until that point, abandoned his degree when he became a professional, and later completed an MBA at Harvard University in the United States during his nine-year spell at Chelsea. After ending his playing days with Atletico Madrid and Sevilla, he says he will not be rushing into his next role.
Many of this year’s graduates remain focused on playing football. But among them may be future coaches, executives and sporting directors who go on to influence the game in different ways.