College students lectured on politics and economics of football shirts

A former student and Oxbridge graduate returned to Solihull Sixth Form College this week to talk to Social Science learners about the politics and economics of football shirts and sponsorship.

Joey D'Urso was a student at the College from 2008 - 2010 and progressed onto the University of Oxford to study Philosophy, Politics and Economics. He has gone on to become a successful journalist and is currently senior data journalist at The Times and Sunday Times.

Politics students and other interested learners attended the talk, which was based on Joey's book, 'More Than a Shirt: How Football Shirts Explain Global Politics, Money and Power'.

In his talk, Joey discussed how football shirts reveal the stories behind global politics, money and power. For example, he highlighted how the shirt of Schalke reflects the war in Ukraine, how China’s foreign policy is connected to the shirt of West Bromwich Albion, and how worldwide migration patterns can be seen in the French national kit.

Joey also offered practical advice for students interested in pursuing journalism, and also shared insights on how AI is currently impacting his work and reshaping the jobs of the future in his industry.

Adam Iqbal-McLeod commented: "We are grateful to Joey for giving up his time to return to the College where he started his journey and pass on the benefit of his expertise to our current learners. Not only was it very interesting to see how politics and economics can be applied to the world of football, but our young people were inspired to hear of his journey since leaving the College."

Prospective learners and parents who are interested in learning about A level Politics or any of the College’s other A level, BTEC or T level courses, are urged to book free tickets to Open Evening on Wednesday, 26 November.

Timed-entry tickets are available from the College website.