He is Romanian, he works at Aston Villa and he loves another team of England. The story of Stefan Ferencz

In the past he was also employed by FRF, but now he is active in the sphere of English football, for the Aston Villa Foundation, given that the heart beats for another team of England. Bournemouth study years made him fall in love with local teamwhich he supports including when he plays … Villa Park.

Here is the friendly story of one of the few Romanians who can say that they work around the most important club football in the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fszx2263QH0

A working day at the Aston Villa Foundation

– Grants Officer at the Aston Villa Foundation. Explain to us, please what your function entails.
– It's a little special, niche. My role is within the Aston Villa Foundation, a separate club entity, as a kind of non-profit organization. It's like a kind of social responsibility department within the club and it is very high, we have somewhere at 70-80 employees. My role is to attract non -reimbursable funds for different humanitarian projects we carry out. We are talking about a large volume of proposals for different institutions, from the government to the Local Council and the National Lottery, other NGOs and Local Affairs.

– Describe us what a day at work looks like for you.
– First of all, I have to enter through hundreds of emails received especially from smaller organizations that want to work with us. We are a huge brand in Birmingham and we get many partnership requirements. Then, a good part of the job assumes to be aware of all that means fund opportunitiesif something new opens and how we can align our projects to the requirements of the respective fund. If we think: “OK, this is the fund we want to access”, it is my responsibility to talk to the department managers within the Foundation, to see where the respective funds are better.

– What kind of projects are you running?
– Anything, from informal education for children who do not adapt to the school environment to people with disabilities, immigrants who have arrived in England, who can be a little struggling with social integration or even projects for adults who have had mental health problems. There are many projects we work with, somewhere at 20-25 at the moment, and they all need funding, because we offer them free of charge.

Has the office at Villa Park

– Is there a financial contribution from the club?
– Not directly, but we have a very good relationship with the club. They, for example, offer us space, offices, all are at the stadium and we do not pay rent. They help us with whatever means equipment, from laptops to printers. We have no accountant, we call the one within the club, which exempts us from certain expenses. But direct donations from the club are not. We have some benefit from Premier League, the fact that Villa is in the Premier League helps us to attract funds.

– How open to “pocket” are the local authorities for this social component?
– They are quite open, especially if the proposals are relevant. As long as what we present reaches certain strategic points or aligns with their strategic plan, the funds are quite easy to access. Since Brexit limits our access to European funds, so we have more resort to local authorities.

– What kind of actions do the Foundation undertake? Are there any events that involve players from the first team?
– There are a few actions involving players. It all depends on their availability. The more loaded the program, especially now, with internal and external competitions, it is more difficult to bring them to activities. It also depends on the preferences of the players, if they have an affinity to a particular subject. May have had family people affected by certain problems and want to get involved in our projectsbut it depends on their program, availability. Normally, when they come to actions it is more to attract donations and participants from fans. When you have the presence of a player at an activation, the donations automatically increase.

“The Aston Villa brand brings much greater donations”

– From what you have noticed, from your experience, would you say that the premier league teams are used enough to have the image and impact, to draw attention to and to promote such social causes?
– All clubs in the first 4 leagues, 92 professional clubs, have the same system as ours. They all have a charitable entity, whose purpose is to use football as a vehicle that will bring positive things into society. Sure, automatically, at the Premier League these organizations are much bigger, with much more employees. They want these departments to serve as a path between clubs and local communities.

– Is it easier to develop charitable projects representing Aston Villa than another charitable organization? Is the community more open to resonate with your foundation, given that you represent a club that means a lot to the city?
– Automatically, the Aston Villa brand brings much higher donations. Really, open doors. If we need something from the Local Council, the world recognizes the logo, identity and we have much higher chances to talk to local councilors, business. Many business owners in Birmingham are Aston Villa fans, and this helps us a lot in collaborations.

Studied in Bournemouth. “The Cherries” conquered him

– How does a boy in Romania get to work at a Premier League club? I ask from a professional perspective: What and where did you study?
– I attended sports management courses at the University of Bournemouth. I worked all the time in sports, at the Local Council level, at a sports consulting firm until I got here. At the beginning of the career I was very focused on the commercial side of marketing. I arrived in this field somewhat by chance, by luck, but I realized that this kind of work brings greater satisfaction unless I worked with sponsors or in the commercial department.

2014-2015It is the period when Stefan worked in the Romanian Football Federation, as a Marketing Officer

– You have studied in the south of England and you are now almost in the heart of the country, in Birmingham.
– Exactly, exactly. Perhaps the desire to go to the south of England was related to the fact that I was born and raised in Constanta. Now I'm in the middle of the country, practically.

– In Bournemouth you have developed an affinity against the local team, as far as I saw.
– Yes. I was all the follower of the slogan: “Support the local team!” Although I was watching football in England, I never had a team to favor especially. When I moved to England, I started to go to matches at Bournemouth. Then they were in League One, the third division. In no case would I have thought that in 5-10 years they would reach the Premier League. Many older fans do not now believe that we have a team that competes with the biggest stars in the Premier League.

– Do I understand that in Romania do you hold with the Lighthouse?
– Exactly, exactly. I haven't been to the Lighthouse for some time. Keep in mind that when I went to matches the team was not in a good time. He had retrograde in the second league, it was a strange time in the club's history (No – about the former Lighthouse, not Gică Hagi's team).

– What attracted you to Bournemouth?
– Maybe the feeling of local community they had. He was not a club admired by fans from abroad. You were going to the match and 99% of spectators were locals. The stadium was not imposing, it reminded me of football in Romania from certain points of view, with 5-6 thousand fans at the stadium at that time. I liked this, the small, flirty stadium, the working players and the coach who is now very loved by fans, Eddie Howe. He did a lot for the club.

“When Bournemouth comes to Villa Park, I stay in the guest lawns”

– No one gets you from the club on this topic? Do you work at Aston Villa and support another team from Premier League?
– Not necessarily. Many colleagues even saw me, when Bournemouth comes and plays Villa Park sit in the guest's lawn. They saw colleagues with the scarf and asked me what I was looking for there. In the team there are fans of various clubs, Arsenal, Chelsea, even Birmingham City. It is much greater controversy there, because of the rivalry.

– How much does the culture and habits of Bournemouth differ from Birmingham and where was it harder to adapt?
– I couldn't say it was a big cultural difference. Birmingham is a larger city, but it is the same country, with the same people, the same habits. Indeed, football culture is different. Aston Villa has a much greater tradition in football, perhaps among the first 8 in the country all-time.

– The first match you saw live in England?
– I don't know exactly, I was really thinking a few days ago, because I still keep all the tickets from the matches I go to. On average I went to 9-10 matches per season. It's about 15 years since I'm here I have been to at least 150 matches. Most likely the first match was the third league. Bournemouth with … I don't know exactly who.

– Where's the better atmosphere on Villa Park or Vitality Stadium?
– Maybe I will have a biased opinion and I will say Vitality (no – laughs) … No, you cannot compare 10 thousand spectators with 40 and something of thousands. Automatically, the noise is much higher here. They are very passionate, Villa has gone through many difficult periods in recent years and has been reborn since promoting.

I think even the biggest, focused fan Aston Villa would not have expected to reach the quarters. With UNAI Emery, the ascent was very fast: from a position close to relegation to European competitions in just a few months, and in the next qualification in the Champions League. The club is going through a very, very good period.

Played Villa Park!

– You also played a demonstrative match on Villa Park.
– It was a staff match. We were offered the opportunity to make a team of the foundation and play against one of the local affairs. It was a great experience. I mean … you don't even realize how big the land is, but then you sprint from the defense until the middle of the field and you can already breathe! But to walk on that lawn, to shoot at the gate … It was a unique, unforgettable experience!

• On Tuesday evening, Aston Villa will receive the visit of the PSG in the return of the Champions League. Stefan and all the supporters of the “lions” hope that UNAI Emery's players will overthrow the handicap in the tour, 1-3.