Friday 29 December 2017 14:01, UK
Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany has graduated with a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degree.
The Belgian, who has won two Premier League titles, was awarded a merit grade and achieved a distinction with a score of 72 on his dissertation project after studying at Alliance Manchester Business School on their part-time Global MBA.
His dissertation looked at how professional football clubs in the Premier League can benefit from home game advantage and achieve game-changing levels of improvement.
"I've always felt education is very important and this was instilled into me by my late mother from an early age," Kompany said. "It felt like a fitting tribute to my mother to pursue my academic career by studying an MBA.
"When you're playing football at the top levels, even managing your personal finances starts to become like running a business. It was important to me that I understood what my accountant was talking about and that I could confidently assess a business plan to take ownership of this area of my life."
He added: "I'm an entrepreneur at the core so have a natural interest in business. The MBA was about backing this up with academic learning and research.
"Football is more than a sport. It impacts social issues and is big business. I was able to focus my research on the football industry and how clubs can benefit from home advantage. Part of this involved interviewing 25 footballers who have played at the top levels of international football.
"I feel I have crossed the finishing line of the course much better than when I started and although I want to continue playing football as long as possible, I may look to use this combination of academic learning and years of playing experience in the future."
