Chelsea FC Foundation recently set three challenges to students at the Business school, with the final stage taking part at the Canoville Suite.

More than 150 students attended the final challenge at Stamford Bridge, and a select few groups had the opportunity to pitch business proposals to a select panel of guest judges.

AMOS offers both masters and bachelor degrees in sports business across Europe including France, Spain and London, both in French and English.

The previous weeks were a build-up to the final at Stamford Bridge. Challenge one saw the Foundation set students a task on how to expand the club’s international marketing efforts and fan-base in a new country. Challenge two focused on increasing the percentage of female fans that attend Chelsea FC Women fixtures and followed the club online.

The final challenge centred back to the original, as groups presented their ideas on how to grow the club’s fanbase by focusing on non-traditional football fans using different techniques.

The guest panel included the club’s global social media manager, Helen Crossley, among others including representatives from Marks & Spencer, Newstand, Ignite and Mondelez.

To add to the intensity of the day at Stamford Bridge, some groups were told they would be presenting and some were not informed, this technique was used to see how students reacted to being put on the spot and present at short notice. The contrast in preparation did not affect the quality of the presentations, which were all a high-standard, much to the delight of the panellists.

The winners of challenge one, two and three were all rewarded with a VIP tour of Stamford Bridge.

Guillaume Denis, corporate relations officer & AMOS lab coordinator, said: ‘Working hand-in-hand with the Foundation in the making of this project has been a real pleasure from my end.

‘Chelsea FC are at the forefront when it comes to helping its community, and this closely relates to the AMOS values: sustainability, diversity and inclusion. Being able to offer the students the opportunity to work and present their ideas to Chelsea FC on inclusion and diversity topics was very special.'

Gabriel De Sousa, student on one of the winning teams, added: ‘It felt incredible because to have such an opportunity with a club as huge as Chelsea and have a chance to show yourself and your ideas in front of these people, it's just perfect.

‘It’s a unique experience and for the rest of our studies it’s important to have experiences like that because it makes you stand out from other people.’