[ Can you share a little about your background and how you got this role at Adidas? ]

I did my studies in economics and management, but I never really wanted an ‘economics related’ career. I always felt, one way or another, I had to work within sport. But coming out of university I didn’t know right off the bat what type of career path fits me best.

I did an internship with a Danish startup called Tonsser as a growth community manager. Tonsser allows players to input their stats and upload videos and highlights in an app. Kind of like a social media page for football players where scouts can reach out to you.

They were predominantly focused on Nordic countries like Denmark, Norway and Sweden. With one other person, my role was essentially to increase brand exposure in the UK. We partnered with content creators on social media like Top Baller and had tons of success. We did videos with them, one with Tonsser players against Premier League academy players got 2.6 million views, which is insane!

Then, in November (2023) Adidas hosted a job fair at Emirates Stadium. I went, but honestly, it was just an excuse to see the inside of the Emirates!

I spoke to a product developer there who was working in football. He explained to me that you can work as a product manager for football boots and that absolutely fascinated me because I never knew a business degree could translate into a career working in the product side of football boots. I thought it would be a very technical role and required a degree in engineering or textiles or something.

I spoke to people from different departments but my passion was football so I decided to only apply for football roles. The opportunities were in Germany, I saw it as a chance to experience something new. And here I am today, I’ve been here since March and have absolutely enjoyed it.

[ Why football? Did you play as well? ]

I have been playing pretty much all of my life! I was predominantly playing grassroots football until at 16, I signed for a National League side (5th tier of English football) and was playing in the FA Youth Cup there, which was amazing.

I did my first year of university at Surrey and signed for a club called Dorking Wanderers. They have a huge following on YouTube because they have a crazy story. You know All or Nothing with Arsenal? They do the exact same thing for Non-League clubs on YouTube.

After COVID, I moved to Southampton for my university studies and played more nonleague there and in my university team.

[ What department did you end up in? How are they organized? ]

The football business unit at Adidas in the headquarters consists of maybe 200-300 people and is divided into several departments. There are teams for design, development, project management - we call that the ‘product triad’ - and then marketing and communications teams as well.

Within those teams we focus on products Adidas makes. So there’s an accessories team that focuses on hardware - like gloves, guards and balls. A footwear team focusing on boots of course - Predator, Copa, F50. And then an apparel side that focuses on tops for national teams, big clubs and the everyday training gear.

When they asked me in the interview which sector I wanted to work in, I said footwear or apparel - and ended up in hardware! It’s really interesting though, I never considered how much detail goes into creating these products.

As an intern, I’ve also had the opportunity to be quite flexible with the amount of projects I could be involved in. For example, I did competitor research on Copa and its competitors, looking at different futsal shoe brands and why so many futsal players prefer ‘niche’ brands like Joma over Adidas.

[ How’s the dress code at work? Any close calls with a Nike cap? :) ]

I think it's completely impossible to catch someone in Nike gear!

During onboarding we were given a list of brands that are banned on campus - the list was very long - no Puma, Nike, New Balance, nothing like this. Shoes have to be Adidas and clothing can either be Adidas or unbranded.

But I feel like, it’s (these rules) not even necessary. The passion the people here have for the brand, they wouldn’t even own other stuff.

We had an event day outside of work with a ‘classic football shirts’ theme. Everyone came with an Adidas sponsored classic shirt and I wore my Juventus Kappa jersey and got a lot of … comments!

[ Is there one project you’ve spent the bulk of your time on or are you frequently switching? (can imagine some projects go on for years?) ]

As an intern, I’ve mainly been assisting projects but the main project I had direct responsibility for was developing football tech packs for EA FC.

EA Sports releases a game every year, FIFA - now EA FC, that uses Adidas products - like footballs - in the game. My responsibility was to present tech packs to EA so they could digitally upload the footballs for use in the game, ensuring they will be released at the correct time and don’t accidentally leak e.g. the 2025 Champions League Final ball early!

At first, you think it’s ‘just a football’ but there’s so much detail that goes into it.

I was really lucky and was working on athlete servicing for Juventus during their preseason in Herzogenaurach and assisted in the testing when they did their foot and body scans. Because I speak Italian, I also presented the up and coming boots to the Italian speaking players and got their feedback which was really interesting. We share this feedback with the athlete science product team and can use it for future products.

[ Do you see or have access to ‘secret’ or unreleased products? ]

They sit on my desk! There are lots of unreleased products around - even products that don't ever end up being released actually, which is really interesting. It’s so cool but it’s also to the point where you see so much that it’s not as exciting anymore.

For example, the F50 was released recently, I think on June 1st - but I saw it already on the first day of my internship in March, which was really cool.

[ Generally, how far in advance does Adidas plan and create products? e.g. Is the Champions League ball ready for 2026 or 2027 or is it one year at a time? ]

They are usually planned well in advance. For example, the World Cup in 2026 will be the biggest World Cup of all time with 48 teams rather than 32. This also means that there is an opportunity for a country such as China or India to qualify. The potential for countries like this with huge populations can have a big impact on volume and demand because some factories can only produce a certain amount (of footballs) so it needs to be done well in advance.

For other competitions, like MLS or the Champions League usually we’d have the designs and everything ready one year prior.

[ The 2010 World Cup ball - the Jabulani - was one of the more infamous footballs, what does Adidas do to reduce similar risks in their new products? ]

I think since 2010, the developments have been really good (i.e. nothing scandalous like the Jabulani). We also do lots of player sessions as well where we give our balls to clubs sponsored by Adidas, maybe Juventus or Newcastle United and let them play with the unreleased footballs (sometimes removing the design) and get feedback from the players after the session.

Now, Adidas produces 5 categories of balls. The top two, ‘Pro Official Match’ and ‘Competition’, have a FIFA quality stamp which means that they are certified for use in professional football matches. To get this approval, we have to send our balls to 3rd party testers.

We also have labs in our headquarters where they can test the trajectory and if it’s always consistent.

[ Do you have any predictions for or hunches about the future of ‘football fashion tech’? ]

I don't think there'll be a dramatic change in football boots. Even in the past couple of years, I don't think there has been that much significant change. It's very difficult to revolutionize a product and make it technically better year after year after year.

That's where the importance of brand communications comes in. Branding, for me, is probably just as important as developing better products. It’s the stories you tell around the product that makes a consumer want to buy it.

Puma has recently released concept boots with a carbon sole which is common in running shoes for marathon runners. I think it's just lots of experimentation.

The most important thing in a football boot though has to be the comfort for the player at all times. At Adidas, we have to create the best for the athlete - it's the number one principle, all the designs, the branding, etc comes after.

[ How does a company like Adidas balance the needs of their customers (where all the money comes from) with the professionals using their products? ]

Professional players have access to ‘athlete servicing’. This means that they can make as many modifications to the boots as they want. If their feet are slightly different sizes or if their best size is say, a 9 and a quarter (which you can’t buy in a retail store), we can do that for the player. Of course, these have to be top level players.

Some pros have tons of preferences and like to modify their boots a lot but some just get them straight out of the store without any modifications.

In terms of the ‘everyday player’, Adidas does a good job collecting customer insights across the world. Product managers travel to different countries and look at product trends there. For example, in America, they really like the mid-cut boots which have the sock above the ankle and the (placebo) feeling of added stability.

From these feedback sessions, we can also understand the different preferences between male and female players. The female game is growing a lot and will be hugely important. Nike, for example, already released the ‘Phantom Luna’ boots specifically for female players with different stud patterns. Considering the differences in types of bodies, feet, common injuries, etc, I think we will see more and more products with a female-specific focus (vs the ‘unisex’ standard common now).

[ You’ve just finished your internship, what’s the next step? Are you staying at Adidas? Staying in football? ]

I definitely want to stay in football. There are openings at Adidas and I’ve had conversations with different departments, so let’s see!

Otherwise, I’m excited to experience other aspects of football and the career potential there. An analysis role has always been interesting to me. I also really want to get my coaching badges done and get involved in coaching.

Another field I’m truly interested in is the fan engagement side. Questions like how do you get fans excited at football matches or how do you enhance the viewer experience? I don’t know if you’ve seen it but in LA they have this ‘immersive viewing’. I think this will be a huge trend and there’s going to be a lot of growth in this space.

There’s so much untapped potential in football that I feel like - because I'm only 23 - I don't want to suddenly dictate my career path now. I want to experience other sides of football, whether it's coaching or behind the scenes or in business. I'm still not sure what I want to do, but everything is just fueled by my passion for football and being involved as much as possible in the game.

[ Any advice for someone who wants to work in a similar role to yours at Adidas? What skills are important? ]

First and foremost, interest in the products. Knowledge is great but of course, you don’t need to know the product back to front before applying. Showing a real interest is really important. In my interviews, I spent half the time just talking about products and trends. This deep, genuine interest and curiosity helped me get hired.

Second, the easiest way to get your foot in the door is definitely an internship. Adidas offers 150 internships a year. You don’t even have to go through a product internship to land a job in product later on, you can get your foot in the door and then move into product if that's what interests you.

Also, just reaching out and speaking to people to find out whether you really want to do this is helpful. Usually if you Google ‘product manager career’ you get results for digital products, for software. There’s not so much out there for product managers working on physical products.