The scene could easily have been mistaken for an Oxbridge graduation: black academic gowns, neatly positioned mortarboards, emotional relatives with cameras and a stately hall. Yet this was neither Oxford nor Cambridge. It was Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium, and the students collecting qualifications were Premier League players, Champions League champions and footballers with major trophies from across Europe and beyond.
Taiwo Awoniyi was among those in attendance, wearing a black gown and a white-and-purple stole. Smiling broadly but remaining characteristically understated, the Coventry City forward and Nigeria international had become a graduate once more. It was a remarkable moment for a player who had previously fought for his life while in an induced coma.
The PFA Business School’s class of 2026 featured several familiar figures, including Everton midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, ex-Chelsea skipper Cesar Azpilicueta, former Everton star Tim Cahill and Wycombe Wanderers defender Steve Cook, alongside many other past and present professionals. Each had chosen to pursue ambitions beyond the game. For 29-year-old Awoniyi, this was his third qualification.
Awoniyi’s father, Solomon, is described as a firm disciplinarian who placed education above football. He came close to preventing his son from playing altogether, viewing school as the priority and the sport as a potential distraction. Growing up in Ilorin, Awoniyi had to reach an agreement with his father in order to follow his football ambitions.
“I tell people that I am a quiet dreamer,” Awoniyi said after the event, readjusting his gown while surrounded by extended family members who had travelled to see him graduate. “Education has always mattered to me. I promised my dad that, if I became a footballer, I would continue studying. I have kept that promise and I am proud of it.”
That commitment accompanied him from the rough pitches of Nigeria’s Imperial Soccer Academy to Liverpool, then to Germany, where he became a popular figure at Union Berlin. It continued through his Premier League spell with Nottingham Forest and now at Coventry City, whom he joined during the summer, while he remains involved with Nigeria’s bid to reach the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations. He has continued to honour his agreement with his father.
“I already have a business management degree and another diploma, so this is my third qualification,” he said proudly.
Studying on the day of a Champions League final
The graduation ceremony offered plenty of examples that challenged tired assumptions about professional footballers.
Azpilicueta, Chelsea’s captain when they won the 2021 Champions League, addressed the graduates and recalled studying on the morning of the final against Manchester City in Porto.
As teammates prepared in different ways — walking around, sleeping, listening to songs or watching footage — Azpilicueta was completing work for his MBA.
“If we had a later kick-off, I would normally sleep after lunch, but on that occasion it was not possible,” the former Spain defender said. “You could hear the supporters and feel that a huge match was close. Studying helped me concentrate and develop away from football too.”
Azpilicueta became a professional at his hometown team Osasuna at the age of 17. He had to put his degree on hold at that stage, although he never gave up on education. During nine years at Chelsea, while winning the game’s biggest domestic honours, he eventually completed an MBA. After ending his career last season, having also played for Atletico Madrid and Sevilla, he explained that learning was not simply preparation for retirement. “It also helps you become a better version of yourself during your playing career,” he said.
He believes his education helped shape him into a leader both on the field and away from it.
Dewsbury-Hall’s journey from Merseyside
Dewsbury-Hall, 28, is enjoying arguably the strongest spell of his career at Everton, but still travelled by train from Merseyside to London for the graduation ceremony.
He had earned a postgraduate diploma in global football sport directorship.
“There are clearly stereotypes about footballers,” Dewsbury-Hall said. “But every profession has intelligent people and people who are less intelligent. There are far more smart individuals in football than many people might expect.
“Some players may simply not want to take courses like this, even though they could. It might not interest them. I would not necessarily say it is my passion either, but I have done it to show that footballers are able to complete these courses while continuing to play. We will see where it takes me.”
The former Leicester City and Chelsea midfielder said he receives “weird looks” when he opens his iPad to study on the team coach after away fixtures. “I hope I have many years left as a player, but I am always looking to improve and learn away from the pitch as a person. I do not want to retire and then spend my time doing nothing,” he said.
“It genuinely interested me. Whether it becomes useful later on, we will find out, but doing it now is better than delaying it until after retirement. If an opportunity appears one day, I am fortunate to have a qualification that could assist me.”
Life beyond football
For Awoniyi, recognising that there is more to life than football is not merely an idea; it comes from personal experience and survival. In May 2025, while representing Nottingham Forest against Leicester City, he suffered a heavy collision with a goalpost. His intestine was ruptured, he was taken urgently to hospital and placed into a medically induced coma. His family feared the worst for several days, and football immediately became insignificant. He recovered, returning in the same quiet, low-key manner that has defined him.
“Football is not a nine-to-five job,” Awoniyi said. “We sometimes finish training fairly early, and even though studying is difficult, I believe every footballer has time in the evening for something such as business school.”
“Naturally, it asks a lot of you, and it depends on how much you want to do it. I always say there are many things more important than football. Football is our passion, but we are ordinary human beings too, and perhaps that is something the wider world does not always recognise.”
The awareness that a single brutal incident can remove football from someone’s life explains why he continues to study and why he remains faithful to his promise to his father. It was also why he brought his extended family to the Emirates Stadium to share the occasion, their pride carrying more meaning than any noise from the stands.
The PFA Business School programme was created with players such as Awoniyi and Dewsbury-Hall in mind. Its seminars are arranged around fixtures and training schedules, while participants can learn online in their own time between rehabilitation appointments and tactical sessions. Brighton chief executive Paul Barber is among the notable figures who lead classes, offering direct insight into the realities of running a club, including finance, recruitment, governance, media and politics.
Each graduate arrived with a different background. For Cook, the Wycombe Wanderers defender who previously captained Bournemouth in the Premier League, it represented his first return to formal learning since leaving school. He already has coaching qualifications and, aware that his playing days are moving towards their conclusion, wants to be prepared. Cahill, now employed within Qatari football, saw it as a chance to progress from being a goalscorer into a decision-maker.
After the ceremony, Dewsbury-Hall and Cahill were seen in an engrossed discussion, exchanging thoughts on both scoring goals and constructing successful clubs.
The celebrations resembled those at any other graduation: gown-clad selfies, relatives calling out names and mortarboards flying into the air. It did not matter that some of the graduates can make in a week what many people earn in a year. Inside the hall, they were simply students who had put in the work.
Awoniyi smiled throughout. The reserved dreamer from Ilorin, who once had to assure his father that education would remain part of his life even if football succeeded, had fulfilled that commitment for a third time. Football brought him recognition, and it nearly cost him his life. Education, he says, has provided balance — something no injury, transfer or manager can remove. There are, ultimately, matters that outweigh football.
