COMBINING PASSION AND PROFESSION: CRAIG EVANS' JOURNEY IN SPORTS AND STORYTELLING

Can you combine your love for sport and storytelling into one career? Craig Evans, Senior Vice President of Communications at Liverpool Football Club, has done exactly that. In an exclusive interview conducted by Queen Ethelburga’s student Laura, Craig visited the school to share insights into his career in football media, how he broke into the industry, and what it takes to lead communications for one of the world’s most iconic football clubs.

By Laura Nyame

LN: Could you tell us why you’re here today, at QE?

CE: First of all, thank you for inviting me here today. I received an email from the school saying they have a new programme inviting parents to talk to students about the roles we do. So, I accepted the kind invitation and came in today to speak to the students to give them insights into communications at Liverpool Football Club.

LN: I saw on LinkedIn that you used to work in Leeds. What made you go from Leeds to Liverpool?

CE: Ultimately, it was for the job. I’ve been lucky enough to work in a lot of great cities across the country. I’ve always worked in communications, and I always wanted to work in football, so now I’m doing my job in an industry I’m passionate about. I had a great job in Leeds, but when the opportunity at Liverpool came up, I applied and thankfully I was successful. It was a no-brainer… I had to move to bring together the two things I’m hugely passionate about.

LN: How long have you been working there?

CE: I joined Liverpool in 2011, so I’ve been there for over 14 years now. Time flies when you’re having fun!

LN: You must have many highlights over that time. Could you share a few with us, please?

CE: Sure, 14 years in any organisation is a long time, especially in a football club, so I have a lot of highlights. The best way to describe it is we talk within the club about activity on the pitch and activity off the pitch. My on-the-pitch highlight is actually the whole journey from the club being on brink of bankruptcy in 2010 to where we are today. In particular, when Jürgen Klopp joined, we weren’t really competing for trophies, but then we went on to win every trophy possible. Being there for Jürgen’s first and last day were huge highlights, and then, of course, Arne Slot coming in last season really felt like the start of a new era. The Premier League win in that first season was another major highlight and everything involved from a communications perspective was just incredible. I was also really closely involved with our women’s team in 2013, when we won back-to-back league titles in the WSL, working closely with the manager and players at that time was a very special time and I have some amazing memories.

Off the pitch, from a communications and leadership perspective, I’ve been involved in some huge capital projects. The expansion of the Main Stand at Anfield, a £100+ million investment, was a massive highlight, overseeing the communications from planning, right through to the completion and opening. We also expanded the Anfield Road Stand more recently, which was similar from a comms perspective, but another great project to lead from a comms perspective. During this time, we also built a new training ground from the men’s team and redeveloped Melwood training ground for our women’s team. Looking back, these were hugely significant capital projects, and I feel fortunate to have led the communications and PR on them.

LN: You must have to deal with a lot of challenges in your role. How do you manage the highs and the lows?

CE: That’s a great question. Sport is unpredictable; you can have as many plans as you want, but things can change quickly, especially in football. My message to students would be about resilience. For all the plans you may have, things do change, and you always have to be agile and adaptive. For example, if we win at the weekend, everyone comes into the office on a Monday morning with a feel-good factor, and that makes things easier. But if we lose, it does impact us all internally and can result in changing plans or direction sometimes. So, you definitely have to be resilient working in sports and continue thinking about the overall vision and what you’re trying to achieve, and not let individual setbacks distract you.

LN: There were ten player signings during this summer in the men’s team. How busy do you get during this period, and is there any additional pressure during transfers?

CE: I wouldn’t call it pressure; it’s just a different way of working. The transfer window is different to other parts of the season, but Liverpool is certainly busy at every time throughout the year! During the transfer window, you’re aware there could be player activity and that communications plans may change, so you have to be more fluid throughout that period. When a player signs a contract and it’s time for the announcement, we just need to assess how the timings might impact other planned club activity – so timing is really key, both in terms of alignment across the club and the best time to update supporters and the media.

LN: Finally, AI is up and coming. Do you think AI could take over this job in the next ten years, or ever?

CE: I could maybe retire in 10 years if it could! AI is fascinating, and I think its power is incredible. We have to embrace it; it’s clearly going to play a huge role in our futures. As a comms team, we’re testing and learning to see how it can be used, how it can support our objectives, and how it could make us even more effective as a team to support the club’s vision.

LN: Does it help you now with your job?

CE: At the moment, we’re exploring it, using it for research, finding information quickly, generating content ideas; so it does help in that way. I’m sure over time it will continue to develop and it’s going to help us more in the future.

LN: That’s it, thank you so much.

End of interview