PhD Studentship - (Re)claiming and (Re)shaping Place: The Economics and Geography of Women’s Football Stadiums

We are excited to announce the opportunity to apply for a funded PhD project within the Manchester Metropolitan University’s Faculty of Business and Law. The project will examine how stadium infrastructure arrangements contribute to the development of women’s football and the places in which the game is experienced. Using comparative case studies and mixed methods, the research will explore how stadiums influence supporter attachment, identity and legitimacy, and how these processes relate to attendance and economic outcomes.

The project offers an opportunity to contribute to the rapidly expanding field of women’s football research while engaging with leading research communities in sport policy, place management and applied sports economics.

Objectives

The project has four main objectives:

• To develop a conceptual framework explaining how stadium infrastructure contributes to placemaking in women’s football.
• To examine how different infrastructure arrangements shape attachment, identity, and legitimacy.
• To investigate the relationship between placemaking, supporter attachment, and socioeconomic outcomes, including attendance and supporter spending.
• To generate evidence-based recommendations for clubs, governing bodies, and policymakers making future infrastructure decisions.

Funding

This studentship is open to home and international applicants. Home and international tuition fees will be covered for the duration of the 3-year award.

The student will receive a standard stipend payment for the duration of the award. These payments are set at a level determined by the UKRI, currently £21,805 for the academic year 2026/27.

Candidate requirements

• The successful candidate should be intellectually curious, proactive, organised, and comfortable working across disciplinary boundaries.
• Quantitative and analytical capabilities: An ability or willingness to develop skills in collecting, managing, and analysing quantitative data via advanced statistical methods.
• Qualitative research capabilities: An ability or willingness to develop skills in conducting semi-structured interviews, analysing qualitative data, and undertaking documentary analysis.
• Knowledge of women’s football, professional football structures, or the commercial and organisational development of women's sport would be an asset.
• Ideally, the candidate will have relevant academic background in at least one of the following disciplines: human geography, sport management, sports economics, or a closely related discipline.

How to apply

If you have any questions, please contact the proposed Principal Supervisor, Dr. Maurizio Valenti (M.Valenti@mmu.ac.uk).

To apply you will need to complete the online application form for a full-time PhD in People & Performance. Please note that you are not required to submit a research proposal through the online application portal.

Please complete the Doctoral Project Applicant Form, and include your CV and a covering letter to demonstrate how your skills and experience map to the aims and objectives of the project, the area of research and why you see this area as being of importance and interest.

Please upload these documents in the supporting documents section of the University’s Admissions Portal or email the requested documents to pgradmissions@mmu.ac.uk.

Expected start date: October 2027.

Please quote the reference: FoBL-MV-2027-28-Women’s football stadiums.

This PhD project is one of six independent projects open for applications, with only three funded studentships available. All applications will go through an initial review stage conducted by the project supervisors. Candidates selected from this stage will be invited to a second-round interview, where final funding decisions will be made based on performance across all projects.