A SPORTS mad student is achieving his goals as he chases his dream of being a successful presenter.
Former Darlington College student Tom Ward launched Top4Tiers during lockdown, a football podcast including discussion, analysis and news.
It currently has 28,000 followers on Instagram and a recent post on X attracted a million views.
The 21-year-old, of Darlington, attended Barnard Castle School before enrolling at Darlington College on the Martin Gray football coaching course.
He is currently in his third year studying to be a multi-media sports journalist at UCFB, the world’s first higher education centre offering undergraduate and postgraduate degrees dedicated to the football and sports industry, based in Media City, Manchester.
“My Darlington College lecturers, Andrew Manners and Si James, were great,” he said. “My parents were both seriously ill when I was there and they were so flexible and accommodating if I needed time off to take them to hospital. I owe them a lot.
“During COVID I saw a gap in the market for Top4Tiers because most broadcasters concentrate on the top premiership clubs. I’m a QPR fan and my colleagues support Sheffield and Sunderland. There’s a huge fan base but no coverage so this has massive potential.”
Tom also works for Football Park, a group of blogging experts who talk about everything football.
But he has high hopes for the growth of Top4Tiers including on Instagram, YouTube and X. “It would be nice to work for some of the football broadcasters but the dream is to take Top4Tiers to a higher level as it is something I have created myself,” said Tom, who has played football since the age of three and is also a keen cricketer.
“I’d love to grow it to include other sports, employ people and create a multi-sport platform covering anything from padel tennis, golf and rugby, to cricket and major events such as the Olympics.”
For more information on opportunities at Darlington College visit www.darlington.ac.uk.