Dan Schofield joins The Event School London as an Associate Training Facilitator in Events, Sports and Venue Management. A self-confessed “event geek” and a globally recognised event and venue professional, Dan has held senior management positions for two of Europe’s iconic football clubs - Manchester City FC and Manchester United FC. Further high-profile, international event experience includes roles with the Le Tour de France & the London 2012 Olympics. He currently offers his expertise as a consultant on a number of Major Event & Venue projects around the world.
Dan started in the Events world with a degree in Managing Cultural and Major Events. He soon realised that his passion lay with Major Events and in 2005, with London having just won the rights to host the Olympic Games in 2012, he set his sights on working on the games. He honed his skills delivering events for the British Heart Foundation, Salford City Council and Great Events before spending 2 years in the Middle East delivering multi-million-dollar tourism events on behalf of the Qatar Foundation.
Dan returned to the UK in 2010 to fulfil his objective of working on London 2012. He took the role of Advance Planning Manager for the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Torch Relays, planning relays across the North Region (including Scotland and Ireland). This included over 2,500 miles of the Relay Route, 300+ programmed Event Moments and up to 15 million spectators. A career highlight, as a member of the Torch Relay Opening Ceremony team, Dan was incredibly proud to be in the Olympic Stadium for the lighting of the Olympic Cauldron.
After London 2012, Dan consulted on a number of projects before becoming Head of Event Delivery for the Tour de France Grand Depart 2014, with responsibility for logistical aspects of the Event. On the back of his role on the Tour de France, Dan was voted the 27th most influential person in the UK Event Industry. The Event won Best Public Event at the UK Event Awards and was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Live Event.
After the Tour de France, Dan took a change of direction into venue management as Head of Operations for Manchester City Football Club. At the Club, Dan was responsible for all of the Major Events delivered at the Etihad Stadium and welcomed over 4 million people through the doors during his tenure. He delivered over 75 Manchester City Matchdays (including a UEFA Champions League Semi-Final), 8 concerts including The Stone Roses, Coldplay, Bruce Springsteen & ACDC) an England 2015 Rugby World Cup Fixture and an FA England Men’s’ International match.
In 2017 Dan moved to Manchester United Football Club (Old Trafford) as Head of Venue. Here, his responsibilities included Matchday Operations and delivery of all Special Events including The Rolling Stones, Billy Joel, UNICEF SoccerAid, the Michael Carrick Testimonial & the Rugby League Superleague Grand Final. As a member of Senior Management Dan also sat on specialist boards including Venue Development, Safety & Security, Environmental & Logistics.
Whilst employed at Manchester United, Dan developed the Joint Delivery Plan with partners Lancashire Cricket Club, which ensured the One Love concert (following the Manchester Arena attacks) could be staged, on the same day as 70,000 capacity Michael Carrick Testimonial. This work won Special Recognition Awards at the Stadium Events Awards, Stadium Business Awards & Fanalyse awards.
Dan now applies his extensive knowledge and experience towards advising both private and public organisations in international venue and event development projects. He is also a Non-Executive Director at Not-for-profit organisation, Foodinate and a Founder Member of the Michael Carrick Foundation Club 16.
