HER GAME TOO...WITH RACHAEL O'CALLAGHAN

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Saturday's game is our dedicated Her Game Too fixture, here Rachael shares her story

2025-03-07T17:00:00.000Z

HER GAME TOO...WITH RACHAEL O'CALLAGHAN

Saturday's game is our dedicated Her Game Too fixture, here Rachael shares her story

2025-03-07T17:00:00.000Z

Saturday's game is our dedicated Her Game Too fixture, here Rachael shares her story

For an avid football fan who plays herself, with a background in ecommerce, Rachael O’Callaghan describes her role at Burnley FC as the perfect fit.

A key area of the Club’s business operations, Rachael’s committed to not only running an efficient and successful online store, but as the Club celebrate todays dedicated Her Game Too fixture, to also enhancing the retail offering for female Clarets fans.

“I’ve worked at Burnley FC for just over two years now. I joined just before we got promoted in the 2022/23 season, so I came to the Club at a great time.

“I studied International Business at the University of Liverpool, a course which I thoroughly enjoyed. However, I got into my current role by completing a placement year at Debenhams head office within their customer experience department.

“I spent the whole year working on projects to enhance the Debenhams website and deliver a best-in-class experience for the customer. I knew then that when I got back to Liverpool for my final year at university that I wanted to apply for graduate schemes in a similar role.

“After university I started as a graduate at THG, who are an ecommerce retailer, specialising in beauty, health, and wellness – this is where I started my career in ecommerce. Outside of work, I have always had a passion for football and have played since I was 10, I knew at some point in my career that I wanted to work in the sports industry. So, when I saw the job at Burnley FC, I knew it was a perfect fit for me – and I haven’t looked back since.”

In a growing sector such as the world of ecommerce, Rachael is passionate about enhancing the online experience for Clarets’ customers near and far.

“My main responsibility is owning the running of the retail website, this encompasses everything from uploading new products, imagery, content, and discounts. I ensure that everything is working as it should be, and that the experience is as seamless as possible for the Burnley FC fan, whether that be locally or internationally.

“I also work very closely with the marketing team, to ensure that retail has the support across our key touchpoints with the fans, whether that is through social media channels or on the club’s website. This ensures that fans are aware of what is going on in the retail department, whether that be new product launches or discounts. More recently, I have been getting involved in wider retail initiatives such as buying in new ranges and helping decide what products we should sell in the Clarets Store.”

In the lead up to Saturday’s dedicated Her Game Too fixture and International Women’s Day, the Club were proud to launch a new womenswear range both online and instore. How proud was Rachael to be so heavily involved in the initiative?

“I’m extremely proud of this range. I knew when I first started at Burnley FC that this was something which we needed to essentially start from scratch, so it wasn’t going to be a quick job. But then when the lack of offering for women in the Clarets Store was mentioned in a Fan Advisory Board meeting, I knew we had to speed up our work so that we could cater for female fans looking to wear Burnley FC merchandise.

“I wanted to approach the creation of this range in a different way than usual, I wanted to run a focus group with females who work in the office and our supplier Infinity to make it as creative and fun as possible. Everybody has their own dress sense and style, so I wanted to ensure a variety of people had their input on the range. Watching the range come to life was great, and it was a proud moment to see it in store.

“The current range is very much tailored to the younger demographic, and we are already working on a second drop of women’s clothing, so I am excited to see this come together as this will be the biggest women’s offering that we have had. We have had another focus group with Infinity (our supplier) and more members of staff across all age groups, which went really well. We are currently in the design phase, so I’m excited to see our thoughts come to life!”

For Rachael how important is it to see females working across all areas of the sports industry?

“It’s extremely important to have females working in both sport and at Burnley FC, and there are a lot of females working at the Club in a wide variety of roles which is great. It’s important from an equality perspective to have women working in sport, whether that be at entry level or in senior leadership roles, as this demonstrates that women can have a successful career in the sporting industry and inspire future generations. Having women working in sport also promotes a more inclusive and welcoming environment to women looking to be more involved in sport and potentially pursue a career in the industry.”

Finally, if Rachael had to pick her favourite thing about working at Burnley FC, what would it be?

“My favourite thing is the communication between teams with regards to updates, and information sharing with what is going on in each department. As I have grown up as a massive football fan, I always find it really interesting to hear about the wider operations that go on inside the Club, how each department works and what each team is working on. This benefits us in retail, as we can then think of new ways in how we can increase the exposure of merchandise in upcoming projects.”