Professional cricketer wins University Campus of Football Business grand prize at Old Trafford

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Cricketer Marie Kelly wins £50k UFCB business prize

British cricketer, Marie Kelly, has won the prestigious University Campus of Football Business (UCFB) Sports Entrepreneur Competition for 2025.

Winning the whopping grand prize of up to £50,000, the Blaze – Nottinghamshire women’s team, formerly known as ‘Lightning’ – and Northern Superchargers star took home the potentially game-changing investment for her own apparel company, Versatail.

Being given the substantial grant late last month, the professional cricket player was presented as the lucky recipient following an intense deliberation process.

Expert judges chose the Birmingham-born young businesswoman from a shortlist of nine finalists selected from countless submissions.

At 29, Kelly fell just within the eligible 18-30 age bracket for the new UFCB Sports Entrepreneur Competition, with 2025 marking a decade of the further education institution here in Manchester.

Held at Man United’s home stadium, Old Trafford, it’s safe to say that the ‘Theatre of Dreams’ felt like a fitting venue to deliver news.

The judging panel was comprised of UCFB Founder, Brendan Flood; Andrea Chilton, CEO of the English Schools Football Association; Eni Shabani, Founder of Rising Ballers; Adrian Harris, Chief Supply Chain Officer of Castore, as well as the CEO of Altrincham FC, Sam Mackenzie.

As the founder of Versatail UK, which specialises in women’s and active headwear, including lifestyle caps and bobble hats, Kelly has taken her sporting background to create products that cater specifically to long hair and female-centric styling.

For instance, her label has helped oversee the design ‘Magni-Strip®’ trademarked technology, which allows people to adjust their ponytail heights.

Learn more about the inspiration behind the project here:

Votes were based on five criteria: market opportunity, innovation of the idea, feasibility, the pitch quality, and sustainability/impact of the idea.

Other runners-up included a non-league football app called Touchline, and even an anti-bacterial boxing glove liner conceived by a brand specialist at Amazon.

Speaking on the momentous milestone for her still relatively small start-up, Kelly said: “My main emotion is shock. I really didn’t think I would win – I was here for the experience.

The process really helped me strategise the business and really think about where I wanted to go with it. To be named the overall winner, I’m really delighted.”

“The financial prize takes a bit of the weight off my mind about how to supply the demand that I’ve already got for my products and my caps. Hopefully, I can just really develop the product so it’s even better and service even more women and girls in sports.”

As for UCFB, aforementioned CEO Flood went on to add: “As we celebrate 10 years in Manchester, we want to celebrate not just our own journey but empower the young entrepreneurs who will shape the future of sport.

“This competition reflected everything UCFB stands for: ambition, innovation, and the
belief that the sports industry is powered by creative ideas. The calibre of the entries was incredible, so everyone who made the final judging stage deserves immense credit, but Marie was the unanimous choice overall.

“She has done an incredible job establishing her brand, and we hope that this financial reward can help Versatail continue to cater for the diverse needs of women and girls in sport at an even greater scale.

You can see the full video from the most recent event down below.

If you’re looking to make moves in this space, keep your eye out for when entries open for the UCFB Entrepreneur prize in 2026.

Read more:

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Featured Images — University Campus of Football Business (supplied)