About

Since joining SIRC, Robbie has worked on a range of different research projects for a number of high-profile public and private sector clients, namely the R&A, Ryder Cup Europe, UK Sport, RFU, Badminton England, London Marathon, All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club and Sport England. Robbie has a wealth of experience in conducting research at major sporting events. He has taken a leading role in SIRC's major event impact evaluation portfolio and regularly leads teams of researchers collecting data in the field at major sporting events for UK Sport, the R&A and other clients. Robbie co-developed and tested the spectator subjective wellbeing measures to align event evaluations to the Sporting Future outcome areas. In addition, Robbie co-led the recent research projects for UK Sport on the 2019 Vitality Netball World Cup and 2019 UCI Road World Championships. Currently Robbie manages SIRC’s research partnership with Badminton England and recently completed an innovating project, designing an AI chatbot to support with Badminton England’s return to play guidance and membership enquires.

Teaching

Robbie takes responsibility in engaging in student facing activities at Sheffield Hallam University. He has delivered a number of guest lectures on Sport Business Management, applying findings from commercial research contracts and personal research into relevant content for students to utilise in their learning. Robbie regularly delivers seminars and lectures on the finance modules of Sport Business Management. Since 2017 Robbie has supervised several students through their final year dissertation projects. In September 2019, Robbie was part of the team from the Department of Sport that delivered Sport Business Management to students at the Shape Campus in Hong Kong.

Research

Robbie is an active researcher and his research interests focus on the finance and economics of professional sport clubs and assessing the impact of major sporting events. In recent years, Robbie has presented at national conferences and in November 2020 will present at  SMAANZ, one of the major Sport Management conferences in the world. Robbie has numerous publications that focus on the financial health of professional sports clubs, the impact of major sporting events and other contemporary sport management related topics such as home advantage in professional football. In 2019, Robbie held a key role in supporting the organisation of the Football Collective conference that was held at the home of Sheffield United Football Club, Bramall Lane. He recruited and managed student volunteers from various courses within the Department of Sport for the conference. Robbie is also a member of the Football Collective, which is a dedicated network of people who wish to bring critical debate to football.

Publications