Premier League club Reading wants full-time graduates to work unpaid 'unsociable hours' as first team analysts

Russian striker Pavel Pogrebnyak is thought to earn up to £30,000 a week at Reading. Credit: PA

A Premier League football club has been criticised for seeking to appoint full-time staff, required to be university-educated and have their own car, on an entirely unpaid basis.

Reading Football club, owned by Russian tycoon Anton Zingarevich, posted an advert for a 'first team performance analyst intern' on the government's UK sport website.

The job specification says it requires applicants to work unsociable hours, have a postgraduate degree and have access to their own car.

But the club, whose wage bill was over £22m in 2012, will not be paying the successful candidate: "This role is unpaid and include no travel expenses," says the advert.

Ben Lyons, from campaign group Intern Aware, said it would be reporting Reading FC to HMRC because "where interns are doing real work, they are entitled to the minimum wage."

Government guidelines also state that employees should be paid at least minimum wage if the worker:

  • has a contract

  • has to turn up for work even if they don't want to

  • is promised a contract of future work

Some exemptions do apply if the internship is for a charity or as part of an educational programme.

"It's not just a question of food and travel - you need somewhere to stay, and the cost of housing in the south east is huge," said Lyons.

"So the sort of person who could afford to do this would be someone with a huge amount of personal savings or a huge amount of parental support.

"It's not just morally wrong of Reading, but it doesn't make business sense either - because unless you believe that the best people in the country are those with that wealth then you are depriving yourself of a lot of talent."

A Reading FC club spokesperson said:

Employment minister Jo Swinson said:

UK Sport distanced itself from from the job posting and said its hosting of the advertisement did not amount to an endorsement of the role.