As part of our new Q&A series where we aim to spotlight the people working hard behind the scenes of football and sports, we spoke with Georgia De Souza about her journey into the sports media industry and her role as a production coordinator. Through her experiences, De Souza breaks down what the role truly involves, entry points into the industry and what helped guide her along the journey. She also explains the behind the scenes of football coverage, which often goes missed, offering an honest and insightful look at the realities of building a career in sports production.
FINDING HER CAREER
Over the past four years, De Souza has worked across a wide range of sports broadcasts, including the Paris 2024 paralympics, the French Open at Roland Garros and most notably, Football. Her longest stretch has been within women’s football, where she had worked on coverage of the Women’s Super League, FA Cup and the League Cup for the BBC. Most recently she joined a new team, working behind the Coverage of the UEFA Champions League on Amazon Prime. She explains:
“On paper, my role is logistics, I make sure everyone gets where they need to be, on time and that they eventually get paid.”
All of this includes booking hotels, travel, crew, catering and ensuring talent and staff have everything they need. But as De Souza points out, the reality of production is far more complex.
When working on site for each game, she acts as the link between clubs, talent, the broadcast gallery and governing bodies such as the FA, WSL and UEFA. She said:
“You have to keep a calm head and put out lots of little fires, it’s often a thankless task, but your job is to make sure everything keeps running.”
During her final season working on the WSL, De Souza also moved further into editorial, collaborating closely with pundits to shape analysis and creative output:
“That was a really exciting shift for me, It gave me a deeper understanding of how storytelling fits into live sport.”
The intensity of live football, however, often blurred the lines between work and life. De Souza said:
“Football is on all the time, I worked weekends, travelled constantly and missed a lot.”
During international breaks, she made a conscious effort to reset, using solo trips away to help her recharge and refocus.
A CAREER PATH SHE NEVER PLANNED
Despite where she is now, sports broadcasting was never part of De Souza’s original plan. Whilst studying Film and Television at university, she rediscovered her passion for football after joining the university team. She said:
“By my third year, I was obsessed.”
Through her degree, Georgia De Souza was introduced to a mentorship scheme with production company Whisper. When researching the company she discovered their work on The Women’s Football Show was a turning point which sparked her interest in sports production.
“It was the first time sports production really clicked for me.”
But, after securing her place on the scheme… the pandemic hit. Despite this Georgia stayed in contact with her mentor and several months later was encouraged to apply for a runner role at Whisper, and the rest was history.
In her initial interview for Whisper, Georgia was asked what she wanted to achieve. Her answer with simple:
“I want to work on a major women’s football tournament.”
Just six months later, she joined the WSL production team. Six months after that, she was running onto the pitch at Wembley after the Lionesses 2022 Euros triumph. She said:
“Every year I worked on the WSL, I was promoted, moving from Production Assistant to Production Coordinator. I pushed myself to learn as much as possible, taking on different roles on site, from floor managing to eventually producing a show.”
Support from colleagues played a major role, but Georgia was clear that she had to fight for her opportunities too:
“People believed in me, but I had to show them why I deserved it. It wasn’t always easy, but I’m glad I kept pushing.”
Overall to put her journey into perspective, Georgia officially joined Whisper in August 2021. By September, the first fully broadcast WSL season began on BBC and Sky. By January 2022, she was contracted to the WSL production, in a role that didn’t even exist when she started.
PRIDE, PRESSURE AND PROGRESS IN WOMEN’S FOOTBALL
Looking back, De Souza speaks with pride about her time working in women’s football, including winning a BAFTA, but the challenges were constant. She explains:
“The women’s game gets a fraction of the budget the men’s does. The resources aren’t there yet, but the passion and persistence are.”
That shared belief is what kept her going, alongside the visible growth of the game. She said:
“I’ve gone from cold nights at Borehamwood with 500 people to sold-out Emirates Stadiums. The demand has grown, and that’s shaping the coverage.”
One moment stands above the rest was the 2025 FA Cup Final between Chelsea and Manchester United:
“Not only did I watch my team win the treble but I also saw the opener I co-produced go out on the BBC.”
For De Souza, it was a full-circle moment and proof that the long hours behind the scenes are always worth it.
