Salford graduate and sports commentator Pien Muelensteen returns to Salford for masterclass

Since graduating in 2019 with a degree in Broadcast Journalism, Pien has gone on to work for numerous prestigious companies such as Sky Sports, Premier League and DAZN as a commentator and as a presenter.

She also works with MUTV and was one of the first people to do a sit-down interview with Erik ten Hag just days after he was appointed as the Manchester United manager.

Pien believes the skills she learnt from her years at the University of Salford are one of the main reasons for her success.

She said: “Learning the basic skills of journalism from the lecturers here is amazing, as a lot of the lecturers are still practicing journalists or ex journalists which is important as they know day to day how things work and what makes a good story."

One piece of advice Pien was keen to share with current journalism students, is to make the most out of work experience, which she credits for part of her success.

“Pretty much most of the jobs that I have got haven’t come from vacancies, they’ve come from people knowing who I am and word of mouth, so my biggest piece of advice is to just make sure you get out there, let people know who you are and what you can do.

“I actually don’t think there is another university that has the amount of resources that Salford has in terms of letting people go literally across the street to go and work at BBC or walk up the stairs and go and work at ITV.”

This November, Pien will achieve something incredible as she heads off to Qatar for the 2022 FIFA men’s World Cup to commentate on numerous games for the BBC.

“I’m most looking forward to the fact that it will be my very first men’s World Cup and I used to live in Qatar as I grew up there from a baby until I was four so it will be good to go back to my roots.

“We (BBC) are all in the same hotel, so I can’t wait to be part of that family.”

The highlight of her career so far happened in May 2022 when she commentated on the women’s Champions League final at the Juventus Stadium in Turin.

The game was between Barcelona and Lyon which the French side won 3-1 to claim their eighth Champions League title.

“Career-wise for me it was an incredible moment as I’d only been doing commentary full time for a year, so to have a Champions League final already behind me was quite amazing.

“It was just a great thing to be part of and a real testament to how far women’s football has come. Hopefully every final that we see now will just build on Turin.”