(CNN) -- Football is littered with tales of clubs going to the wall due to poor financial management, as owners chase an illusive dream of success with often dire consequences for the team and its fans.
Despite the cash flooding into the game, European governing body UEFA recently reported that more than half of its 655 top-flight clubs are in the red, despite generating collective revenues of €11.7 billion ($16.62b).
In response, the body is now implementing its "Financial Fair Play" rules in a bid to force clubs at the top of the sport not to spend more than they earn.
But today's fiscal reality means that savvy business judgment and management are crucial commodities in all tiers of the modern game; which is where the graduates of the world's first "football university" may come into their own.
The club behind the ground-breaking initiative are Burnley FC, an English second division side who spent the 2009-10 season back in the top flight after a 33-year absence.
They have set up a £3.2 million ($5m) College of Football Business (UCFB) at their Turf Moor ground, with a first intake of over 100 students set to begin their studies in September.
The courses will focus on the management of football clubs and what it takes to run a top side in leagues like La Liga, Serie A and the Premier League.
The syllabus will cover business and financial management, marketing and public relations, to equip graduates for the challenges ahead UCFB chief executive Philip Wilson told CNN .
Football is a fast-moving industry, but a lot of people in football have no formal qualifications to help them cope with that turbulence," Wilson said.
"I want our graduates to bring best practices and no little skill to the business of football."
The three-year degrees are fully accredited and have already attracted interest from all over the soccer world.
"Football is a truly international game and we expect at least 30% of our intake to come from overseas," .
He said the college had interest from students in Estonia, New Zealand, Singapore and Nigeria, and believes this is only the tip of the iceberg.
Wilson also wants more women involved in football management at executive level and is aiming for a high percentage of female students, doubtless boosted by the recent high-profile Women's World Cup in Germany.
The project has some powerful supporters with former English Football Association chief executive Brian Barwick and Alastair Campbell, the former press chief of Britain's ex-prime minister Tony Blair, on their advisory board.
Campbell, an avid Burnley fan, highlighted the lack of formal qualifications in the football industry, despite the vast sums of money involved.
"Sport is such a big part of our national life, yet there is very little academic activity around it," he told CNN.
"I think the new college will be good for the town (Burnley) and the club but also good for football."
The new students will certainly learn on the job, with their lecture rooms situated in the main stand at Turf Moor and overlooking the pitch.
The initiative was the brainchild of Burnley director Brendan Flood, who came up with the concept of a "university of football," but it has taken three years to come to fruition since his initial idea was written on a piece of paper.
Flood and others currently involved in football management will also get the chance to learn on the job as UCFB will run executive education courses and offer bespoke training and professional development programs.
Whether the initiative will eventually lead to a new era of robust football governance remains an open question, with the experience of Portsmouth -- the first English Premier League club to go into administration -- still fresh in the memory.
Premier League chairman David Richards is another big name to come to the assistance of UCFB -- Wilson said he will help in a private capacity to forge partnership arrangements with top overseas schools.
Richards will be hoping the lessons learnt by the future graduates at the first "school for soccer" rub off on some of the clubs under his wing.
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