The conducted research was a continuation of the successful work carried out for several years at the Department of Youth Organization of the Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B. N. Yeltsin (UrFU) to study the degree of influence of various areas of extracurricular activities on the development of communicative, intellectual, managerial and other skills that are important for future specialists. The potential of sports activities as one of the most important areas of university extracurricular work for the formation of flexible skills among students is considered. The effectiveness of football, a popular game sport among young people, has been shown for their formation. Presented data on the growth of indicators of the formation of selected skills among football players by years of study. Based on the results of an expert review the survey concludes that football lessons for the majority of students are of a conscious nature and can have an impact on the success of their future professional career. The specific skills that football has the greatest impact on are identified: teamwork, the ability to make decisions in difficult situations, stress tolerance, and communication skills. It has been established that football contributes to the self-education of students in many fields of knowledge.