Football Crazy January 2012

Three young friends who share a house together, have been made stewards at their local football club.

All three get on really well, sharing a love of football and had mentioned that they would love to be involved in some work involving football. One is an Arsenal fan, one is a Crawley Town supporter, another is a Brighton fan and the other is a Man Utd supporter.
Their support leader met the local football club chairman to discuss the opportunities and roles available. A visit was then arranged where the young men also met the chairman, who gave them a guided tour of the grounds and introduced them to the players.

They were told about all the different opportunities available and that they would be able to change their duties around for variety if they wished. They could get involved in administration work, steward responsibilities, DIY, bar work, kitchen work or serving customers in the shop. They were asked what they would most like to do and they all agreed that they would like to try the steward role first.

Stewards wear yellow jackets to identify themselves to the public and they use walkie-talkies to communicate with each other in their official roles.

Stewarding takes place on match days and the duties involve keeping the traffic flow moving into the car park, directing people where to park their cars, helping fans to find their way around the grounds when they are walking in.

There are many benefits to being a steward, the free burgers at half time, getting to watch a match for free and working together. Importantly as Ryan tells us, this will give him valuable work experience for the future.

They are supported by staff to get to the football grounds on the train on match days. They really enjoy the experience of working together as a team in a football environment despite supporting different teams at home.