College students meet Telford RAF engineer turned England football team kitman who got his job through Twitter
It's a position within the beautiful game that often goes under the radar - the kitman - but lucky pupils were given a fascinating insight into life behind the scenes with England women's very own kitman, who hails from Shropshire.
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Kevin Fenner, a former RAF engineer who lives in Telford, visited Telford College to explain his role in the team during its rise to stardom following their historic Euro 2022 win and appearance in the World Cup final.
Speaking to sports students at Telford College’s Wellington campus ahead of his exciting trip to Portugal for the UEFA Women's Euros this summer, the kit man explained the huge logistics operation involved in supporting the Lionesses on their travels around the world.
Students were surprised by the scale of his behind-the-scenes activities and what his role involves, and what it takes to get the squad to the venue, and players ready to perform at their best on the pitch.
Kevin the Telford kitman said: "I didn’t really want to make the presentation about me, it was more a case of showing the students that there are so many more roles available in football than just on the playing or coaching side.
"My role is all about prep, sorting out what’s required to be sent out to a venue, doing customs paperwork. It’s very much a logistics job really."
Kevin has a background in operational planning and training with the Royal Air Force, including several years where he was based at RAF Cosford.
He began working with the Lionesses during the 2015-16 season and has gone on to travel the world with the team, picking up some medals along the way.
But, how did Kevin go from the RAF to being the Lionesses kitman? Well, it wasn't the typical application process.
He explained: "I got my job, strangely as it sounds, through Twitter. I followed a few kitmen and got talking to one of them, and it sort of went from there, working my way up the ladder.
"The Lionesses role has grown massively since those early years. My first trip with the senior would barely fill one van, whereas now we are touching five tonnes of equipment for a normal international window, both by road, and plane.
"Investment and support for the game is growing year-on-year. We will take in the region of eight to 10 tonnes of equipment to the Euros in Portugal this summer, much of which will go out ahead of the team to make sure it’s all ready for their arrival.
"That’s everything from match kit to medical equipment, sports science and analysis equipment. Balls, bibs and cones to medical scanners, physiotherapy equipment and cameras for video analysis - it can be a huge logistical task."
Liam Downing, a level three sport student, had a great time meeting Kevin and hearing his experiences.
He said: "It was amazing to hear how many people are involved behind the scenes in internationals. It’s not just the week or two of a game - it’s everything that has to be sorted for weeks beforehand.”
Ethan Wynn, who is on the same course as Liam, added: "Everyone wants to be a professional footballer if they can, but Kevin showed us that there are multiple jobs available in the sport if that doesn’t work out."
Telford College sports lecturer Jason Jones was grateful to Kevin for coming in and meeting students who he let get their hands on his medals.
"We want to say a huge thank you to Kevin for coming in to give such a fascinating talk to our students," said the lecturer.
"It’s really important for them to get an understanding of all the work that goes on behind the scenes. Yes, most of them want to be footballers, but this showed them how many different jobs there are in just one team.
"The variety of jobs out there in sport is incredible, and it’s only getting bigger."
