Saints Foundation participants shadowing St Mary's staff for Sunderland
It takes a red and white army to make matchdays at St Mary’s fly.
For our Saints Foundation Matchday on Saturday (9 March), seven lucky Saints Foundation participants are taking up work experience placements many could only dream of. To recognise their success on our Community Champions programme, pupils from our partner secondary schools are joining the hundreds of hard-working staff for a money-can't-buy look behind the scenes at a St Mary's matchday.
IN THE DRESSING ROOM...
The job of ‘the kitman’ often goes under the radar but is no mean feat. Preparing up to 50 kits for every game (2 per player!), often with just days between fixtures, and Women’s, B Team and U18s in the mix with the Men’s First Team, it actually takes a sizeable team to get the dressing room ready for matchdays. Tomorrow (Friday) that team had another helper in the form of Year 10 pupil Pyrena, from Bitterne Park School, who assisted with set-up for today’s game by laying out kit and equipment – most notably, our limited edition Saints Foundation shirts, hung out ready for the players to wear today.
IN THE PRESS LOUNGE…
Read all about it! Hot off the press! Exclusive! We’ve got William, a Year 10 from Redbridge Community School, joining the media team on Saturday, helping manage the many communications coming out of St Mary’s. William will play the important role of receiving the teamsheet from Russell Martin and his coaches, and running it upstairs for the media team to share with the world. He’ll also assist the club photographer with capturing the players' arrival, shadow the social media team as they drop match updates online during the game, and will return to the tunnel to watch the post-match interviews with the manager and a chosen player.
IN THE PA ROOM…
Up in the gods at St Mary’s is our PA Room, from where the booming voice of our long-time stadium announcer Tim Manns shares the highs and lows of matchday with us all. He’s not alone either, as he sits alongside a team of audio engineers, event managers, and even the matchday DJ! Tobias from Polygon School will be shadowing their roles on Saturday, and he’ll also venture down pitch-side to watch matchday presenter and Saints Foundation ambassador Kenzie Benali in action.
IN THE TUNNEL…
Walking out hand-in-hand with your favourite Saints day is a once-in-a-lifetime moment for our young matchday mascots, and all kinds of hard work goes into making it a magical experience for those lucky enough to get chosen. Marnie, a Year 10 from Redbridge Community School, will be preparing the selected children for their big day. After hosting them and their families, she’ll help bring the mascots down to the tunnel to meet the players and line them up ready for their moment in the spotlight.
AND ELSEWHERE IN ST MARY’S…
In the Saints Megastore, Lexie from Weston Park School and Katie from Bitterne Park School will be helping print up Saints shirts
Just outside, Daisy from Redbridge will be assisting with the competitions going on the Fanzone
Round in the corner of the Itchen and Northam Stands, Missy and Daisy from Oasis Academy Sholing will serving fans at the ticket office windows
Up in the hospitality suites, Finley from Redbridge will be welcoming guests into the Halo and the Markus Liebherr Lounges
And on the hallowed turf itself, Bailey from Bitterne Park will helping the groundsmen get the pitch ready for another spectacular Saints display – here’s hoping for a big win, Saints!
