“There’s a long journey ahead if I’m going to reach my goals but I’m willing to work at it” Matt Parry
remember being excited about him working at a Premiership football ground. He’d been self-employed before going to Leicester City and chose his own work hours. From that point on, he worked very long hours and the effort he put into his job was immense. It was like his whole life had changed. We definitely saw less of him, but there were good things about his job too - getting to meet all the players and being able to stand pitchside at closed training sessions was amazing. I’m the third Parry in four generations to become a groundsman so it’s very much in our blood. Now I’m older and I’m able to work alongside my dad at Quins, he’s able to teach me to a higher standard. I have a feeling my dad’s knowledge and experience will be useful when I start my NVQ level 2
course too. I didn’t really consider a
career in the industry until about 2 years ago when I began to help dad at The Stoop. The more I helped, the more I enjoyed it and I started to give my career some serious thought. Like all young lads, I had my heart set on being a professional football player and I also considered sports coaching but now I’m firmly focussed on groundsmanship. I aim to learn as much as I can, from as many people as I can and am prepared to work hard to go up through the ranks at a sporting facility. I’d eventually like to become a Head Groundsman. I know it’s not the sort of trade you can pick up in a couple of years. There’s a long journey ahead if I’m going to reach my goals but I’m willing to work at it.”
Father: Alan Ferguson Head Groundsman, Ipswich Town FC
NVQ level 2 in sports turf Alan Ferguson
Son: Rory Ferguson Full-t
time college student
“I knew from my early teens that I wanted to be a groundsman. My grandfather was involved in gardens and I used to help keep a large lawn. From then on I was hooked. Coming from St. Andrews, anyone remotely interested in turf couldn’t fail
to be inspired by how the local courses were prepared for The Open Championship. As a youngster, I wanted to do all the usual jobs young lads dream of - train driver, firefighter, pilot but I larked about too often at school and didn’t do particularly well but realised I could still have a
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Photo courtesy of Ipswich Town FC
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