Behind the scenes with Lionesses kit man Kevin

The ‘kit man’ for the England’s women’s football team gave a fascinating insight into life behind the scenes in the Lionesses’ den when he visited Telford College.

Kevin Fenner, a former RAF engineer who lives in Telford, explained his role in the team during its rise to stardom following their historic Euro win and appearance in the World Cup final.

Speaking to sports students at the college’s Wellington campus, he explained the huge logistics operation involved in supporting the Lionesses squad on their travels around the world.

The students said they were surprised by the scale of behind-the-scenes activities involved in getting the squad to a venue, and players ready to perform at their best on the pitch.

Kevin 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.”
Liam Downing, a level three sport student, 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, 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.”
Kevin has a background in operational planning and training with the Royal Air Force, including several years at RAF Cosford. He began working with the Lionesses in the 2015-16 season.

“I got my job, strangely as it sounds, through Twitter. I followed a few kit men 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 8-10 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.”

Telford College sports lecturer Jason Jones said: “We want to say a huge thank you to Kevin for coming in to give such a fascinating talk to our students.

“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.”

Pic: Kevin Fenner with sports students Ryan Povey, Liam Downing, Ethan Wynn and lecturer Jason Jones.