Hello and welcome to another episode of the Sutton United Talk Time on Podcast. It’s the Sutton Podcast in association with Lucky Star Gin. I’m your host Mike, and today’s peek behind the amber curtain is with our foundation coach, a bit of everything, Harry Dunne. We’re going to catch up with Harry since he was last on the show when he was wide-eyed and full of enthusiasm for his new job. Now, we’ll find out what it was really like over the past year or so.
Don't forget the engagement. We love hearing from you. Lots of likes, tweets, and all the rest of it on socials. I really, really do enjoy it, and it does help spread the word so you don’t have to suffer alone; your friends can suffer too.
Mike: Harry, thank you for coming in to have a chat with us and keep us updated about the Foundation. Did you like the name? I put this as a chat of Harry and the Foundation.
Harry: Sounds like a 60s rock group.
Mike: Exactly. So, you're going to give us a little chat about different things. I’m sure there are a lot of people wondering what now goes on, especially with that terrible relegation word and how things are affected there. Obviously, we might not have the full picture yet. So, I’m not forcing you to give answers. If you don’t know it, you don’t know it. But it’s just also about the work you do and making sure people know. Because like I said before, I love all the little things we see about players going off to do things, but it’s not just about the hospital visits. There’s loads of other things going on. So, for anyone who missed the last one, just can you sort of remind us who you are and what you kind of do?
Harry: Yeah, so I think that’s a really important question because, you know, up until probably a month after I’ve been working for the club, I didn’t. I knew what we did, but I didn’t really understand what we did and I think that’s probably the case for a lot of people. So, in short, a foundation or a club community operation is the charitable and community side of a football club. Everyone in the EFL and the Premier League has to have one, and almost all National League teams have them and, you know, a few less as we go down. Their job is quite literally to engage with service and just be a constant part of the community. So that can be in a range of ways which I’ll obviously go through as we go through, but my job is to sort of pull all of that together from finding opportunities and dealing with requests that we get from certain groups and people to actually carrying out the sessions and meeting the people and just sort of being everywhere that I possibly can. So, yeah, that, in short, is what the Foundation does. And then I’m sure you’ve probably got some pressing questions.
Mike: You did forget one of the most important jobs, being a taxi for me when I had to do that little video and we never met!
Harry: Yeah, and there is. There’s a few people who I’ll mention that help with the Foundation, and it just seems like it’s a prerequisite that you can’t drive, so I have to do all of the driving, always.
Mike: That’s amazing. I think the first time we met was, yeah, I’ll come out of the station, I’ll be in a car in the car park. Am I supposed to go tapping on windows going, hi, how are you? But you’ve kind of touched on it. The Foundation has a lot of different fingers in different pies, for want of a better expression. I mean, when I did that little video, we were looking at walking football, some of the, what used to be called the Wildcats, I know it’s not called that anymore, the girls’ football goals. Then there was the girls’ section and disability section. So, there’s all sorts of different bits that it’s involved in. But can you kind of give us, be all night, give us another idea of kind of like what other things there are. I know they’re the headline.
Harry: Yeah, so you’re bang on there. Even pre the Foundation being set up, there was already a girls’ section. So, that’s all under 18 teams. Steve, that’s headed up by David Ajo now, but previously Mark Back, who did a tremendous job. He’s got PCSO Steve King and the disability teams, Fred Varnell, who does the walking football, and the Wildcats, which is done by Jamie De Cruz on a Monday night at goals. So, that was the sort of core. Those have been going for a long time. They all do very, very well, and they don’t completely take care of themselves, but they just sort of run along in the background. What we as employees of the Foundation, which is Bobby Childs and I, is really starting to look where we can be most beneficial in the community. And very quickly we identified that that was getting girls and women into football, people with additional needs and disabilities, and those that are either underrepresented or underserved, certainly maybe down to financial or where they live, and really sort of focusing on those underprivileged areas, if you like. So instantly we set out and you'll have to bear with me now, Mike, so I'm going to go into a right monologue.
Mike: That’s fine.
Harry: And we looked at girls’ schools. So, I reached out to all of the local secondary girls’ schools, heard back from Harris Academy in Merton and basically the head of PE there said, we’ve got all of these girls that are starting to watch football and play a little bit here and there and, you know, they’re really touching on it, but none of them are going out to join teams, so they’re playing for an hour on a Tuesday night, I think it is, with the boys and then that’s all they’re getting. So, we went in and bas. We do weekly sessions there, have done since October. Every Tuesday, a group of girls, we started with about six now we run at sort of mid-twenties. And those girls now, as part of that, I talk to them about different avenues, whether it’s our girls’ teams or little leagues or all of the sort of different opportunities that are around. So, we do that at Harris St Philomena’s in Carshalton and Wallington girls’ school at the moment, but, you know, fingers crossed, water. And more to that, that’s just an after-school club, you know, until 4:30, sort of every day. Next one then was SEN schools. So, a low level understanding of SEN schools because my son goes to one. But we started to just have initial chats with them about what we could do, how we can help, you know, where’s the most value, again, that we can add to just keep these children feeling like they’re part of the club, like they’re part of what we’re doing. So, we do a weekly session at Karoo Manor, which is in Beddington Park. Again, Jamie De Cruz manages that one for us. And then three or four schools now, we’ve started to work on or we’re having them in for workshops. So, effectively, what we’re doing is talking to them about ways in which you can work in football and be involved in football every day without being a professional footballer. Because as you know, as everybody and most of us, we all at some point have had to come to that realisation that we’re probably not going to make it, ma’jok. But, yeah, so a great book written by Dan Freedman, who’s the same guy that wrote the Jamie Johnson books, and it’s called 50 Ways Into Football. And within that, they interview the barber and the person who does the podcast and the pilot and, you know, the foundation heads and all of these different things. We bring the children. I go to the school first to make them comfortable, and then we bring them to the ground. They have a tour. They have a kick about in the fan zone. They interview the players and ask them, you know, basically, who’s better, Messi or Ronaldo? Because that’s the only question they ever want to ask. And just really look at, you know, we’re not giving exact directions, but we’re saying to them, oh, well, if you like, you know, cooking, why don’t you look at becoming a chef? We have, the players have chefs and, you know, and it’s those sort of bits and just trying to do as much as we can. So, yeah, there’s a group of schools sort of that run from here to Tadworth that we work with, and we’re just about to start with the one by Goals in North Cheam, where the social club y. So, that’s SEN.
Mike: Can you just stop telling them that they can get into football by podcasts? Because we don’t want any more podcasts about Sutton United because then I won’t be the best anymore.
Harry: The school that we’ve spoken to most recently, that’s what their initial contact was about. Can we, can we interview players and staff for? Because the kids are doing a course, I can’t remember what it is, but basically they’re going to teach them how to make a podcast. And a couple of them said, you know, well, we’ll do one on Sutton United. So obviously I’ve told them there’s only space. Yeah, unfortunately, we’d love to help you, but we’re not going to because there’s a bar. It’s extremely low. It’s extremely low, kids. You don’t have to do much. Don’t stop.
Mike: Right, listen, I’ve got this little yoke and it’s got like all sorts of little sound effect buttons and I can’t get it to work. I’ve had it for three years. So the other day, I decided I’m going to get this out. It’s actually something to do with the sound card on your computer, and I’m like, I’ve tried it on different computers. No idea how it works. And I was like, right, we’ll leave that. So if you ever come in to do one, I’ll press one of these buttons and it’s like applause and that. We’ll see how it goes.
Harry: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Mike: Right, so you’ve mentioned various different bits you do on different days, but if there is such a thing, what does a typical week look like for you?
Harry: OK, cool. A typical week. So Monday mornings, I’m also studying at the moment for a qualification in sports coaching. So, Monday mornings, I use for that sort of admin stuff as well. Posters and emails and grant applications and all that sort of thing. But Monday at 3:30, I’m at St Philomena’s. That’s till 4:30. Then straight after, I go to Wallington, which is the Phoenix Centre. Come back, do a little bit of coursework. Tuesday, so I run an after-school club at Harris. Then we also have what’s called the Unity League on a Tuesday night, which is for over 50s who just want to come along, have a kick about, you know, sort of stay fit and healthy. That’s held at the Oaks in Carshalton. Wednesday is SEN schools. So, we do various bits at different places. But again, usually that’s Jamie. But I’ll go along for those, especially if it’s a new school that we’re starting at, or if it’s their first trip to the ground, because it just means that they’ve got a familiar face. And then Thursday is after-school club at Wallington Girls. Then I go straight from there to Collingwood. Then from Collingwood, we were doing a youth club just to help them get going. That’s in Redhill. Then Friday is our little Dribblers session in the morning, followed by doing the girls' sessions in the afternoon at Sutton High. And then Saturday is a match day. So, on match days, I’m around the ground as much as possible. If I can, I do the odd bit of coaching with the girls teams, if they’re playing away from home or if they’re at the ground and I can get to them. And then Sundays, usually I would take off, but I’ve also become the welfare officer for the girls section because I didn’t do enough already. And obviously they play on a Sunday. So, I’ll go to watch their games. So, but, you know, again, it’s my wife would be the first to tell you, stop moaning. You’re going to play football for like an hour. But there’s, you know, my sessions are planned, and there’s lots of admin to it.
Mike: So, curveball question. Now you’ve done it for a year, how has your watching the game experience changed?
Harry: That’s a really good question, actually. And we’ve got a young lad doing work experience with us at the moment. And he asked me earlier, do you still feel like you’re a fan? Which is quite a deep question.
Mike: Yeah, yeah.
Harry: And it’s interesting because the answer is, and again, I don’t want to sound like I’m putting anyone off because it is the best job ever. But no, I don’t feel like a fan anymore. I feel like I’m at work. And that’s not a bad thing. I absolutely love it. And when we score, I’m there celebrating with the best of them. But what it does mean is that you see a different side of the club. You see the players on a Tuesday morning when they’ve got to come in for extra training. And you see the little things that happen in the background. So, if there’s a problem with the kit, you see them having to sort that out. You know, the little things that you don’t think about as a fan. And it’s those sorts of bits that you see. And it’s really rewarding to see that and to see how much work goes into it. But no, I don’t feel like a fan anymore. And the other thing is you can’t just get blind drunk and watch a game because you’ve got to be there to, you know, potentially do stuff afterwards and that sort of thing. So yeah, it’s changed, but not in a bad way.
Mike: So, if you had a chance to stop and look back and go, that’s one of the ideas I’ve implemented. I’m really proud of that one. And just your little go-to, your little shining star of something that’s a real good thing for you.
Harry: Yeah, there’s lots, and it’s important to remember, I am living the dream, you know. It’s not a bad thing to be doing for a living, believe me. In terms of my personal impact, almost every session that we’re running away from the club, whether it’s the girls or the SEN schools or the walking football, it’s the little interactions with the people that come along and the difference that we make to their day, their week, their month. That’s what I’m most proud of. But if I had to pick one, it would be the Unity League, because that started with just a couple of people turning up on a Tuesday night. And now we have, you know, sort of 20, 30 people every week. And it’s a real sense of community. And that’s something that I’ve been able to sort of take from an idea and really build on. So yeah, that’s my little shining star.
Mike: Brilliant. Yeah, it’s amazing. I think that’s the best part of what we do, just the little differences you can make to people’s lives. Right, I’m going to wrap it up. I was going to ask you a final message, but I think we’ve kind of covered it with a lot of the stuff we just discussed ad hoc there. Not an apology, but Harry has mentioned some names, and if anyone hasn’t heard their name, I’m fairly certain he’s just kind of run out of names to mention. So, if you were kind of thinking, hey, he hasn’t said my name, don’t worry, I kept it. So, I’m going to wrap it up there. Thank you, Harry, for your time. Thanks to our listeners. Follow, like, share, and subscribe on all the rest of it. Give me the little thumbs up on YouTube. I love all them. We’re going to be back, well, I’ve got another one planned, so I’m doing them all kind of out of order. So, we’ll be back on Sunday, I should imagine. As always, thank you to Lucky Star Gin. Thanks to Harry for your time. I’ll let you get on with your studying. Thanks to the listeners. Hope you’ve enjoyed this episode and take care. We will catch up soon.
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