I have been in my current position since 2018, and my role covers the preparation and delivery of all FIFA Senior and youth tournament’s globally.

Since 2018, I have overseen 23 FIFA tournaments in every one of the six FIFA confederations. This has seen the FIFA pitch team deliver over 1,000 stadium games.

In recent years, we have introduced hybrid stitching to several regions for the first time including the Caribbean (Dominican Republic) and some regions of Latin America (Costa Rica) and South America (Chile and Colombia).

Now in my 48th year in the industry my career has taken me from the St. Andrews Links to Sports Turf Services to Rangers FC, Ipswich Town, The National Football Centre at St George’s Park and now to FIFA. I have also acted as a consultant for UEFA.

It feels like all my roles within the industry have been one long apprenticeship to prepare me for my current role. The role is global and requires travelling across the world approximately 204 days per year to attend pitch inspections ahead of delivering the FIFA tournaments.

the role also carries a major sports politics element by dealing with Ministries of Sport and Culture in all FIFA host countries.

It is one of the most challenging roles I have ever undertaken but it’s definitely one I enjoy and is professionally rewarding.