Kit Man Col on postponed games
For first team kit manager Colin Nixon the buzz word in the wake of United’s postponed trip to Crawley on Friday was ‘frustration’ as he was left to deal with an impromptu training session and a weekend’s worth of match kit which had to be unpacked and stowed away ready for another busy week ahead.
“I think frustration is definitely the key word when this happens,” he admitted. “It takes a lot of preparatory work to get ready for an away trip so there’s an element of disappointment in there when a game gets called off. I know the lads will be disappointed as well because we all wanted to go down there and try to pick up another good result.
“Obviously I now have to undo all of the work that’s been done, get the kit unpacked and start to prepare for the next task. To be fair this week has been quite good in terms of logistics for me because the lads had Wednesday off. I was able to start packing for the Crawley trip as early as that. Most of it was done by that evening which, to be honest, is a weight off my mind.”
“I’m fortunate as far as the hotel is concerned because that is all booked by the club secretary [Sarah McKnight],” he explained. “As soon as she finds out the game is off she contacts them and holds the booking over until the rearranged fixture date.
“There is food booked for after the game, and that has to be cancelled, so it can be a bit of a pain when these things come along. There’s nothing you can do about it though so we all tend to just crack on and sort everything out.”
“I think we have to say thank you to Crawley because we knew there was going to be a pitch inspection at 10am on Friday morning,” he said. “We were able to work our proposed departure time around that and it’s then a case of waiting for the call from the away club.
“The manager had already decided that we would train if this did happen so the most important job then becomes to make sure everything is ready for that. The lads started to arrive very quickly so we had to have things turned around and prepared so that they could get on with their session with minimum fuss.”
And on his overall kit man duties, he said: “It’s a job I enjoy very much.
“Like anything in life, it has its up and downs, but you get to meet some real characters and some really nice people.
“I think my most famous dodgy incident so far was when we played Huddersfield here and we discovered that there was no hot water in their dressing room. Derek Fazackerley wasn’t best pleased about that and he made his feelings quite plain and clear when he came to speak to me ... and we best leave it there!
“But it’s an interesting job and one that’s a pleasure to do.”
United Player can see a video interview with Colin Nixon now. Click HERE to go to the Player platform. Follow the same link for more information on United Player, and to subscribe.
