Football: NI man's 'dream job' inspecting pitches around the world

Andrew Culbert has worked with teams such as Bayern Munich, Olympiakos, Udinese, Tottenham Hotspur and FC Copenhagen as part of his job

A man from Northern Ireland has arguably one of the best jobs possible for any die-hard football fan.

Andrew Culbert, who is from Bangor, County Down, travels the world and ensures top-flight football pitches are in immaculate condition for matches.

Andrew has worked with teams such as Bayern Munich, Olympiakos, Udinese, Tottenham Hotspur and FC Copenhagen.

The 30-year-old is currently working on delivery of the 2024 UEFA European Football Championship in Germany.

Andrew pitcured at the Georgios Karaiskakis Football Stadium, the home of Olympiakos, in Greece

Andrew, a sports turf consultant, has clocked up some air miles as part of his work, travelling to countries like Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Albania, and the Ivory Coast in west Africa.

The company Andrew works for has a contract with footballing body UEFA, which sees him and colleagues complete "tournament delivery".

"This covers all the European finals including the UEFA Champions League, Europa league, Europa Conference league, Women's Champions League, Super Cup, and of course the upcoming Euro 2024 finals," Andrew told BBC News NI.

A job of two halves

"The company I work for offers consultancy advice as well as surface performance testing.

"Performance testing allows us to use various equipment to ensure characteristics of a pitch, such as surface firmness and energy restitution, all of which can help players perform to their maximum.

"The aim is to produce a surface that not only looks good, but also plays good."

Andrew Culbert pictured in Uzbekistan last month during some downtime

Andrew's work for the Euro 2024 men's finals in Germany sees him visiting stadiums up to three or four times in a 24-month period leading up to the competition.

"With regards to Euro 2024 in Germany, our remit has already started as the number of venues get whittled down," he explained.

"These are basically like road trips across Germany, visiting all the grounds being used for the tournament.

"Between my colleague and me, we visited more than 80 sites in August 2022 to assess the quality of the pitches that may be used as team base camps for the final."

Andrew said his job is a fantastic way to experience new cultures and sample many local delicacies.

He admits the amount of travel can be exhausting after a while, but considers himself very fortunate that he gets to fly across the world visiting iconic stadiums and doing something he is so passionate about.

"The travelling can take its toll and there is a lot of work involved, but there will often be that moment just before kick-off when you can look around and just take it all in," he said.

From Bangor to Berlin

Andrew studied Sports Turf Management which was spread across Greenmount College in County Antrim and Myerscough College in Preston in England.

"I carried out a work placement at my local golf course, Bangor Golf Club, which lead me onto working as a greenkeeper in Switzerland for a while," he said.

"I returned home to work as a groundsman at Northern Ireland Civil Service Sports Association at Stormont before moving to London to be an assistant head groundskeeper at Watford FC."

Andrew Culbert is a former assistant head groundskeeper at Watford FC

Ahead of the Euro 2024 finals in Germany, Andrew is preparing to fly to Ivory Coast for the third time ahead of them hosting the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations.

"I've already made two visits in the past months, with two further visits planned and an on-site presence for the tournament," he said.

"Managing turf in countries such as this can be challenging, battling with harsh climates and differing grass species which can cope with the heat."

Andrew's next trip will see him travel to Athens for the upcoming Super Cup Final between Manchester City and Sevilla later this month.

He also said that he is very excited to be heading back to "home soil" for the Europa League Final in 2024, which is due to be held in Dublin.