Tweet
Working in a pub on Saturdays gave ex-England rugby player Matt Dawson a taste of independence
When I was 14 or 15, I got a job at the George & Dragon pub at the bottom of Marlow High Street, where I grew up. I was based in the kitchens doing the washing up, cleaning floors, emptying ashtrays and so on.
This would have been in the mid-80s and it was an opportunity to get a few quid together so I could enjoy it with my mates. It was a bit of a fad among the group I was hanging out with at the time … we all wanted a bit of money and we were all looking for jobs we could do.
I knew one of the senior kitchen porters at the George & Dragon and they were quite happy for me to go in there and potter around. I think I was on £2.14 an hour. There wasn't an awful lot to go wrong, really, loading up the dishwasher and pulling this enormous hood down over the dishes, pootling about sweeping the floors, and so on. I seem to remember I was very thorough, learning not to run around in the kitchen.
We didn't have too much contact with the punters, but at the end of the day we were allowed into the bar to have a glass of Coke and, now and again, or depending on who was in charge, we were allowed a knickerbocker glory. It was quite a family-oriented place. In fact, my family used to go there quite a lot after rugby training on Sunday or after a tournament; we'd go down and meet up with other family friends.
I've got very fond memories of that time. Rugby was still an amateur game, it wasn't like you were training in the week, you were still just at school really. Having a Saturday job was part and parcel of my mum and dad giving me a bit of independence and I got to meet people of different ages and from other walks of life. Also, it was nice to have your own money rather than relying on your parents. Little as it was, at least it was mine, and it was up to me how I spent it.
When I was 18, I went to work for a security company in Northampton, then taught in a prep school until 1995 when rugby union went professional and I went full-time with Northampton. Whether it's advising people in rugby, or anywhere else, it's about breadth of knowledge, not being afraid to try different things and having a different outlook on things.
Funnily enough, I do a lot of work around food, and I never would have thought that would happen back in those days at the George & Dragon.
Matt Dawson's Rugby Academy is supported by The Co-operative
Graham Snowdon
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
More...
