Telford's World Cup kit man gives view from the England boot room
This is the boot that brought Harry Kane a World Cup hat-trick. And the man in charge of making sure it is polished ready for Belgium is from Shropshire.
While the country was still celebrating England cleaning up their Panamanian opposition, one Telford man had some other cleaning to do – hat-trick hero Harry Kane’s boots.
England kit man Pat Frost has been keeping faithful fans updated on the behind-the-scenes goings on in Russia with a series of posts from his Twitter account @KitmanPat.
The former West Bromwich Albion kit man posted several tweets after England’s 6-1 win over Panama, including a shot of current tournament top-scorer Kane’s boots and his two man of the match awards.
While the country was caught up in World Cup fever over the efforts of Gareth Southgate’s side, Pat also got into the swing of things, joining a series of tongue in cheek posts from fans with his own “football’s coming home”.
As captain Kane and his fellow teammates were back in training ahead of Thursday’s clash with Belgium, Pat posted a picture of the skipper’s right boot with the message “Just gone to clean this little sucker . . . it’s going to have to wait . . . it’s still too hot to hold”.
The Telford kit man’s account now has more than 17,000 followers, and has long been a favourite with football fans for his insights into the behind-the-scenes world of professional football.
Following the victory over Panama he praised the efforts of the team, saying: “6 goals . . . 6 points . . . 1 hat trick . . . it’s coming home . . . what a day . . . see you in Kaliningrad.”
In the build-up to the match Pat also posted a picture of England fans arriving for the match, including a flag from West Bromwich Albion - his former employers and the team he is a die-hard supporter of.
The difficulties of ensuring perfect preparation were also illustrated in a note shown by Pat which revealed how they were communicating with the laundry team in Russia.
Alongside a picture of a hand-written note with Russian instructions he posted: “Communication problems with the laundry ladies here in Russia so we have started giving them written messages.”
England will be hoping Pat brings them luck after the kit man was also with the England under 20 team for their World Cup success last year.
His role and importance to the team was illustrated with a heartfelt note from the winning side’s goalkeeper, Freddie Woodman, in the wake of the tournament.
Woodman, who referred to Frost as “the football man”, spoke of his importance to the team.
The note said: “I would like to take the time to appreciate the help and support you gave me during our time away.
"I’d like to thank you for the time, effort and hard work you and the rest of the staff put in to help us achieve our goal.”
