Pitch Perfect Job for Shanna at Crystal Palace (Shanna Ellis)

For nine months a year an elite pitch is tended daily and then in May it is ripped up and relaid – and in the weeks between, clubs hire the turf out for fan matches and five-a-side tournaments. Shanna Ellis spent just under a month at Selhurst Park selling that experience as a pitch hire event coordinator, once Crystal Palace had secured survival. She helped run the events, organised a tournament of her own on the famous turf, and got to operate the stadium tannoy and play the Eagles’ entrance music. The job needed quick thinking when problems arose, she says, and confirmed that the commercial side of the industry is where she wants to work.