A STUDENT from the University of Worcester says working with Tamworth on their run to the FA Cup third round was an ‘incredible’ experience.
Ethan Parker, a 22-year-old third year sports coaching student, secured a work placement with Tamworth as a performance analyst at the start of the season.
And the Lambs, who play in the National League, enjoyed a memorable run to the third round of the FA Cup where they took on Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur.
Spurs eventually triumphed 3-0 after extra time at the Lamb Ground as Tamworth more than held their own against a team 96 places above them in the football pyramid.
Tamworth beat League One sides Huddersfield Town and Burton Albion en route to the third round.
Ethan said: “Starting my placement in August I had no real idea of where it would go, so to have played my part with a team which beat two League One sides and took on Spurs was incredible.
“I’m the only analyst at Tamworth, so I’ve been able to lean on my lecturers a lot to help me learn on the job and go through the process.
“I enjoyed performance analysis before my placement, but this has shown me that it’s the field I want to work in.
“My next step is to apply for my master’s in sports performance analysis at Worcester.”
Ethan is one of eight members of staff at the club who are either current or former students or staff at the University of Worcester.
This includes Tamworth’s academy manager Tim Dudding – a current PhD student at the university.
And Tamworth’s lead therapist Beth Willment is also a sports therapy technician at the university.
Beth added: “Tottenham will have several full-time people doing all of the different roles I do for Tamworth, so I’ve been very busy these last few weeks.
“We were speechless when we found out we were playing Tottenham, we didn’t really know what to expect until we arrived at work before and the car park was full of film crews and kit from Tottenham, that’s when it hit us.
“Having that exposure for the club and all of us has been great, we’ve made a lot of connections which we will have for life.”
