MEET THE MAN WHO LOOKS AFTER CITY'S NEW PLAYERS

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MEET THE MAN WHO LOOKS AFTER CITY'S NEW PLAYERS

Postby Sven » Sat Oct 13, 2018 9:51 am

The man who gets paid to help new Cardiff City players settle in
By Abbie Wightwick


When new players arrive at Cardiff City, they often need a helping hand settling in.

For French-speaking players - and many more - Callum Davies is there to help them.

He says studying languages landed him his dream job working directly with players in the most-watched league in the world, like Gabon international Bruno Ecuele Manga , French midfielder Loïc Damour and defender Sol Bamba .

The former Treorchy Comprehensive and Cardiff University student accompanies French-speaking players to translate at top level team talks, de-brief sessions, meetings and press conferences.

“Bruno Manga arrived in 2014 and did not speak much English at all so I had to hold his hand for a bit and help him get stuck into life in the UK and at Cardiff City, ” said Callum.

“Loïc Damour arrived in the summer of 2017 with limited English. When they fist arrive it’s about helping them interpret everything and helping them find houses and cars and set up their finances. I do that for everyone else too.

“Sol’s English is perfect. I work with him as I work with all the team players when they first arrive.”



As well as interpreting, the 27 year-old linguist - who also speaks Welsh and some Spanish - helps players adjust to life in Wales more generally.

He landed his job as player liaison officer for Cardiff City, who have several French-speaking players, in the final term of his French and Welsh degree at Cardiff University.

After studying languages at A-level and university, he said pupils don’t always realise what exciting jobs are on offer if they opt to study languages.

Take up of modern foreign languages at GCSE and A-level have plummeted across Wales, which Callum believes is limiting job opportunities.

“My role is to help the players with any issues so that they can concentrate fully on football. It was a dream job for me. Leaving university for this job wasn’t in my wildest dreams, especially with the club climbing to the Premier League. I wasn’t aware of it as a career path.

“I graduated in July 2013 and got the job that month. I was contacted about it while I was doing my finals. The club wanted French speakers because they were looking to get into the Premier League at that time and were sourcing players and tapping into the foreign markets.

“Everything I’m doing now is thanks to the languages I learned at school and university. Being able to speak another language from a young age can set you up for life, even if you don’t know at the time exactly what job you want to do.

“It’s not just French-speaking players I work with, it’s every first team player. My job is to help all first team players settle in, but having language skills is how I came into that job."


Callum, who also worked with with former Cardiff City player Frederic Gounongbe who left the club in the summer, admits he wasn’t a Bluebirds fan when he took the job five years ago. But he is a true fan now and hopes his combined love of football and languages will encourage more young people to study languages.

StatsWales figures show the number of pupils in Wales sitting French, German and Spanish GCSEs has fallen from 7,867 in 2014 to 5,626 in 2017, while A-levels for the same subjects has seen a drop from 541 in 2014 to 390 in 2017.
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MEET THE MAN WHO LOOKS AFTER CITY'S NEW PLAYERS

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