At every match there are a group of ballboys and girls who sit around the outside of the pitch to retrieve the ball when it goes out and give it back to the players. The ballboys and girls are normally aged under 16 and often aged 11-12 to 16. Each club recruits them in different ways – sometimes through local football leagues or on the club’s website for example. On a Manchester City website advert they once said that they were looking for boy and girls who were “able to attend every home game, be energetic, be able to quickly catch and throw a ball and be willing to sit in all weathers. And have parental consent.”
There have been some controversies involving ballboys in the past most notably in 2013 when Chelsea’s Hazard kicked a ballboy for holding on to the ball too long (time wasting) and was duly sent off.
There is some debate whether the ballboys are encouraged to favour the home teams. Ex-England player and manager Glenn Hoddle once stated that, “As a management team in European games, you will tell the people who are instructing the ballboys that if you are winning the game, don’t get the ball back quickly. That’s your home advantage, in a way.”
