Crystal Palace Academy kit manager Josh Farr has offered an insight into one of the behind-the-scenes roles that helps the club’s young players develop. His responsibilities cover the Under-8s through to the Under-21s, as well as Academy staff, with the central aim of ensuring players can concentrate on football rather than equipment.
Farr’s working day often starts around 7am, before the Academy becomes busy. He prepares training clothes, boots, footballs and pitch equipment, then supports sessions by moving equipment and retrieving balls. Once training is over, his duties continue with laundry, kit organisation and preparation for upcoming fixtures. On matchdays, he can arrive three or four hours before kick-off to arrange playing and staff kit, coats, footballs, cones and bibs, while also making sure there is time to resolve any problems before the players arrive.
Organisation is particularly important because Palace’s Academy teams can be training or playing at different venues on the same day. Farr may be responsible for preparing several squads, managing equipment returns and getting everything ready for the next fixture. Away matches can involve driving the kit van, setting up at the stadium, packing everything away and returning to the Academy. One demanding sequence saw him come back from an Under-21 International Cup match against Benfica at Sutton before preparing for the Under-18s’ FA Youth Cup tie in Plymouth. Both Palace sides won 2-1.
Farr’s route into football began outside the professional game. He worked in a pub kitchen after leaving school and later spent seven years as a council dustman. While still working for the council, he took a kit role with Merstham, a Step Four club, where he gained experience alongside his main job. A recommendation from Michael Kamara, then a Merstham player-assistant manager and now Palace’s Under-14s head coach, helped him secure an interview with the Eagles. Farr joined Palace and was quickly tested by a two-week Under-21 pre-season tour to Salt Lake City in 2023, where he had to manage the needs of around 20 players and 10 staff.
The role involves more than simply laying out equipment. Farr learns the preferences of individual players, including their choices of socks, shorts and match items, while maintaining appropriate boundaries with young footballers. He aims to give the older Academy players the same professional preparation they will experience when moving towards the first team. That approach has allowed him to share in significant moments, including the Under-21s winning the International Cup and the Under-18s reaching the FA Youth Cup semi-finals and lifting the Premier League Cup at Selhurst Park.
For Farr, the clearest reward is seeing players progress. He highlighted the pride of watching Justin Devenny make his first-team debut against Fulham at Selhurst Park after first knowing him as an Academy player wearing the No.55 shirt. Farr’s advice to anyone hoping to enter football is to work hard, stay organised and take pride in every task, with non-league football offering a possible starting point for gaining relevant experience.
