Exeter City Football Club gave one lucky fan a money cannot buy opportunity, to learn to Save Like A Pro, alongside their goalkeeping player-coach Scott Brown.
Ahead of the new season, Bradnich Town’s Gary Norman, 35, was invited to The Cliff Hill Training Ground, to experience a professional goalkeeping coaching session and get tips on how to save energy on and off the pitch.
The session included advice on how to control head positioning and footwork, how to save energy when moving from one side of the goal to another and how to preserve mental energy in a tough game.
The training session was organised as part of Smart Energy GB and EFL’s ‘Save Like A Pro’ campaign, which highlights how getting a smart meter installed can help people make small changes at home to save energy and be more in control of their energy bills.
Norman was put through his paces in the blistering midday sunshine by Brown and Exeter City academy graduate Jack Arthur.
Brown, 36, who has made 485 league appearances in England and Scotland, emphasised the impact saving energy can have on a goalkeeper’s performance.
“It has been fantastic working with Gary and we’ve been teaching him how to save like a pro, taking him through some quite tough drills,” said Brown, speaking to encourage Exeter fans to get a smart meter installed.
Smart meters put an end to estimated bills and come with an in-home display screen so users can easily see where energy is being used, meaning they can make small changes to be more efficient and budget more easily.
“For a goalkeeper, getting mentally tired is probably the most challenging thing about games, so it’s important you save as much mental energy as possible.
“Gary’s an Exeter City fan and his family have season tickets, so it’s been great to have him down here to hopefully help him become a better goalie.
“He’s just been telling me he’s not done anything since the end of May, so I was expecting him to be a bit rusty, but he was great! If he has had a great time and enjoyed the day that is the most important thing.
“I really enjoyed learning and talking about the small saves in energy we can make off pitch too, such as getting a smart meter installed. They help you control the energy you are using - like the drills we did today.”
The former Port Vale goalkeeper Brown joined Sky Bet League Two side Exeter City in a coaching role, but the 36-year-old will also be registered as a Grecians player, providing cover for Matt Taylor’s side when required.
Norman was certainly grateful to learn from Brown’s experience during the session.
He said: “I’ve been focussing on energy saving work so I can move my feet a bit quicker and get my head positioning right.
“It’s a great opportunity, it’s not something you get asked to do every day, it’s kind of a once in a lifetime chance so it’s nice to be involved.
“You play week in and week out and don’t get that sort of input from professionals like I did here at City so it’s fantastic, hopefully I can apply it to my season coming.”
Exeter will still be looking to bolster their goalkeeping ranks this summer and Norman is not ruling out a shock transfer to the side he and his family support.
He said: “I like to think I’ve put my hand up, but seriously there’s no way I could do that day in and day out, especially in this heat.
“I’ve had a fantastic time; the facilities are great and to be able to train with Jack and Scott was brilliant".
Some of the tips discussed to manage energy off the pitch, was using fewer appliances and lights during the summer months, hanging washing outside rather than using a dryer, turning your appliances off standby mode, and cooking for everyone at once, to ensure using the oven less.
Others include speaking to your energy supplier about getting a smart meter installed to control your usage, with pre-pay customers able to top up using their mobile or online.
Robert Cheesewright, Director at Smart Energy GB said: “Footballers and goalkeepers need to know how to conserve their energy on and off the pitch, and the same goes for our own energy use at home.
"Getting a smart meter from your energy supplier means, through automatic billing and having greater control of your energy use, you’ll have one less thing to worry about.
"The in-home display allows you to see in near-real time how much energy you are using in pounds and pence – meaning you can make some great saves, just like our goalkeepers today. Join the energy revolution and help upgrade Britain’s energy infrastructure by getting a smart meter installed at no extra cost."
If you would like to register your interest in getting a smart meter installed to help control your energy use, contact your energy supplier. Smart Energy GB and the EFL Partnership: Save Like a Pro. For more information visit https://www.exetercityfc.co.uk/news/2021/august/save-like-a-pro/
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