IT’s a dream job for any football fanatic – a full-sized all-weather pitch just a few feet away from his office desk, writes Dave Wright.

No wonder Ricky Simons has a grin on his face every minute of his working day.

The 30-year-old father of two has been the full-time secretary of Bracknell Town for several weeks and he still can’t believe his luck.

“It’s surreal, I feel so fortunate, I could not have a better job,” he beamed.

And it has all happened in such a short time – owing his quick progress down to Town chairman Kayne Steinborn-Busse.

Earlier this year Simons was just a fan of the Robins, watching games from the stands.

At the same time, the Londoner was also supporting Brentford, where he had been a season-ticket holder for several years.

“When I was at Griffin Park I wanted to know the Bracknell scores, but it wasn’t always easy to find any updates,” he said.

But after Kayne had transformed the Larges Lane club, Simons started to get more interested in Town and last November he told Kayne he was keen on social media and would like to help out the club as they were falling short in that direction.

“The first game I tweeted about was away to Oxford City Nomads, it was a sort of test to show Kayne what I could do,” he continued.

“It went well as after the game there was a very good response from the players, and so I carried on with it, doing games home and away.

“The club seemed to like what I was doing and I was more drawn to Bracknell rather than Brentford.

“I went to Blackfield and Langley for the FA Vase tie and on the coach coming back Bob Langridge (club director) asked me if I fancied becoming the club’s secretary. I jumped at the chance and Bob started to give me a lot of guidance.”

At the time, Simons was working in the sales department at Travis Perkins and he was happy in doing both jobs.

But then came a phone call that was to change his life.

“Kayne had mentioned there would be a full-time position at the new place (Ranelagh Sports Hub) so I was expecting something to come around in a couple of years, but one Sunday he called to say ‘let’s go for it now.’ “I bit his hand off, I quit Travis and started to work at the club.

“In a matter of a few months, I had gone from being just a fan to working full-time.

“Every day, I sit here (in the office) thinking this is so surreal. I am involved in virtually everything the club is doing, and it’s exciting.

“From the time I was at school I always wanted a job in football, so this is a dream come true.

“There is so much happening here, and I can see why Kayne and his family live on site, it’s constant here.”

A good part of his day is spent taking inquiries and bookings for the 3G pitch: “I am not being biased, but it must be the best facility in Bracknell to play football,” he commented.

“People come in and say we have been offered this price elsewhere. Yes, you can play on another 3G pitch, but not one as good as ours with the changing rooms and bar.”

Simons is also the club’s welfare office, which brings frequent inquiries from junior team officials and parents.

“It is easy to see why Kayne needs someone full-time, the phone rarely stops, it’s constant,” said Simons.

“Even when I get home in the evenings, I keep my laptop open as messages and inquiries are coming in all the time.”

Fortunately, he has a very understanding wife, Carly, and two young daughters Abbie,who is seven, and three-year-old Emily.

And he recently took Carly along to the Isthmian League’s presentation dinner at a Wembley hotel.

“When I worked at Travis, it was set hours, so she knew when I would be home for dinner. But now she has had to adjust as I have to be at the club on some nights a week and out on most Saturdays during the season. She has been really supportive, as she knows what this job means to me, so taking her to the Isthmian dinner was a nice treat for her which she deserved.

“She recently came up with a saying – If you do what you love, you never work a day in your life.”

At the dinner and the Isthmian annual meeting, Simons spoke to a number of other club secretaries and they were surprised that Bracknell employs him on a full-time basis.

“I could be the only full-time club secretary at this level of football. It shows how big this club is getting,” he added.

With our chat over, Simons put on his boots and raced out to join the Steinborn-Busse family for a kick-about on the pitch.

As he says, jobs don’t come much better than this.