WITH the World Cup kicking off on Sunday, a Northfield chef who has worked with England teams for more than 20 years has given us an insight into the Three Lions’ pre-match meal preparations.
Sean Kyle was part of the FA’s England set up between 2001 and 2021, cooking food and helping meet the players’ nutritional needs.
He worked alongside dieticians and management staff, wrote menus and organised hotels.
His role began with the England women, then the Under 21s and a number of other age groups and assisting with the first team.
Sean, who attended St Rose of Lima School in Weoley Castle and St Thomas Aquinas in Kings Norton, said the set-up changed over the years when more was known about the science behind food and sport.
“The amount of proteins and carbs players take on board now are more controlled and are tailored to each individual position.
“Before it was a free for all but now they are different – for example a goalkeeper’s carb intake would be more minimal as they are not sprinting up and down the pitch whereas a wing-back would have more carbs.”
He added food was now weighed out more diligently and he would also choose to cook ‘pick-me-up’ meals for players to give them a boost after a defeat.
Players also looked after themselves a lot better these days than maybe they did previously.
“The young players coming in are more clued up about what they eat – they want to know what’s in their food and what they are putting into their bodies.”
England’s first match against Iran will be at 1pm (UK time) on Monday, November 21.
Sean said when the squad arrived for the tournament they would most likely be eating high fats and meats – including having gelatine shots – to help with their recoveries from their last club games.
As matchday approaches, the meals will become leaner with more protein and carbs, such as turkey and pasta.
Red meats would be avoided the night before the game as they are not easily digestible.
Sean on Gareth Southgate…..
Speaking about England manager Gareth Southgate he said: “He is a very good people person and that’s why everyone wants to work with him.
“He makes everyone feel part of the team, everyone is welcome around him and he is a highly motivational person.
“He was influential and an amazing person to be around.”
And Sean added he felt Southgate could bring the World Cup home.
And the Lionesses…..
Sean has also worked with the Euros-winning Lionesses, including Jill Scott, Lucy Bronze, Millie Bright, Georgia Stanway and Ellen White.
“The group was one of the first teams I worked with – I have seen them develop and how much effort they have put in over the years.
“They are a fantastically talented bunch.”
How Sean became top chef in the Beautiful Game
Sean, who went into catering after leaving school, said: “The food I had growing up and the cooking wasn’t the best so I wanted to change that myself and I’ve always been quite artistic so I combined the two.”
He started at the Hyatt Hotel in Birmingham and he helped open a couple of restaurants in the city.
In the 2000s, he worked at several Michelin Star eateries, including Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir in Oxford and Michael Caine’s in Manchester.
He finished third in Young Chef of the Year in 2009, coming second to Glynn Purnell.
He journeyed down to London in 2013, determined to get more experience in Michelin Star kitchens and often having to live in squalid conditions as it was all he could afford.
“I was working 12 or 13 hours-a-day so luckily I was not spending much time in the flats I was living in.”
He spent two-and-a-half years in the Capital working with, among others, Michel Roux Junior.
“Michelin Star restaurants are a completely different world from a lot of venues.
“It’s very much a pressure-cooker environment and you have to be thick-skinned to survive.”
He has also worked in Bromsgrove – at the Queen’s Head in Stoke Pound and the Country Girl.
He got into cooking for footballers after receiving a call from Huddersfield Town FC who asked if he could go and train their chefs and stayed working there for three seasons.
He also spent a season at Wolves and one with Manchester City where he cooked for the ‘Tunnel Club’ corporate hospitality.
He said: “It was very difficult to leave Huddersfield for Wolves, especially when they played each other – I got to meet up with my former team who all said I was very much missed.”
And the teams he has cooked for have had plenty of success on the field – he was chef at Huddersfield when they got promoted to the Premier League, was with the England Under 20s when they won the Toulon tournament four times, saw victorious outings with the England Women and was with Wolves when they won the Asia Cup.
He said: “Chefs are so important to football teams – it’s about reading into players and finding out what they need.
“Above all, players have got to believe in you and what you are doing.”
And it was not just the players – when he was at Wolverhampton Wanderers, some of his pre-match recipes were printed in the programmes.
“I used to get fans coming up to me all the time saying ‘I tried your recipe out last week and loved it’.
“I got so much great feedback from the supporters.”
Sean also wants to use the wealth of knowledge and his skills as a source of good – by helping good food causes.
He is cooking for the homeless at SIFA in Digbeth and helping provide Christmas dinner for the homeless on December 23.
