Reading FC legend Dave Kitson has made a new signing.
Kitson has appointed Reading fan Hannah Turnbull as Events and Partnerships Manager for The Dave Kitson Academy.
“I’m delighted to welcome Hannah on board,” he said.
“She has been a brilliant help at the events we’ve attended for clubs and schools in the Reading area and it’s fantastic that she has accepted the role.”
Turnbull, who is based in Reading and works as a carer and special needs teacher, first met Dave when her son Eshan booked some coaching sessions with him.
“Eshan is a goalkeeper and I saw that Dave Kitson had started coaching, so I decided to book him in for some sessions,” she said.
“I got chatting to Dave and was telling him that I played walking football. So he invited me to join in the coaching sessions with Eshan and it has been brilliant fun.
“I’ve improved so much and scored my first ever hat-trick after starting my coaching sessions with Dave.”
Turnbull has been assisting Kitson at events he has attended for local youth football clubs and schools.
The former Reading striker launched his academy in November and has coached thousands of children across Berkshire since then.
It has been an eventful year so far for Kitson, who was part of the Reading side that won the Championship title with a record 106 points.
As a coach, he helped Reading Blue Coat School’s 1st XI win the first national cup competition in their 378-year history. Josh Hardy, one of the players he has coached, recently secured a scholarship at a prestigious college in the USA and Lilly Morris, a 12-year-old he has been coaching, has signed for Reading FC Women’s Under 13s and been selected to represent Berkshire at Under 14s level.
He came out of retirement in March to make his first competitive appearance for Caversham United as part of Sunday League Day, scoring twice in a 2-2 draw against Caversham’s Reading Sunday League Division 2 local rivals Rose & Thistle – including a stoppage time equaliser.
And he has been appointed as the first ever national team manager and international ambassador for Nauru, the world’s third smallest nation.
