Despite leaving school at 15, Colin Wheatcroft's career has been a long and fruitful one, taking him from landscape gardening in Exeter through to the edge of football's Premiership as head groundsman with Plymouth Argyle.
Colin views his early career with fondness: "I still drive around and see the trees I planted all those years ago," he said.
"They're big now but it feels good to have given something back to nature."

From there, Colin learnt about the building trade before becoming a dustcart driver with Exeter City Council, which bizarrely helped him with his sporting interest.
"It was a great job. After an early start, we'd finish at lunchtime, so I had the whole afternoon to learn golf!" he laughed.
He was a big Exeter City FC supporter and with his wife, Linda, working at the Grecians' laundry, he was in the right place to hear of the groundsman vacancy as it arose in 1989.
The knack
So what's the knack in preparing a quality pitch?


"You have to throw your whole self into it and every member of your family needs to be behind you because you have to think about it night and day."
Colin explained further: "There's so much pressure to get matches played regardless of the weather nowadays, with thousands of pounds resting on it and thousands of supporters wanting to see a game too."
Colin transferred to Plymouth Argyle in 1994 before heading back to Exeter in 1999, and then returning to the Pilgrims in 2004.