Weymouth unsung heroes - meet matchday announcer Pete Green

Whether it be security, catering, matchday, everything besides and in between, non-league clubs especially would simply not exist without their loyal band of selfless unpaid workers.

So, as part of a new series throughout this season celebrating Weymouth’s ‘unsung heroes’ we will be shining the spotlight on the Terras’ more uncelebrated staff members.

This week, it’s the turn of PA announcer Pete Green.

Every home game, Green sits in the PA box along with the written media and gees up the Terras’ faithful.

READ MORE: The career of Weymouth assistant Mike Percival - part one

But did you know about his monetised YouTube exploits? Or perhaps the fact he’s 50 next month?

In his own words, he might not be expecting a call-up to the Weymouth squad any time soon, maybe just the Terras’ walking football side.

We sat down with Pete to discuss his role at Weymouth in greater detail.

NW: What does your role encompass at Weymouth?

PG: I volunteer as the matchday announcer at the club. For many fans it might just seem that I am reading out the team sheets and playing music pre-match, but it’s actually quite an important role.  As well as the obvious, I inform the fans of any safety announcements, details of upcoming fixtures and events at the club, giving shout-outs for club sponsors as well as keeping an eye out for goalscorers and substitutions. Oh, and don’t forget, it’s my job to read out the winning numbers in the meat draw too!

NW: How long have you volunteered for the Terras?

PG: This is my third season at the club. For the first two seasons it was a joint role with Paul Hartley, so we shared the announcing duties. This summer Paul had to step down though as he was relocating to Liverpool, so it’s all down to me now.

NW: Is it an enjoyable role for you?

PG: I really do enjoy it. It’s great when I am trying to gee everyone up just before kick-off with a shout of “COME ON YOU TERRAS!” and I hear the crowd respond. 

It’s fair to say that it’s changed the way I watch the game too. You have to be on the ball, keeping an eye out for all the activity on the bench as well as closely watching the match action. One thing I have to be, more so with the away team, is conscious of exactly how they are set up, what formation they’re playing, which number player is in which role, who’s taking set pieces as you can’t always see the numbers on the back of a player’s shirt if they score, and you have to know who’s scored to announce it!

NW: Do you find it nerve-racking addressing the home crowd each game?

PG: No, not at all. In my career outside of the club I have regularly given presentations to people at director level of major international companies, and within my family I am the go-to speech giver/eulogy reader so I am quite used to speaking in front of a crowd. 

I’ll admit to having a few butterflies on my first matchday but I wrote a script of things I thought I would need to announce, which I just adapted over time and game by game depending on what club announcements need to be made.

I think it’s always gone reasonably well. I’ve not had any barracking from the stands, even on occasions where I have made a mistake, although that might be because they weren’t listening to me in the first place!

NW: You're a YouTube content creator now focusing on food, what prompted the move from Football Manager content?

PG: Yes, that’s right, I do have a YouTube channel called “Greeno Eats” which is doing reasonably well. It’s a mixture of food-related content, a good portion of which is me getting out and about around Dorset trying different places to eat. Some of that content has been filmed in Weymouth, such as the recent Seafeast festival, the Hidden Gem Kebab House and Bennett’s Fish and Chips. If anyone has any suggestions of other places I should try then I am always happy to hear them.

I actually started out on YouTube making Football Manager-based content during lockdown, when we were all looking for new hobbies we could do within the confines of our own home. I had great fun doing that, and made some good friends and contacts in that community, including our Canadian friend ScootR who many Terras fans may be familiar with. As the world opened back up, and other extra-curricular activities kicked back in, I simply didn’t have the time to devote the hours to playing the game enough to make the content I wanted to. Anyone who’s seen me will appreciate that I like my food, so I moved into that vlogging field and am really enjoying it, plus YouTube have just started paying me for it, so even better!

NW: You're also in charge of the music selection at Weymouth, how do you go about selecting songs for the matchday playlist?

PG: Now there’s a question! The playlist is a bit of a mix of stuff, so hopefully there is something for everyone. We were given a list of around 20 songs by the guys and gals in the bar that some of the fans had picked, so I make sure there’s a smattering of them each game. Of course, there are the usual songs people associate with football in some way or another, if a song has been used on Grandstand or FIFA then there’s a chance it’ll make its way on there. Undoubtedly, the playlist is also influenced by my own musical tastes, hence the proliferation of 90s indie tunes each week.

NW: How long have you been a Weymouth supporter?

PG: Don’t tell anyone, but I am actually a Bournemouth fan! I have always had a love of local non-league football though, and had always made a point to make at least a couple of Weymouth games each season when living locally. In fact, growing up in Wareham as a youngster, we’d often miss one of the Bournemouth festive fixtures to make our way to the regular Ridgeway derbies that would be on Boxing Day/New Year’s Day because the atmosphere was better. The fact that I could get to a couple of Terras games during the Covid restrictions was an absolute godsend to a football fanatic like myself too.

Pete Green, left, with former Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe (Image: AFCB)

As a Bournemouth supporter I’ve always enjoyed seeing the younger Cherries coming in to Weymouth on loan such as Mark Travers and Jaidon Anthony. Of course, many of the Cherries youth players who don’t quite make the grade there have made their way along the coast to the Bob Lucas Stadium, such as Brandon Goodship, Ollie Harfield and Tyler Cordner so it’s been interesting to have the opportunity to follow their careers too.

I have to say though, the Terras have got under my skin over the past few seasons, anyone who spotted me up at the Taunton game last season will have seen I was as passionate as any Terras fan that evening.

NW: Why do you think volunteering is important for the club?

PG: Weymouth is a club that relies heavily on its army of volunteers, without them I simply don’t think the club could operate. It’s common knowledge that at certain times in recent years the club’s finances haven’t been in the greatest shape. With that in mind, having people willing to give up their free time to devote to the club is hugely important. Whether that’s the ground staff, the media team, the folk selling programmes and draw tickets or any of the multitude of other roles around the club, there’s so much that takes place on a volunteer basis.

NW: How far up the table do you see Weymouth finishing this season?

PG: I thought that the National League South would likely be a strong division this season, especially with three of the four relegated National League sides dropping into it. However, having seen the team in pre-season I was optimistic that we were certainly in a better place than in either of the last two seasons, and a mid-table finish with a possible push for the play-offs was achievable.

I think Bobby Wilkinson has been really unlucky with injury and illness issues so far, especially losing Max Hemmings and Josh McQuoid for the season. Few would argue against the fact that some questionable refereeing decisions have gone against us too, which have certainly cost the team points.

However, I remain positive, there are some eminently winnable games coming up, throughout the rest of October going into November. If we can put a decent run together through that period then I am sure we can stop looking over our shoulder at the bottom four and start looking a bit higher up the table. I reckon we could finish somewhere between 10th and 14th which would give Bobby something to build on next season too.