Tom the 88-year-old tea-boy has no plans to quit Nottingham Forest

As tea boy at Nottingham Forest, Tom Parish has met the likes of Brian Clough, Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger and George Graham. At the age of 88, when most would have long-retired, Tom, of Coddington, has no plans to give up the urn any time soon.

Tom quit his job at the head office of bike-maker Raleigh, where he was head of procurement for another Nottingham icon, and started work at Forest as a steward in the Executive Stand, now the Brian Clough Stand.

He moved to the away end but harboured ambitions of working inside the stadium with the staff and players and applied to be tea boy.

He has seen 19 managers, not including caretaker managers, pass through the City Ground doors in 35 years at the club, which includes his time as a steward.

“It doesn’t seem much like a job to me because I love it,” he said.

“You get to meet the team and managers and the away team so it is a very interesting job.

“I have no plans to retire — it keeps me fit and my mind active and that’s the main thing. I lost my wife nine years ago and this is one of the things that keeps me going.”

If any players or staff who have access to the dressing rooms want anything before, during or after the match, it is Tom’s job to get it.

He also tidies the dressing rooms and runs baths for the referees. He used to run them for the players but these days they take a shower.

Tom is always immaculately dressed and prides himself on his appearance, which led to him being nicknamed The Chairman.

Dapper Tom, who often wears pin-stripe suits, is also known as Doug after ex-manager David Platt noticed more than a passing resemblance to the former Aston Villa chairman Doug Ellis.

'Brian Clough was a strict man'

Tom started working at Forest in the Brian Clough era — the team’s most successful in recent times.

He said: “Brian was a strict man. It was a case of what he says, goes.

“One day, I was in the corridor outside the boardroom and he said to me ‘No one comes through that door after one o’clock.’ I was under orders.

“One of the directors came along and tried to get in and I told him he couldn’t go in because I was under orders. I said I would fetch Brian and he said ‘oh no.’ That was how he was regarded at the club.”

Tom said there had been many nice managers, such as Colin Calderwood, who led Forest out of League One.

He said he had to memorise many tea and coffee orders over the years for players and managers.

Forest fans might take comfort from the fact that current manager Mark Warburton likes his tea in the same way as Brian Clough — milk and one sugar.

Tom said: “It’s one of those jobs I would do even if the money wasn’t there. It is a great job and I enjoy it immensely.

“People who go to games spend a fortune and they don’t see anything like what I see and meet the players.

He is also a popular figure among the players and counts among his favourite characters Stuart Pearce, keeper Dave Beasant and striker Stern John who once brought him back a “snazzy” pair of trainers from the US for his long walks, and wouldn’t accept a penny in return.

He said he always got on well with Roy Keane too, who he said was a real gentleman.

His job, a role increasingly rare at professional football clubs, caught the eye of the New York Times.

The newspaper included him in a feature on the tea ladies and tea boys of, what they called, British soccer — much to Tom’s surprise.

“It all started with an article in the Nottingham Forest programme which made it to America,” he said.