Brothers' combined 100 years marking pitches

Two brothers are retiring together after spending more than 100 years combined marking out sports pitches across Birmingham.

Tony and Mike Harris - who have worked 53 years and 49 yearsin the job respectively - have now received a certificate from the council and been invited to tea with the city's mayor, as a way of thanking the brothers for their years of service.

Speaking of his half a century in the job, Tony Harris said: I've really enjoyed being here all that time, it's a job I really like and I'm very privileged really to have done it.

"But unfortunately, my legs are giving up now, so that's it, I'm calling it a day."

Tony started out in the job in January 1973 and realised six months into his employment that he wanted to "carry on and on" with what he was doing.

Mike Harris credits his brother for getting him the job in 1977, having wanted to get away from his previous role as manager in a betting shop.

"I didn't like it. I made it up to manager but I could see it wasn't for me. I like the open air too much," Mike said.

When asked what was so special about his work on the pitches, Mike said: "I don't know. It's just the feel you get with it, [the] open air.

"That's what it's all about, just being in the open air all the time. It's just being outside.

"When I used to work in the betting shop, it used to be smoke filled all the time."

The brothers work together on the pitches, with Tony saying the pair "get on together", and the job is made easier because "we both know what we're doing".

Mike joked: "It helps, it's like any married couple... you take the good with the bad and let things fly over your head."

At the Erin Go Bragh GAA club, the Erdington home of Gaelic sports, director Denis Neenan told the BBC how vital the work was that the brothers did.

"[Without them] sport would just stop. Organised sport would just stop," he said.

"This is a collaboration between the community and the city. The city provide the horticultural maintenance here - the grass cutting and the line marking. We just wouldn't have the resources to cope with that.

"For Tony and Mick to be replaced is very important for the community that plays here, the children, everyone."

Now embarking on their journey into retirement, Mike plans on doing voluntary work, while Tony will devote time to fishing.

"I'll go fishing six times a week. Sunday we might have a rest, I don't know yet," he laughed.

And between them, they have a century of laying out pitches to remember, even when they have laid down their tools.

Tony concluded: "There must be over 100,000 people [who have] used our lines and it makes me proud to say that."

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