- Sheldon Edwards is a third-generation barber who's been cutting hair since he was a child.
- He's become a favorite of soccer players and has traveled with clients to the World Cup.
This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Sheldon Edwards, a London barber, about styling soccer players' hair at the World Cup in Qatar. It has been edited for length and clarity.
I was born in Jamaica and brought up as a third-generation barber. My granddad was a barber, he left his barbershop to my dad, and when I was about 9 or 10, my dad started asking me to work for him.
He did different jobs, though, so he'd send me to the shop to be a "watchman" and make sure that everything was running right. Through that, I picked up a piece of talent from everyone there and made it my own talent.
I then started cutting my friends' hair at 10 or 11 years old
I'd cut in the canteen or even in the classroom. I then came to the UK as a young kid, where my mum was working four or five cleaning jobs to keep us going. So when I arrived, I started pushing my barbering talent straight away. I built my talent from there, and that's led to where I am today.
I named the brand after I gave Moussa Dembélé, a French footballer, a haircut. It was so sharp, we compared it to an HD TV. Ever since, we've been known as HD Cutz. It started as a joke, but everything has grown since then.
I met the Belgian footballer Radja Nainggolan, and every week for about five years, he took me to Rome when he was playing for Roma. I then became the barber for the Roma players. I met Antonio Rüdiger, who played for Roma at the time but plays for Real Madrid now. He's been like a brother to me.
Rüdiger moved to Chelsea, and then I met Raheem Sterling, who became a friend. That led to me meeting a lot of Manchester City players. Names like Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez became my clients.
The England player Jude Bellingham took me to Germany, where he plays for Borussia Dortmund. The team's players all became my clients. It was a ripple effect of one player sowing the seeds with others. I'm like the pied piper.
Now I'm the barber for England's men's soccer team, but I travel for all my individual clients
Some clients fly me out to competitions with them. In Doha, Qatar, I'm on a retainer with all of my clients, who'll cover flights, hotels, time, and expenses.
I was also at the Russia World Cup in 2018 with England, and my haircut for Foden during the UEFA European Football Championship went viral. The entire nation was dying their hair blond.
I also do German, Belgian, and French players, and I have clients in Brazil. I do a lot of teams, but England is my home and where I live. I ultimately want them to win.
Some players think if I cut their hair before a match, they'll do well
They're superstitious. Some say that if they don't feel good, they won't play good, almost like they haven't brought their football boots to the game.
At a tournament like the World Cup, the day before a match, I get up, eat breakfast, go to the gym, and get my mindset right. It can get very busy when you're on the move. You're so in demand, and you're moving around to different hotels. You're working around the massages, physical therapy, and team meetings. You're always on the move.
This is the wild thing, though — I'm going to be cutting the France players and the England players before the quarterfinal match between them. It's my job to make sure both teams are fresh. A lot of times, these people are friendly with each other, but when it comes to the flag of their country, they fight it out like warriors. That's what I respect.
This job comes with a lot of sacrifices. You're going to have to sacrifice the things that you love to do. You have to put yourself last and the job first.
If you have those skills, you're on your way to becoming a celebrity barber. But you also have to have funny banter with the players about how nice they look and how great they feel about going into the game.
It brings me the greatest satisfaction when I see players performing at their highest level — and know that I brought out in them a form of confidence that nobody else could've.