Forest Green Rovers

Under the League Interviews…Kurtis Guthrie

Oct 22

Posted by DaveBurin

Right now, Kurtis Guthrie is the toast of The New Lawn. With five goals already this campaign, the Jersey-born forward is skilful, powerful and regularly contributing vital goals for the current leaders of the National League. Having begun his career at Jersey club St. Clement, 22-year-old Guthrie has experienced time in the Football League with Accrington Stanley, promotion from the Conference South with Welling United, and last season helped Forest Green Rovers to the highest finish in their 126 year existence. And this time, they’re aiming to go even further…

Friendly, candid and measured, Guthrie talks me through an action-packed career which belies his young years. From his first ever goal for Southport, (“a deflection”) to lifting a championship with Welling United (“the best group of lads”), his shameful treatment by Bath City, and much more…this is the FGR star’s story, in his own words.

DB: Growing up in Jersey, were there many footballing opportunities for youngsters on the island? And who did you support, either locally or further afield?

KG: There weren’t really many opportunities, no. At ages 14 and under, there are a few tournaments, but no real opportunities to push on from there. I would love there to be more for the kids. In Jersey, I think there are a lot of technically sound, very good young players – but it’s hard to get used to the physicality you can get in football. We weren’t getting to play against boys from the mainland.

I didn’t really support a team. In Jersey, it’s all local clubs. My favourite club in Jersey is St. Clement. I played for them when I was younger, and then when I started in mens football. Over [in England], I’ve just always enjoyed watching good football – whoever the teams are.

DB: In 2009, you broke into the first-team for St. Clement, who are in the Jersey Premiership. You scored almost a goal a game for the club, which is an amazing ratio. How did you manage to adapt so quickly to physical senior football, at just 16?

KG: I always enjoyed playing football above my age group. I started playing u-12s when I was about 8 years old, and a couple of years later, for the u-14s. When I reached 16, I didn’t really enjoy playing with people of my own age – I was excited by the challenge [of mens football]. I was always quite tall as well, so I could handle the physical side of the game.

I found the transition easy, really. I didn’t find mens football too difficult, and I preferred it to playing with people my age. And the better the players around you are, the better you play too. As a young player, I think the quicker you can start playing senior football at any level, the better stead it will stand you in. Playing in the park with my friends had become a bit too easy!

Anyway, I spoke to my Dad about ‘playing up’ for the mens team, and he encouraged me to. I’d been at the club for a while, so everyone at the club knew me and what I was capable of, and they were happy to throw me in.

DB: In 2011, you joined League Two side Accrington Stanley. How did the move come about? And what were John Coleman and Paul Cook like to play for – each were in charge for part of your year at the club?

KG: When I was 17, I moved to Trinity – another club on the island [of Jersey]. Whilst I was there, there was a bloke called Eamonn Elliott, who had played under John Coleman some years back. He told me ‘you deserve a chance in England’. I’d had that said to me before, so I didn’t really take note of it at first. By then I was working – doing my apprenticeship as an electrician – and I’d almost given up the hope of breaking into professional football. As that season ended, I got a phonecall from Stanley, saying they wanted me to come over and I went over there. After about 10 days there, the club offered me a deal, and I took it!

It’s hard to judge those managers, because I feel that I was stitched up a bit by the club. I was told that Stanley were bringing in another striker, for me to learn from, and I signed under that pretense. That never happened, and I played up front on my own throughout.

John Coleman did try and help me to adapt, but when Paul Cook came in, we just didn’t get on. I’m not sure why, but I do think we’re completely different people. About four months before the season ended, Stanley told me I was going to be getting a new contract at the end of the season, and then a week before it ended, Paul [Cook] pulled me into his office and just told me ‘I don’t want to give you anything’. For me, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I didn’t feel I was improving at Stanley, because I didn’t have the support system I needed.

Kurtis in action during his season with Accrington Stanley.

DB: You’ve almost answered my next question, but I’ll ask it anyway!

Stanley sent you on loan to Southport for part of that season, and didn’t renew your contract at the end of the campaign. Do you feel that you were given a fair chance to prove yourself at Accrington – or not?

KG: I do think a lot of the reason that period didn’t work out was down to myself, as well. I didn’t have that guidance, and had I known what I know now, I would have looked to go on loan somewhere else – preferably for 6 months. At Southport, I only started 3 games and came on as a sub twice. I was only there for a month, so I should have gone out on loan again, or even extended my time at Southport.

I take responsibility off my own bat, but for financial reasons, a club like Stanley – at that time – couldn’t give me the support you need in the situation I was in.

DB: Whilst at Southport, you got your first goal in the English game – a vital equaliser in a 2-1 win over Alfreton at Haig Avenue. What are your memories of that crucial strike?

KG: I remember the ball coming over, I took it down and came inside, and then shot towards goal with purpose. It took a deflection, but it went in!

It was obviously a nice feeling, but I think at that time, I only appreciated the experience for a moment. It was the same when I made my [Accrington] debut away at Northampton. I don’t think I realized the magnitude of those moments. I was just a lad who’d come over from Jersey, wide-eyed, just wanting to play football. It’s a shame, because I look back now on some of those early moments and how much they should have meant, and I think I took them all for granted – because I didn’t know any better.

DB: Talking of goals, you scored a hat-trick on your debut for Bath City in 2012, against Maidenhead United. You had a very successful few months with the club. Did you enjoy your time at Twerton Park – and did you consider staying with the club long term, before the Welling move came about?

KG: Obviously the hat-trick was a nice moment for me, and I was fortunate to have my sister – who was living in Bath at the time – there watching. For quite a while I was very happy at Bath. I was enjoying my football and the club was a good step for me rebuilding my game, and trying to find out what sort of player I was hoping to become.

I wanted to stay at Bath, but because I was young, the club felt that they could string me along. I was on a monthly contract at the time, which was fine for a while because I was just happy to be playing games. Then, about a month after, I said to them that I was looking to commit to the club long term, and they said they’d give me one more month-to-month contract, and then sort out the longer-term. I said ‘OK’ to that.

Then, after they were knocked out of the FA Cup, the Chairwoman at the time [Manda Rigby] stopped talking to me, the coaches were avoiding me. I went in to see the Chairwoman the night before one training session, and said ‘if this doesn’t get sorted by the weekend, I’ll walk away, because this is my last game [on month-to-month] anyway’.

They promised to have a meeting with me after the training session, but as soon as the session ended, everybody left the training ground. People at the club weren’t answering my phone calls, and I just went on Twitter and said that it had been a pleasure, and I wished Bath City all the best, but that my time there was over. As soon as I’d tweeted that, I had phonecalls from the Chairwoman saying ‘We would have sorted something out, but there’s no going back now’. I explained that I’d given them ample opportunity to do that, and then I went back to Jersey, to collect my thoughts.

That’s when [then Welling United manager] Jamie Day got in touch. He’d expressed interest in me before, and we got on well. After those two weeks, I flew back over to the mainland, and signed for Welling for the rest of that season. That’s probably the best decision I’ve made in my career, and without a shadow of a doubt, Jamie has done the most for me of anyone in football. Now he’s up at Forest Green [as Assistant Manager], I’m just over the moon that I get to work with him again!

DB: You were instrumental in Welling’s promotion that season – the club won all of your first 11 games in the side. Why do you think you fit so well into that Welling team? And what are your memories of the day you clinched promotion to the Conference Premier?

KG: I’d played briefly for Welling in pre-season, before going to Bath – and so I’d already met quite a few of the players. I was also living in Peterborough, when I signed properly for Welling, and ended up carpooling with the captain, Lee Clarke, so I was instantly made to feel welcome.

The Welling boys were the best group of lads I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with. That team spirit was something I’d never experienced before. Obviously Welling isn’t a club with lots of money, so Jamie had brought together lots of players who loved playing football and wanted to work hard for each other. Jamie knew that money wasn’t what motivated us – the guys in the squad were motivated by one another. It was just like playing with 18 of your mates!

I think that spirit is what won us promotion. In terms of individual players, we probably didn’t have the best team in the division, but we had the best collective team unit. We knew one another’s strengths and weaknesses, and how best to work together.

We won the title away at Boreham Wood, in the penultimate game of the season. We went there needing a point, and every one of us in that changing room beforehand just knew that this was the day Welling would be promoted. We drew 1-1 and did it!

Our last game of the season was at home. Knowing we’d already won the league, and playing in front of our own fans was a great experience. Welling may not have loads of fans, but they’re loyal supporters who sing their hearts out. They’re fans that any player would be happy to play in front of.

DB: At Welling you picked up a fair few yellow cards, but you’ve still never been sent off in your career – as a player, do you have a strategy for being able to be quite a tough, imposing player and taking the odd foul for the team, without stepping over that line and getting sent off?

KG: It’s difficult. I feel that I get punished a bit on the pitch by opponents. I always seem to end up in the wars, so I make sure I give out my fair share as well! That means sometimes getting booked, of course.

I’m on four yellow cards so far this season – so just one away from a ban. However, if you’re a player who puts yourself in where it hurts, sometimes the decisions are going to go against you.

It’s a physical game at this level, and everyone knows that in the National League, you have to do the ugly side of the game sometimes – and with that comes a few bookings or even sendings off.

A familiar sight: Kurtis in on goal for Welling United.

DB: The Wings finished 16th in the club’s first season in Non-League’s top tier. One of your teammates in that side was Loui Fazakerley, who’s now manager of the club. Did he strike you as someone who was destined to end up in the dugout, or were you surprised?

KG: That season was a funny one. Up until Christmas, we were in the top ten, and then we picked up a few injuries, whilst a few boys got moves to other clubs.

DB: Did you have quite a small squad?

KG: Yeah. Financially, we couldn’t hold onto those players. If the club had some more financial backing, and could have brought in a few more players to fill the void when we had exits or injuries, it would have been a completely different season.

And ‘Faz’? First and foremost, he’s a great bloke. He’s also very into his fitness, and has always been a model pro. Within the younger players, there would always be someone that he would look to and try and help them along. He doesn’t demand respect – he just gets it.

I wasn’t at all surprised to see Loui step into the manager’s job at Welling. It’s a great opportunity for him, and a great fit for the club as he knows the place very well, and has been at Welling for years.

DB: You joined Forest Green Rovers last summer. How did you find the transition from part-time to full-time football, and more importantly, how did you cope with the fact there’s only vegetarian food on offer at the ground?

KG: [*Laughs*] The transition from part-time to full-time football felt strange, but I’d already done it once – when I joined Stanley. At Welling, we trained three mornings a week, in my second year. So it was only adding an extra day. The tougher thing was trying to up my intensity levels.

I think some players make out that the transition [between part-time and full-time training] is a bigger deal than it is. It’s been nice to be in full-time again. As soon as I joined Forest Green, I vowed that I wouldn’t take it for granted, and I don’t feel that I have.

The veggie food there isn’t really for me. I just make sure I eat big before I go to training!

DB: You had an excellent first season with the club, finishing with your best total yet – 8 goals – as well as more than a few assists. In which ways do you think your game has developed with FGR? And are there areas you still need to improve in?

KG: The team did admirably last season, and we achieved Forest Green’s highest ever finish [5th place in the Conference Premier]. As for myself, I didn’t really play much in the first half of the season – it was more of a bit-part role. But once I got my foot in the door, I didn’t look back and have just kept pushing on.

I think the training here has helped my all-round game. [FGR Manager] Aidy Pennant has been good with me, and I’ve also been patient because I’ve had to wait my time to prove what I could do for the club. I feel like when I joined, people were saying ‘who’s this? He’s just another young lad’, but I think if you asked the fans now, they’d say I’m an important part of the team.

I feel I’ve deserved credit for keep working hard, but the coaching staff have been brilliant. Aidy, and now Jamie Day [who joined in May 2015] have helped me to continue improving this year.

DB: Forest Green are currently top of the National League, though results have been patchy since that incredible start to the season. How confident are you of winning automatic promotion? And do you think the team can learn from some of the recent draws and losses?

KG: I’ve always said that clubs are at this level for a reason – and that reason is inconsistency. When you step up to the Football League, I think the clubs there are a bit more consistent.

I feel this is the weakest the Conference has been for a while. We won nine games on the bounce, but I don’t think we even played our best football in those early games. And then we got just one point from the next four games, and yet stayed top of the table.

At the moment, we’re going through an unfortunate patch, but the performances and results will definitely pick back up again. So I think ‘why can’t it be Forest Green this season?’.

Celebration: Kurtis and Lee Hughes (left) celebrating a crucial goal for Forest Green.

DB: Along with yourself, who would you say are the main threats in the team? Obviously you have the likes of Jon Parkin…

KG: Keanu Marsh-Brown is another, since he’s come in. Keanu has so much flair and he can open up defences. Aaron O’Connor also has that deft finish, and a lot of experience. They’ve both been great additions to the squad.

Then Darren Carter coming has given us that old head in midfield, and an ability to control games – alongside Rob Sinclair, who’s technically brilliant. So I think we’ve got a good chance [of automatic promotion].

DB: In terms of the atmosphere, the ground and even the numbers of fans Forest Green take – where is your favourite away trip in the league? Is there an away day you always look forward to?

KG: It’s a tough one that! [*Pauses*] I like going back to Welling. I have good memories of being at the club, and even though last year I only played a couple of minutes there, I enjoyed it. This year I’m looking forward to going back. It’s a Tuesday night game [10th November]. I always liked midweek games at the PVR* [*Park View Road].

Tranmere should be a good one this season, too. I’m also looking forward to going to Halifax because last year it got a bit heated, so I’m hoping to go back this season and get revenge!

DB: Though you’ve already had a lot of experience in the game, you’re still only 22 and have a long career ahead of you. Do you see yourself with Forest Green in the long-term, or is the endgame to join a big Football League club?

KG: That’s difficult, because I feel Forest Green is the best club to be at, at this level. The club offers everything you need, and the facilities are excellent – absolutely second to none.

Still, I’ve always dreamt of being able to play in front of big crowds, every single week – and I feel that big crowds actually bring out my best performances. It’s just unfortunate for Forest Green, that the location [Nailsworth: population 5,794] means they can’t generate those big crowds.

I don’t think there’s any other way in which the club needs to progress, other than getting bigger crowds. There’s talk of moving to a new stadium, and maybe that could be the turning point on that front.

DB: Finally, what do you enjoy doing outside of football? I know you have a sporty family – with your sister playing for the England netball team. And is there a career you ever considered aside from playing the beautiful game?

KG: I’m a bit of a couch potato to be honest, mate! I like watching films and just relaxing, really. I do play a bit of golf in the summer. I’m a seasonal golfer, I don’t really fancy it in the winter!

Because of the work I did before I played football for a living, if anything was ever to go wrong, I think I’d turn to painting and decorating because it’s just something I know. I think I’d like to work for myself – not taking orders from people. I’m quite an independent guy.

I’d only stay in football if there were the opportunity to do youth coaching, like u-14s. When I go back to Jersey, I like watching local football, because there’s always that one player who’s better than everyone else. You can always spot them, and I’d like to help kids in Jersey get over to football clubs in England more, and expand the market of players in Jersey.

Guernsey are doing their own thing in the league, but the standard of players in Jersey is far better. If there was the opportunity, that’s something I’d like to look at doing once I finish playing.

*Thank you to Kurtis for this great interview. Best of luck to him and everyone at Forest Green this season. If you want to hear more from Kurtis, follow him on Twitter @kurtisguthrie11*

Posted on October 22, 2015, in Dave Burin Interviews, Forest Green Rovers and tagged Accrington Stanley, Featured, FGR, Forest Green Rovers, Interview, Kurtis Guthrie, St. Clement F.C., Welling United. Bookmark the permalink. Leave a comment.

Posted in Dave Burin Interviews

Tags: Accrington Stanley, Featured, FGR, Forest Green Rovers, Interview, Kurtis Guthrie, St. Clement F.C., Welling United
Under The League Interviews… Lewis Haldane

Aug 10

Posted by DaveBurin

Dave Burin has been busy for us once again, this time chatting to former Bristol Rovers, Port Vale and Oxford United winger Lewis Haldane.

Even over a slightly crackly phone reception on a windy August night, Lewis Haldane’s warmth shines through. One of Non-League football’s most likeable and resilient personalities, Haldane won promotion to League One with Bristol Rovers and moved onto Port Vale, before a series of horrific illnesses and injuries curtailed his professional career. The unbreakable wing wizard returned to football in 2013 with Southern League side Yate Town, winning Bristol Non-League player of the year in his first season, before moving onto Southern Premier League club Frome Town.

With open, honest reflections and a personable manner, Lewis talks me through the highs and lows of a tumultuous career, from winning two promotions and playing in the Wales U-21 squad with Gareth Bale, to the physical and mental turmoil of serious illness, and his strong focus on family.

DB: You grew up in Trowbridge in the late ’80s and the ’90s. The nearest Football League clubs were in Swindon and Bristol, over 30 miles away. So did you follow a local non-league team, or did you support a big club from afar?

LH: I supported Leeds United. My Dad was a big fan from the Billy Bremner days onwards. I had a season ticket at Elland Road, and my Dad and I always travelled up there. As a young kid, I really liked Lee Chapman and a Lazio player called Schillaci – I’d forgotten about that, but I was apparently obsessed with him! Later on, I looked up to Leeds strikers like Mark Viduka and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

I don’t get to see them much now, because I’m still playing, but hopefully I can get to somewhere like Bristol City or Bournemouth if and when they’re there!

DB: As a teenager, you spent time in the youth setup at Southampton, and then at your hometown club, Trowbridge Town. Even as a youth player, was it a difficult transition moving from a club with Premier League facilities, to Non-League, where the setup is typically a lot smaller and more basic?

LH: At that age, there’s not a big transition. I left Saints when I was 14, because I was a small lad and a lot of the kids were much bigger than me, and I didn’t really grow until my later teens. We just trained at a college in the centre of Southampton, so it wasn’t that different [to Trowbridge’s facilities]. You don’t really focus on those things when you’re young, anyway. You just want to win games and score to impress your parents!

Trowbridge Town was nice, and just a little local club. I played for a couple of teams around the area, like Trowbridge, Shaw Youth and Whitley. All my friends were playing in local sides, and we were just learning how to play football, and learning the ropes!

DB: You joined Bristol Rovers in 2002, but played your first senior games whilst on loan at Weston-super-Mare in the Spring of 2003. What are your memories of your brief spell with The Seagulls?

LH: I think I scored 3 times in my first 5 games, and I would only have been sixteen at the time. It was different, because it was the first time I’d ever played mens football. It was much more physical [than youth team football], and I was a really skinny little lad back then – I probably only weighed 10 stone.

In my final game for Weston, we got promoted at Clevedon. My Dad was there watching, and one of their players stood there, off-the-ball and just elbowed me straight in the face. He broke my nose. My Dad’s not aggressive at all, but he waited for the guy to come off the pitch and basically said ‘what are you doing, he’s a little kid’. But it was a wake-up call, to say ‘this is senior football. I’m in mens football now!’.

That’s what sticks with me most – learning to play against men, because I was basically a kid. Players grow up at different times. Wayne Rooney, at that age, was already a big strapping bloke, but I was a little lad.

DB: Later that year, you played your first games for Bristol Rovers. You scored your first goal in an away defeat to Doncaster, and managed an impressive 3 goals in your first 4 games. However, the club went on a run of just 1 win in 11 matches. What were your emotions at that time, and also, what was the mood like around the club?

LH: Ray Graydon was manager and we were near the bottom of the league, which is why I got my chance. I think I was just on cloud nine, really, because all my friends were still in the youth team, and I broke into the first team. They came to watch their games, and it was just exciting that one of us had broken into the first team.

Like I said, I was just a kid, so it was all a bit of a blur at the time. But looking back on it now, 13 years later, I can remember it all like it was yesterday. I remember coming on against Cheltenham in my first game [a 2-0 home victory] and got a penalty with my first touch! In my first start against Doncaster – I scored, and you don’t ever forget that moment.

DB: You scored six goals in that first season, and played well throughout the year. One ever-present in that team and your early years at the club was Ghana striker Junior Agogo. What was he like to play with?

LH: He was a quality player. He obviously moved on to Nottingham Forest, and later to Qatar – and he earned a lot of money out there. You learn a lot playing with players of that calibre, and he played for Ghana in the Africa Cup of Nations too. He was a fantastic player, and obviously moved on the season after he scored 20 goals. Luckily for him, he got that big move, something which never happened for me. But you’ve got to give him his props for managing that!

DB: Bristol Rovers finished 12th in what became League Two in the following two seasons, and you were in and out of the team. However, in the 2006-07 campaign, you were an integral part of the Rovers team that won promotion in the Play-Offs. However, the team also suffered a heartbreaking loss in the JPT (Johnstone’s Paint Trophy) final. What are your abiding memories of that season?

LH: It was fantastic. It was the first season I was in the side regularly, and I managed to play over 40 games that season. I played on the wing, which was a different position for me, but I was quick and I got a bit bigger – my game came together. For the first time in football really, I felt like a man.

The more I played, the more confident I felt and the better my performances were. I had a really good season, and we got promoted. Obviously, we played at Wembley which was the most nerve-racking time of my life! But [winning promotion] was possibly the best day of my life, other than my daughter being born.

When you’re a little boy, you dream of playing at Wembley. The thing I remember most clearly from that season though, is playing at Elland Road. It wouldn’t mean much to most lads, but for me, as a ground, it was even better than playing at Wembley or the Millennium Stadium. My Dad [also a Leeds United fan] was there, and I’m really, really proud that I played there, to be honest. One of the real highlights of my career.

DB: As well as winning promotion, you also made your debut that season for Wales U-21s, in a European Championship qualifier against Turkey. What was it like to represent Wales at Ninian Park, and where were you when you got the call-up?

LH: I was at home and I got the call from my manager [Paul Trollope] saying that Bryan Flynn, the Wales U-21s boss wants you to go down and join up with the squad. I was quite a shy lad, and just like ‘I can’t believe this!’. I went down there, and obviously the senior squad were there as well, so you had the likes of Ryan Giggs and Craig Bellamy there, and I was in awe of them.

Looking back now, Gareth Bale was next to me at the dinner table before the game. He was in the U-21s team, and obviously we didn’t know that he was going to be a superstar. [*laughs*] Crikey, how our careers took different paths.

We drew 0-0 against Turkey, and I came on in the last 20 minutes, and I had a good shot tipped around the post. We were virtually out of the race for qualifying, and I was 23 at the time, so I was too old really, but was one of the two older players allowed in the squad. Still, it’s a great memory and I really enjoyed it!

DB: The following season you went out on loan to Oxford United. You told BBC Sport at the time that “it wasn’t an easy decision to drop down to the Conference”. In hindsight, was it a decision you’re glad you made, or do you feel you should have stayed with Rovers?

LH: At the time, I felt I was being pushed out by Rovers. When we got promoted, they signed loads of new players and I didn’t really get a chance. Looking back, they made mistakes, as they got relegated the season after and they’d spent all their money. If they would have stuck with the boys that had got them promoted in the first place and actually cared about the club, they wouldn’t have got into that mess. The first season after coming up, Rovers finished 15th and they gradually spent a lot of money on wages and things, and got relegated.

I went to Oxford, who were a really big club at the time, in the Conference Premier. At first we weren’t a great team and struggled a little bit, but when Chris Wilder took over we won 15 games in a row towards the end of the season, and almost got into the Play-Offs.

My form wasn’t brilliant at Oxford. I played well some games, and others I didn’t. My confidence had been knocked by Bristol Rovers putting me to the side.

DB: What was Chris Wilder like to play under?

LH: He was good. He knew what he wanted, and like I said, when he took over we won a lot of games on the spin. He turned our fortunes around, and I really enjoyed playing under Chris.

DB: You joined Port Vale in 2009, with the deal becoming permanent in January 2010. In that first year, you scored several goals, including a crucial strike in a narrow 2-1 win over Torquay United. Micky Adams also spoke highly of your pace and ability, in the media. Do you consider that season one of the best of your career?

LH: I think the year I got promoted with Rovers was the best season of my career, but that season at Port Vale I felt like I was playing really well, after having my confidence knocked at Oxford.

I moved up to Stoke, where my ex-partner’s family are from. My girlfriend became pregnant about a year after we moved there, and things were good. I got my form back, and I was back in the Football League and people were talking about me again. I put in a couple of good performances live on Sky Sports and I felt that if I could keep it up, I might get a life-changing move somewhere but that didn’t happen.

But I have those memories of playing for several different clubs, which a lot of boys would love to do.

DB: On that note, do you feel that players are even more motivated for televised games, because you know how many people are going to be watching?

LH: Yeah, I think so, because you get your friends back home who don’t get to the matches watching and you want to show them that you’re good!

DB: During the following 2 years at Port Vale, you made a fair few appearances, but suffered horrendous misfortune with injuries – being out for months with an insect bite, and then the leg break which ended your professional career at the time. How did you manage to stay mentally strong during such difficult periods?

LH: In pre-season, when I got bit by an insect, the Blandford fly, I could have died very easily. I was at home, and I collapsed. My partner called for an ambulance, and they told her to take me to the hospital, and I went downhill from there. I lost 3 1/2 stone in the space of a week. It was lucky I went to hospital, because I might have died otherwise, because the blood poisoning was so bad. It took seven months for the swelling to go down on my ankle, and I don’t think I ever recovered because I broke my leg six months after that.

DB: Do you think the two things were related?

LH: Do you know, I’ve got no idea to be honest. I had three operations on my ankle when I had that insect bite, to release the pressure on it. People laugh when I tell them it was an insect, but it was really tough!

When I broke my leg, I had to be mentally strong. The moment I broke it, I remember looking down and my foot was wrapped around, so my toes were pointing the opposite way. I just panicked, and that second I thought ‘I’m never going to play football again’.

I had a contract for another 18 months and for those 18 months I did everything I could to try and get fit. I was at the club every single day of the week, some days from 7:30am to 5pm, but I just wasn’t getting any better. I was having operation after operation. I’d keep thinking I was almost there, and then I’d go for a run and collapse to the ground with my ankle swelling up and in agony.

That was absolute hell, but luckily enough my Daughter was born during that time so spending time with her would make my day better. Even when the training was hell, I could think about going home to see her a few hours later. I would have loved her to see me play professionally, see my games be on the TV and things, but it wasn’t to be. I tried my hardest to get fit, because I loved playing football and playing professionally was all I’d ever wanted to, but having my daughter helped me through. She was the silver lining.

DB: Between your retirement from football in October 2012 and joining Yate Town in 2013, you were obviously out of the game. Was your hope always to play again at some level – even if it was much further down the football pyramid – or was there a time where you felt like you wanted nothing more to do with the sport?

LH: The day I retired, I couldn’t walk without absolute agony in my ankle. Since breaking my leg in 2011, for those 2 1/2 years, I couldn’t walk without pain. For a long time, I wondered if I’d ever be able to walk or run without pain, let alone play football.

I had a cortisone injection in my ankle a week before I started for Yate in pre-season, just to see if it would help my day-to-day life, really. It felt a lot better. Obviously I knew it wasn’t better, it was just masking it. I decided to go training with them, and thought ‘if I break down, it happens. What have I got to lose?’.

Over the last 18 months, it’s felt a little better. I know that there’s still tissue damage and cartilage damage, but I don’t do myself any danger now in playing once or twice a week. On a Sunday it’s sometimes so sore I can hardly walk, but the thrill of getting out there and scoring a few goals and playing with a few of my friends who live around the area makes it all worthwhile.

I got named Bristol Non-League player of the year in my first season back, so I was incredibly chuffed with that, having at one time wondered if I’d ever walk again.

DB: You joined Yate Town in the Southern League. Did you approach them about playing at Lodge Road, or did the club contact you initially?

Lewis in action for Yate Town

LH: One of my friends, Ricky Hulbert joined Yate. I used to have a kick around with him now and again, and he asked me ‘how’s your ankle feeling, Lew? Do you want to come training with us?’. I’d just had the injection, so I said yes. The Yate manager knew my history, and asked me if I’d like to sign for them. I said yes – as long as my ankle’s okay in training, and it just went from there, really.

DB: What was it like taking to the pitch for Yate on your debut – were you just delighted to be playing again, or was there a mixture of emotions?

LH: It felt weird. Obviously, I was unfit because I didn’t run properly for over three years. It was really nerve racking, because I was thinking ‘what if I get injured again’ or ‘what if I’m rubbish, and everyone takes the piss out of me!’ [*Laughs*] Luckily, I still had a bit left in the locker!

My game’s changed now. I can’t run up and down the wing like I used to, but when I was out injured I used to watch a lot of football, and I like to think that my technique and understanding of the game is a little bit better. Even though I’m not the athlete I was, I can do things on the ball now that I couldn’t have before. I just wish I had all that when I was 20!

Lewis celebrating scoring for Yate Town

DB: Last season, you made the step up to the Southern Premier League with Frome Town, and were an important part of the team’s survival from relegation. Have you enjoyed your time with Frome, and do you still harbour ambitions of playing at Football League level again?

LH: I’m never going to be fit enough to do that, and I’m 30 years old now. Still, when I was at Yate, we were two games away from reaching the First Round of the FA Cup, and I would love to play against a Football League side once more. It would be great to be drawn against Bristol Rovers. Leeds in the Cup would be even better!

I still really enjoy playing my football, though it’s hard combining it with my work life. I work for a lorry components company in Bristol. It’s my first proper job, working outside of football. For the last ten years, my friends have been off getting their qualifications, going to University and building their trade – I have to start from scratch with that now, and it’ll take a few years to get where I want to be. But I’m staying positive.

DB: Obviously your injury misfortunes mean that you’ve had more reason to think about a post-playing career than most footballers do. But do you now have a long-term plan of what you’d like to do once you hang up your boots, or do you not want to look that far ahead?

LH: Well, I’ve been out of professional football for several years now, and not played properly for four years. I’d like to build a trade, and somewhere down the line, work on a building site. Football was my first love, but that’s gone as a career now. There’s a lot of things I like the idea of doing, but having a trade is the main goal.

DB: Finally – what do you most enjoy doing outside of football?

LH: I spend all my free time with my little girl. Spending time with my daughter is my main passion now – she’s my absolute world! I can’t describe to you how much I love her.

Posted on August 10, 2015, in UTL Interviews and tagged Bristol Rovers, Featured, Forest Green Rovers, Frome Town, Lewis Haldane, Port Vale, Trowbridge Town, Yate Town. Bookmark the permalink. Leave a comment.

Posted in UTL Interviews

Tags: Bristol Rovers, Featured, Forest Green Rovers, Frome Town, Lewis Haldane, Port Vale, Trowbridge Town, Yate Town