KOA special - Jack Lankester on Town memories, being a fan and back injury

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0:38Well, Jack, thank you very much for joining me. Thank you for making this happen, first of all. Welcome to the Kings of Anglia podcast. How are you? I've just seen you're back in pre-season. What's the pros and cons of pre-season? I'm sure it's good to be back, but a lot of running. Yeah, it's good to be back. there was a longer break this year so yeah it was good to get back and see all the lads but you know first day testing day and everything but that's done now and getting to the proper training stuff tomorrow so yeah it's nice to be back. That's good, how was your break? Were you able to get to some places?

1:15Yeah it was really enjoyable actually, I got away twice, I went to Rhodes for a week and then to Mallorca but no it was really nice to spend some time with family obviously back down that way um so yeah it was really nice to to have that rest that's good man and um yeah of course it's been five years since you actually left Suffolk and I wanted to catch up to see how you've been doing you're now at Crewe of course um how's that been sort of being away from home for the first time uh yeah different um obviously when I left Dipswich I actually did stay in Bury though when I was playing for Cambridge so I was still at home so yeah when I came to Crewe was the first time I'd really been away and yeah it's very different like on my own up here but my friends from that way obviously my best mate being Brett he ended up he's moving everywhere as well so it wasn't really missing seeing them at some point but it's more the family side but I get back when I can go back almost every week so yeah it's different but I like it yeah.

2:19Definitely mate and it's good to see you you know you're playing your football and what I do in all my conversations I sort of take you back to a young Jack how did you get into football your early memories of football I know you know your family are big town fans and stuff like that but can you sort of remember the first time you you had an interest in football? I can't put a point on it but I was always playing I think And like I say, my granddad and dad both played a lot. So I was always around it. I played for my school team and then literally was the first session I had with Ipswich Development Centre was when I was five, I think.

2:56And then I think I signed for the academy when I was seven. So I didn't have any other clubs or play for any local teams before. So it's literally just been it was Ipswich and then to where I am now. So all I can really remember is going through the academy there. Definitely. Were you always an attacker? Did you always like to score goals or did you sort of play everywhere at that age? I played left back originally when I was in the academy. I can't remember what age group it was where I changed, but the coach was Graham Howlett, which probably a lot of people would know around him. We called him Spike, but he moved me from left back to left wing, probably because I didn't bother defending but that sort of pushed me further up the pitch and yeah, been there ever since.

3:45Definitely. As you know, your family are town fans, you know, you're a town fan. Can you sort of, you know, memories going to Porton Road as a fan? Yeah, we always used to go. Obviously, ever since I was in the academy, the thing was to play on a Saturday or train on a Saturday, wherever that may be. And then we'd all go down to the game with the tickets and stuff. So yeah, I can remember going down there and watching lots of different players over the past playing down there and then going from watching them to playing with some of them so it was really nice Can you name drop any players that you liked watching for town in those early times as a fan?

4:26You know what I think one of the first Ipswich shirts I remember having that I remember wearing obviously there's pictures of me when I was a baby in Ipswich shirts but I remember buying an Owen Garvin shirt with a 7 on I remember having that one and then weirdly I ended up buying when I was a bit older was a McGoldrick shirt one of the first ones here there and then obviously ended up training with Didsy and now playing against him all the time and quite close with him now in terms of messaging him and speaking to him when we play him and I think every time we've played we've swapped shirts and got a few of his now one is worn rather than ones I've had to go and buy from the shop so it's weird how it all comes around.

5:12Definitely, can you remember where you where you sat? Of course you know when you're academy you sort of get tickets but when you're a fan with family? To be fair we always used to sit so where the press, obviously it's all changed a bit now and the press box is a lot nicer but where the old press box was we were just near there and there was always a fight to whoever really got there first wouldn't be blocked by the pillars because that's where all the our tickets were like all the boys and and stuff but we were up there i think was it britannic or co-op did it change yeah yeah right up in right up the top we were um watching from there so but now obviously when i go back i'm now behind the goal of course and uh i want to talk to you about coming through you know the youth ranks at portland road you know can you sort of name the players you know there's a few i've got here you know Dobbs of course, Tommy Hughes, Brett McGavin, Corey Andaba, Bailey Clements any other names you want to sort of check out there?

6:09Yeah so obviously when I was younger I used to play up a year so probably up until under 15s, 16s I was always with the year above so that was me, Flynn, Andre, Wolfie, Harry Wright, that sort of group there and then obviously like you say my actual age group was was me cory um tristan who to be fair we're all still close now and keeping contact which is nice um and tristan is getting married next year and a lot of us are on the on the invite list so that would be nice um but like i say obviously i'm still really close with brett he's my best mate so it's nice to have done that with him and and seeing him now progress on his path and stuff.

6:59Not that I get to see him very often because we're opposite sides of the country, but it's nice that a lot of us are still in contact and doing our own thing. Yeah, Jovo and crew, yeah, it's far. Yeah. But yeah, it's a lot of travelling for Brett, unfortunately. Of course, yourself though, crew, you've got to get about. But I don't know if it would have been sort of removed from the game at that point, but did you have to clean any boots, do any jobs when you were in the academy? Yeah, we did. I was actually, I did these boots for most of my scholarship, waggies. I'm trying to think of other ones I've done.

7:38I tried to pick the ones who I thought would tip me the most at Christmas. But no, we always had a good relationship with the first team. And I think that helped for when a lot of us moved in, because like the names you've mentioned there, there was a good chunk of us that within a two or three year period, transitioned into the first team so I think it helped a lot of us that we either when we moved up we knew a lot of the younger lads who were already in there and we also knew that we could speak to the first team and not be be scared of them so I think that sort of stuff helped a lot of us in the long run.

8:12Definitely man and funny enough I actually started this job in the period where you were sort of breaking into the under 23s or you know under 21s whatever it's called these days and I remember Mick being at some of the games can you sort of remember your first interactions with Mick McCarthy? Yeah he was great to be fair, I remember when we sort of, because when I started my scholarship he would have been the manager, I remember the first day when we're all scholars and it's a bit like your first time in the building full-time and he'd always make an effort every morning to shake every scholar's hand or everyone who's in the building and I think by the end of the week, I don't know how, but he's managed to remember everyone's name.

8:52so this is a lot about him as a person I remember bumping into him maybe a couple of years ago when I was at Cambridge we did our pre-season um at the Vale which is a golf course where Cardiff trained and him and TC were obviously there and I remember warming up and Paul Digby was also in the Cambridge team at that time so but we were just training there and they came out to obviously watched training and came and spoke to us and it's like amazing they sort of still remember because I had only been young and I gradually got towards it towards the latter end of when he was there but no great people and I think everyone at Ipswich respects them and they should and yeah we all got on yeah definitely man and I want to take you back as well you know when you signed that scholarship and when did you sort of know like okay I've got something here I can potentially you know make this as a career i know it's scholarship time it's very much up in the air you never know you could get cut um but when did you feel like when you're at school you're like oh my god sony um it was all i ever really wanted to do and i had my mindset on it um i remember getting offered my scholarship early by ipswich um there was a couple of us me tristan Charlie Brown maybe who got it early and I think then I came back from under 16 season because I thought I was under 15 come at under 16 probably a bit like oh I already know I'm gonna be in it's like where the others are still going for it and I probably didn't play much and I thought oh god so it was only when I really started my scholarship the first year where I thought like I really need to kick into this and Alan Lee was the youth team manager and we had a really good love-hate relationship at first but grew to be someone I'm really close with in the game and always speak to still and I think when I started he started getting on to me about the stuff that really matters in a men's game and that's when it started to click that I thought if I really knuckle down I've got a chance at it and part of that was being sent out on loan to although it not be the best level the time that people were going on loan it really helped going to Bury Town and I think once I came back from there I thought and like you say that bit where I was starting to get in the 23s and scoring quite a lot I thought like I'm getting closer here and eventually then I sort of didn't play many 23s games and I was moved up so that was sort of the clicking point was coming in for my scholarship and and learning off them and when you're in the building full-time you sort of make slight changes and think how we're going to get in in there with them yeah and i'm sure there's a weird period where you're on loan at buried of course mick uh leaves um so you know you come back um a new manager's about to come in and paul hearst your first of um three pools um obviously we have paul jaw as well that's four Pauls.

11:57Quite enough, the new manager, Gary, his middle name's Paul. So I don't know why we just love Pauls at Inchristown. But can you remember Paul Hurst? I know he was very much a different character and it didn't really work out for him, but can you remember his interactions and of course he gave you your professional day? Yeah, exactly. Like you mentioned there, that was I think as a player, you're always going to remember and appreciate people who gave you opportunity. Although, like you say, it probably didn't work out for everyone with him um but for me it was a someone who trusted me and saw that i had something um and didn't care what other people say to to move me up and give me that opportunity so i was always grateful to him and and doigie to be fair um again people i still stay in contact with now um and see them obviously feel like when you play football you end up bumping into the people all the time i mean go and watch a game that your mate's planning and you end up in the seat next to Doigie and chatting to him for the, for the game.

13:00So it always comes back around, but like I said, I only can be grateful for them for, for giving me that chance. So. Yeah. Yeah. Doigie's now, of course, with, um, Hockey at Northampton. So. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So you might, you probably, you come up against them. I think we've got them second game or third game. Um, so it'd be nice to, to catch up with, with Hockey and Doigie then. Definitely, mate. And, um, yeah, QPR, unfortunately, it was a 2-0 defeat at home at Porton Road, but that must have been a game you look back on, your professional debut, the first time you're playing in a first-team kit.

13:33Yeah, I remember it. I remember not thinking I was going to come on and there it was. Yeah, just obviously that's the moment you always, when you're in the academy games and playing at the stadium, you just wish you could do it in a first-team game and a team that obviously I supported. it was a great moment for me and all my family were there as well luckily being from that area they were able to be there so yeah although we lost it was a nice moment for me Why don't you think it worked out with Paul Hurst? Because at the time I think we were really excited about a young manager coming in, we've gone on to sign a young manager in Kieran McKenna first of all, now we've got Gary O 'Neill why do you think it just didn't work out?

14:21Or is it just the timing at the time? Yeah, potentially. I just think there was a lot of then changing players at that point, wasn't there? A lot came in from different clubs and a few left that had probably been there for a while. So maybe the core wasn't there at that point. And then there was too much maybe transition. I can't remember. Was that the summer where we lost sort of Waggy and people having Garns and that maybe left at that point? Probably big characters as well as big players and stuff. But no, it didn't work out. But I guess I have to look at it. I'm grateful they did come because I wouldn't be where I am now if I didn't get that opportunity.

15:00Definitely, mate. And yeah, Paul Lambert comes in and I felt like at the time he gave a lot of energy, you know, into the team. He really got the fans on side, you know, got the sort of ex-players in and he gave you some opportunities. And can you remember your first interactions with him? Yeah, we're really positive. He came in and sort of said to me straight away that he really likes me. He thinks that it's not going to be long because I hadn't started by that point. He said it won't be long before I'm in the first 11 on the team sheet. And I don't think it come too long after he joined that.

15:35I did get that first start away at Forest playing in midfield, which I didn't think my debut would be playing centre mid. but it was and a real like for a first start to go away to Nottingham Forest and sort of a packed out city ground was a nice memory to have and yeah I really got on with Paul again yeah and although I had that was the time where I probably had my lowest point in football at at some point during that spell and I really got on with him and his stuff so yeah it must be hard for you as a young player as well where you know you just made your debut and then the manager gets sacked you think oh the new manager to come in will he will he fancy me will he want to play me you know I'm a young lad and at a time we're like fighting relegation sometimes managers don't trust young guys that must have been great for you like wow this manager is gonna trust me to play in these games yeah 100 % obviously that was a thought process because I think you work so hard as a youngster to make that step from 23 to first team, to then even getting from just training with the first team to actually making appearances, which I was doing, to then think, oh, I've got to try and impress all over again.

16:52But I think from his first conversation with me, it sort of allowed me to know that that's not going to be a problem. He trusted me however old I was. I was 18, whatever. that gave me obviously a lot of confidence to just carry on what I was doing and I did get them opportunities with him and then obviously got the injury but yeah which put a bit of a stop to it but no the first sort of few games with him was was really enjoyable yeah before we get to the injury of course you have a great moment um new year's day 2019 january 1st against Millwall two minutes into the game Jack Lancaster has arrived and what a goal it is my friend memories of that yeah real good memories I remember um obviously my whole family then I'm not talking about extended family as well because it being that time of year we had my family over from like America and stuff that were there for that sort of period and we thought if there's a lot of them we'll get a box and everyone can sit in there for that game so everyone was there and I remember it was early I hadn't obviously scored yet and I remember the gaffer saying to me like it's like coming before that game's coming you'll get a chance and I didn't think it'd come that early but I remember Searzy breaking with it and finding me out of the side but I think the defender made it quite easy for me let him probably didn't know I was and didn't realize that I'd probably cutting to my left rather than go down the line but um yeah great moment i remember celebrating it quite wildly running towards my family and stuff and then celebrating it with with almost because everyone's chasing after me i was with flint on my own for a bit so nice pictures and memories of that that sort of flint someone that i'd gone through the first ever age group and then obviously him being on the pitch at the same time that i scored my first goal was another full circle moment and a really enjoyable one.

18:54Definitely, mate. A selfish point of view as a photographer, though, I was not annoyed because you ran the wrong way, where you normally want to be running towards the fan. You've got a nice front. But you're in the moment and as you say, you've got your family over there. You're going to go and celebrate your family. But just a selfish point of view as a photographer, I'm like, why'd you go that way? But it's all good. Unfortunately, it was a defeat in that game. But as a player, as a young player I'm sure you just look back at that game with fond memories because it's your first goal in professional football yeah definitely I'd say that that was one that will stick with me forever and especially more just because of the moment it did put us up in the game and everyone being there supporting me so yeah that one will stick with me definitely and unfortunately I think maybe it's maybe a month later potentially where you got that injury which made you be out of action for over a year.

19:50Take us back to that point where you knew something was wrong. That was because it had only been a couple of weeks later that I did stop playing. But I remember playing with probably... I probably played that game that we're talking about with the back pain, to be honest. It started probably from a week or so after when Paul Lambert come in although not getting to the point that it did I was struggling with back pain quite a lot but when you're a young player and you're getting these chances and you're starting games you're never you're never pulling out so we were doing all we could as with the physios to have me available for the game um but I remember getting it getting to a point where we played I think it was on my birthday so I was the 19th of January we had Blackburn away um and I remember being in I was on the bench but I was in so much pain so I was on the bench I came on and I remember after the game on the coach um like it just went into full spasm my back and I remember from that point by although I said I didn't want to go for any scans or stop playing he sort of forced me um which obviously i'm grateful for now because who knows how to let it carry on and obviously found the the two stress fractures uh in my back that obviously put me out for i think 18 months maybe till i did obviously come back for the pre-season the following year when we were in germany um to try but i don't think i lasted one game out there before i then spent a further six months out.

21:32And that must have been tough, man. You know, as a young player, when you just now sort of broke through to the first team, you're playing games, scoring goals. You know, sort of take us back to that time because as a young lad, I'm sure that did affect you. Yeah, because you're almost like you feel on top of the world at that point. And you're just really living in the moment for it to come to a stop all of a sudden. And even when it comes to a stop, you think it's not going to be as long as it was. It was tough, but I think I've said this before to other people, the support network that I had at Ipswich was, I couldn't obviously ask for more.

22:10In terms of the staff, the players, the first team players that obviously looked after me, I couldn't have asked for more in that they got me the best care they could do. They'd go to extra lengths to find out why stuff wasn't working in the rehab process by why i remember by originally i'd gone to like a football specialist and we got six months down the line and obviously to that germany point or whatever it was maybe a bit longer than that but then after that because i hadn't had surgery before that point um then after that by going off his own back and finding a cricket specialist that ended up seeing me and doing the surgery in the end and obviously touch wood since that point it's been okay but it's like them little things he didn't have to do that um to work extra hours and find the right people and then like I say the players were great to me being young and out for such a long period of time obviously I had my friends in the dressing room ones I'd grew up with but obviously the senior lads there with Scusi and Chamber probably most recognizably were great for me because I obviously live with chamber um for a long period of my scholarship and my transition into the first team so they were there for me and and i can say that's in the past now obviously it came at a bad time but it probably shaped me into the person and player who i am sorry to keep talking about it but like how what what was the reasons behind getting that was that just your growing pains or Was it just an injury, like something in training or something?

23:48What did they get behind it, why this was going on? Obviously, a stress fracture, a lot of people get them. They're a growing thing, and some people can carry on playing through them, and they heal, or you don't have to take, obviously, as long as I did. And certainly, a lot of people won't need surgery because of them. But one of mine ended up going into a partial fracture, which is actually where the bone does fully split. so obviously then you need to need the fuse which i had um so it there's no specific moment it's like it's almost wear and tear like you say but mine obviously had a breaking point um which obviously made it a lot longer process and harder process to come back from but like i said that's something that when I've now picked injuries up further along my career has allowed me to sort of deal with them a lot better.

24:45And I hate to ask this question, was there a moment in you where you're like, oh, am I actually going to be able to get back? You know, was there a point where you're like, oh. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I said that before. I remember being told that obviously with spinal surgery, it's like one of them ones where everyone's a bit like, will they be the same? Will he play again? Because of the nerve. I had obviously a lot of nerve damage as well at the time, which I lost the whole feeling in one of my legs when we were out in Germany. So it was like, you can never predict how that's going to be. And I remember the surgeon obviously saying, it probably says it a lot to different people, but you might not be able to play football the same way again when it's back.

25:29But luckily, luckily I have, and I'm still playing now, although sometimes in the morning I've got a stiff back but other than that, I'm still playing. Definitely, mate. And I want to go back to what you said a minute ago about Luke Chambers, of course, town skipper, Chamberlain, and you're living with him and there's a lot of players living at the time. What was that like? You know, you're captain of the football club, you know, living in his annex next door. I mean, if you probably look at the names that lived there in that time and what they went to do, I think it only shows how much it benefited us.

26:01you had me Corey Flynn Tristan Brett Ross Marshall and everyone went on to pretty much play in the first team and have careers now it just allowed us to have that sort of point where I said your transition made that a lot easier we'd get to learn how we'd sort of live and stuff and we'd see him at the training ground and stuff and then what he does when he gets home I think it just allowed us to feel really comfortable and I think that just allowed us to sort of strive in our own way and with that and no I was I loved it to be fair I'd always lived at home and although I was only 40 minutes up the road from home and I did go back It was nice to do that with the boys and experience that.

26:57It gave us friends for life as well. I can imagine it's just nice being in that environment around people. We're 24-7 thinking about football, playing football, training, keeping yourself fit. It must be a good opportunity to do that. You, of course, make your return during COVID times, which I'm sure as a player was so difficult. Even just getting back to full fitness during that time, what was that like? Yeah, I remember the game. It was Bristol Rovers away. And I'd come on and I remember setting up two goals on my return and everyone sort of getting around me. And it's sort of that in that moment, it sort of puts everything in the past.

27:42You sort of forget about that for a moment. so I remember the game exactly but like I was saying, Covid, it would have been nice when you haven't played in front of the fans for a while to do that but eventually got to do that again and then I did eventually come back with Cambridge as well so it was nice to obviously come back Definitely, and two other goals you scored, of course one was at Stain Millet once again that was a defeat, whatever but that must have been great to score at that stadium, unfortunately it was behind closed doors so it wasn't like in front of a packed staying with like, you know, four Sunderland fans?

28:15Yeah, I know, yeah. Yeah, it was. The goal after coming back for so long, obviously felt nice. I'd missed the feeling. Yeah, it was again another game where it sort of sticks with you because of it being a moment where you remember it because of maybe more for, makes you reflect back on the injury a bit. But it was a, yeah, nice moment to get the first goal after being out for so long. I've just looked at Andre who got sent off in that game I don't think he was I think it wasn't a deserving red card either but it's one of those things and then funny enough shortly after I think it was maybe a few games later yeah it was your late winner against Shrewsbury I remember getting some great pictures of you and Brett celebrating together it's a shame it was in front of a packed four or over at least it was a game I scored in that we won yeah but then pictures that picture I've still got I've got it printed and everything and we always sort of send it to each other sometimes and be like and it was just like a yeah a real moment that I can share on the pitch with the best friend not from football but who I've obviously gone through life with and him still being my best friend now so it was a lovely moment to celebrate that with him and we never probably would have thought that we'd have both started a first team game together um at some point it was nice to obviously score in one of them yeah share the moment with him definitely man of course you know town fans love that because you know you're a local lad and I think that's what every football club you know definitely it's town you want the young lads to do well and unfortunately at the time the club was in a transitional period not doing really well you know stuck in league one um of course new ownership comes in, Paul Lamp of course loses his job, Paul Cook comes in.

30:11Can you remember as a player, as a local lad going, new ownership going in and some change is going to be potential on the cards? Yeah, I think we all knew there was going to be some changes and stuff and I actually started, I remember starting the first game under Paul Cook actually, or the second game maybe. The first game I think where we knew he was in charge was away at Accrington and I think I was out of the squad I think with Wolfie it's just funny look how Wolfie ended up doing and it was like yeah we knew there were going to be changes and the longer the sort of first few months or whatever went on towards that the end of that season we knew that there was going to be decisions to make and I think obviously when I had that meeting that a lot of us were told we could could leave if we wanted to although being in contract I thought it was the right thing for me although I would have loved to have stayed with Ipswich obviously for longer and I never wanted to leave on that sort of side of it I think footballing it's it helped me because maybe I wasn't going to get the games I needed to and I was still young at that point and I managed to go and do that and move to Cambridge and get that get that behind me but yeah it was an emotional time leaving um for a lot of us i think a lot of us left at that point players that had been with each other for a while and stuff but like i've only never looked back on it as a bad thing um i spent 14 years there and it was sad for it to come to an end but it's football isn't it and you go on to do your own thing and we and we all have definitely man yeah it was uh such an interesting summer because it was like the demolition man summer that's what was sort of uh conned and uh yeah so many players left of course luke chambers and cold scoop like big players left that summer as well and it was like i think 19 summer signings that summer uh but so many players left um of course you were like was it transfer listed or stuff like that and you know but yeah that must have been still a difficult time as you say you know leaving the club after so many years and just you know knowing you're gonna be part of this whole group of players leaving yeah it was um but like I said it sort of in the back of my head I thought that would be the case because going off through the injury I never really got to come back and sort of get going again um and I sort of probably needed that change and I have no hard feelings against anyone there or obviously Cookie at the time.

32:57I've played against him several times now since and speak to him and after the game we have a laugh and a joke and with Gary Roberts, obviously was his assistant, he still is now and obviously Kieran was with them just up until now at Chesterfield and they always ask me how I am and say it's great to see how I've done and getting on and stuff. and yeah so I know our feelings about emotional time obviously but I only look back on Ipswich with good things and love coming back Definitely man, I'm sure your dad is proud of you as well Steven I know he's obviously a big town fan as well I'm sure he was sort of like seeing his boy play for Ipswich Town Yeah he was but he again is wherever I've gone supported me in the exact same way as he did when I was at Ipswich away games home games he's always there even when up to crew so yeah he's always just as supportive now and we obviously both still look out for Ipswich and go down whenever I can when I'm back although it's harder now playing three hours and three and a half hours up the road but no we do we've had some times when I've come back and gone to Ipswich games together so it's been nice Were you surprised how the club have gone on Their journey they've been on at the moment Now back in the Premier League for the second time Which is still mind-blowing really Were you surprised or were you not?

34:28I think everyone was a little bit in shock But deep down if you look at this It's not a massive, massive surprise Before obviously we had a lot of transition And changes at the club I remember being a ball boy in the playoffs For Upswich Norwich And like you think we were up there then in the championship so there's no reason why now and obviously then with the funding and the investments and stuff the club's only been going one way for the last few years and now it's been obviously great to watch from afar and and obviously be a supporter of that and um it was nice that a few of the boys that were in our little group were still a part of that um and obviously he's like for Wolfie for example it was nice that we could all at least there was a couple of us that were still there and got to enjoy that as part of it and probably made us feel like we were still a bit of part of it but no it was nice and hopefully with them being in the Premier League I can probably get to more games this year especially up this way I'll try and get to the Manchester games or the Liverpool games so yeah that'll be nice.

35:38Definitely man I've got a question here from Matt Steele and this is more from the old manager, Kieran McKenna, which is still weird. Do you think you would have fit in a McKenna team if you were still around? Obviously, Paul got the sack, unfortunately, in December. Of course, Kieran McKenna comes in. Do you think you would have fitted in his team? I'd have liked to play in his team, that's for sure. Yeah, no, the style of play, obviously, is I think what a lot of players who are my sort of player would enjoy playing in. and I remember Wolfie saying how good it is to play in it and stuff and I think everyone could see that.

36:15So there would be no reason why I'd say that. I wouldn't want to be a part of that and enjoy being a part of that. But no, it was just great to watch that team from afar, really. Well, I had to play against it at some point, so that wasn't the best. But I don't think we had the ball at all. But no, it was enjoyable to watch. Although when we played Cambridge, we normally lost. So they were frustrating the game. I was just like, oh, no. But fair play to you, lads. And, yeah, of course, you're still a young lad, my friend. You've still got a lot to do in the game. I'm sure you're looking forward to another season, though.

36:53Yeah, 26 now. Obviously a bit older, but still got plenty of me. But, yeah, last year I just sort of suffered with another longer-term injury, which sort of kept me out for the majority of the season. Featured here and there, but was able to sort of rest over this summer and get myself ready for this season. So hopefully this season will be a bit of a better one. And yeah, I can kick on again. And who knows what will happen in the future. And just focus on this season for now. Definitely, my friend. Well, thank you so much for joining me. Best of luck for the rest of the pre-season because I know it can be tough.

37:32And best of luck for the season as a whole as well for you and crew. Sort of final words to listeners. I'm sure they've enjoyed this conversation sort of hearing from a local lad who did a dream that a lot of us would have wished we could have done Yeah no thank you for having me yeah like I say Ipric was 14 years of my life and still is part of my life obviously I loved every minute there and I think although I had the injuries in that the one thing that obviously stood by all the fans and always have done and always sort of welcomed me back when I've came back and shown that when I've returned with other teams.

38:09So, yeah, thank you. And, yeah, thanks for having me again. And final question. Put you on the spot here. Are Tam going to stay up? What do you reckon? Yeah, I think they'll do it this year. Yeah, I thought they'd do it the first year. I was sort of telling my teammates here that we were having sort of arguments whether they were going or not. But they didn't manage to last time. But stick and buy them this time. Nice one. Well, all the best, my friend. Thanks again. Cheers mate

39:08Thank you.