In this special bonus episode of Sutton United Talk Time on Podcast, I sat down with Aaron Jones — AJ or Jonesy, just don’t call him A-Ron! From his ESPN Top 10 screamer in the States, to the emotional rollercoaster of Wembley, and now pulling on the Sutton United shirt, Aaron’s story is one of resilience, reinvention, and refusing to let setbacks define him.
Mike Dowling
00:58 - 01:09
Hello, and welcome to a very special bonus episode of Sutton United Talk Time on podcasts. It's the Sutton podcast in association with Lucky Star Gin. I'm your host, Mike. If you're a regular listener, thanks once again for your time.
Mike Dowling
01:09 - 01:25
And if you're a new listener, you're very, very welcome indeed. With me today, I'm delighted to welcome or find out exactly Aaron, AJ, Jonesy, Aaron. I don't know how we're going to do it. But before we get into that, obviously always the engagement.
Mike Dowling
01:25 - 01:37
We love the engagement. We join the conversations, share, like, and everything on social media with at Sutton Podcast. But thank you for joining us today. Which name do you prefer?
Aaron Jones
01:37 - 01:42
Definitely not A-Ron. A-Ron? Come on, A-Ron! Definitely not A-Ron.
Aaron Jones
01:43 - 01:48
AJ or Jonesy is fine. Yeah. Excellent. Whatever you choose to do is okay.
Aaron Jones
01:48 - 01:48
Ooh,
Mike Dowling
01:48 - 01:49
that
Aaron Jones
01:49 - 01:50
could be dangerous
Mike Dowling
01:50 - 01:51
on a
Aaron Jones
01:51 - 01:53
Saturday afternoon. Don't straighten
Mike Dowling
01:53 - 01:54
those
Aaron Jones
01:54 - 01:54
two.
Mike Dowling
01:57 - 02:13
It's been about a month since pre-season started. How have you settled in so far at Sutton and just how are things going with the group because obviously we've got a whole bunch of new people in on top of the new people we had last year?
Aaron Jones
02:15 - 02:34
Yeah, no, it's been great actually. I think coming into a new environment always presents its challenges. But I think when you're one of a number of players that are coming into a new environment, it probably helps. So I think, what do we have, maybe 10 or 11 new players?
Speaker 1
02:35 - 02:35
So I
Aaron Jones
02:35 - 03:17
think because there's so many people getting integrated in the group, it doesn't feel like you're the only one doing it. And I think that kind of makes the transition a bit easier because you know that there's other people in the same boat as you. And to be fair, all of the staff and the lads who were here last year have been brilliant at getting us new boys integrated into the into the club and familiarising us with everything and what's expected. I've been really pleasantly surprised and still meeting new faces all the time, but my enjoyment level in July and August so far, I've really enjoyed my time at the club.
Aaron Jones
03:17 - 03:18
It's been a great start.
Mike Dowling
03:19 - 03:22
I did feel a little bit sorry for Brandon because obviously everyone was there together.
Aaron Jones
03:23 - 03:45
He suddenly gate crashed last minute. He was the only one, but you know, everybody else, we came in, I think it was the 30th of June was the first day that we got together as a group. And, you know, the club done a really good job of getting their business done early doors, sort of unheard of really. And then obviously, like you say, Brandon, we call him Beej.
Aaron Jones
03:46 - 03:59
Beej come in sort of halfway through pre-season or towards the end of pre-season. But no, he's settled great and he's a really good character. He knew simps as well, so I think that sort of helped him settle. To be
Mike Dowling
03:59 - 04:05
fair, he scored a very late equaliser on his debut, so that's going to work in your favour, isn't it?
Aaron Jones
04:05 - 04:10
Yeah, that's definitely true. What a way to introduce yourself. Exactly.
Mike Dowling
04:12 - 04:39
This is going to kind of meander a little bit, so apologies in advance, but I've got kind of a structure. Your football journey is quite an interesting one. Now, I try to word this without making everyone sound really old, but you were one of the first people to kind of take up these sponsorships in the States, or was it the first with this particular organization? I couldn't work out that, but you basically left us at 18 and went to the States on a scholarship.
Aaron Jones
04:40 - 05:13
Yeah, I was the first of a new company called Vertex Soccer and this company essentially helps players who have been released from Premier League Championship academies like myself. during that transition from being released to getting a scholarship in the US. So it's not something I'd really considered. And then one of my best friends, he went out in the August and was ringing me all the time, being like, such a cool experience.
Aaron Jones
05:13 - 05:29
And I think it's right up your street. And then I was released from Ipswich, went on trial at Notts County in pre-season as an 18 year old. My old U of T manager was the first team manager there, Chris Cuomio. He used to play up front for Ipswich and Arsenal.
Aaron Jones
05:31 - 05:50
Great guy as well. And so I went in and done really well in pre-season. And they offered me a contract in, I think it was under 23s at the time on like no money. But I met this guy whilst I was in trial at Knutts County and he followed me around every warmup.
Aaron Jones
05:50 - 06:07
He'd just come back from America and he was just setting up this company. So he was really keen to start sending lads out there, and a really good guy, a guy called Sam Craven, got on really well with him. And one thing led to another. I ended up starting to really consider this as an option for me, rather than just staying in the UK.
Aaron Jones
06:07 - 06:43
And I think I'd seen some of my teammates who were a year older than me perhaps get released from Ipswich, go and sign an under-23s contract, and then do one year and end up getting released from that, and then they're in non-league or whatever. So I thought, why don't I go and get a fully funded education? They still play full-time over there while you're doing your studying. So for me, it was a good alternative, and I could still be full-time because ultimately I did want to be a professional footballer, but I still valued trying to get an education at the same time.
Mike Dowling
06:45 - 06:59
Yeah, I mean, now there's quite a few. I see lots of people doing that same journey. It seems really popular with the ladies' sides as well. Maybe that's just something else.
Mike Dowling
07:00 - 07:26
But you do see people slipping going the other route and staying in the UK do slip out of it and they get just kind of fed up and don't want to play football anymore because they failed. I mean you had other options but is that what you saw with some of your teammates that they didn't do that option and they don't play anymore or did your group mostly play?
Aaron Jones
07:27 - 08:03
Yeah, no, there's loads of my teammates. Like I said, probably the year above was the best kind of example that I looked at because obviously you can kind of see their path develop. There's some really talented players, maybe go and sign a one-year pro somewhere or weren't lucky enough to sign a one-year pro somewhere else and ended up dropping down into non-league, like step three, step four. And I was just like, I just don't want to be playing Step 3 or Step 4 at 18, 19 years old when I've got the option to go and get an education, have a different cultural experience.
Aaron Jones
08:03 - 08:09
And I thought, if I graduate at 22, 23, I can always come back and play Step 3,
Speaker 1
08:09 - 08:09
Step 4
Aaron Jones
08:09 - 08:21
and get a job. There's no question about that. So having that education I thought was kind of like a really key thing for me to do. And it was like an unbelievable experience.
Aaron Jones
08:21 - 08:33
So yeah, I'm so glad that I sort of made that decision, which at the time my dad really didn't approve of. So I was sort of going against his word, but I was always strong minded ever since I was a kid.
Mike Dowling
08:35 - 08:55
Well, there was, I mean, obviously there was various highlights, but my research, you made it onto a ESPN top 10 playlist. Obviously, people have heard of ESPN, but we don't quite understand fully how big it is and how important that is. I mean, talk us through that. It was a free kick, wasn't it?
Mike Dowling
08:55 - 09:00
And how did you find out and how do you weave it into conversations all the time?
Aaron Jones
09:02 - 09:12
To be honest, it's been that long ago now. I don't often get to talk about it. So now that you've brought it up, it's giving me excuse to talk about it again. So thanks for doing that.
Aaron Jones
09:12 - 09:35
I think it was my first... So I moved over there in January 2012, I want to say, or 2013. And I think our first spring game was in the March. And we're playing against a team that I eventually went on to sign for a university that I went to transfer to, which was Clemson.
Aaron Jones
09:36 - 09:56
And I was playing for Georgia State, which was based in Atlanta at the time. And I remember, corner come in, I was on the edge of the box, corner got headed away, and it just fell for me on the volley. And I've just hit it flush, it's gone straight in the top left corner. Still, probably to this day, the best goal I've ever scored.
Aaron Jones
09:57 - 10:15
and I just remember like finishing the game and my phone was blowing up. like getting messages from home, getting messages from like all of the people I've just met at uni. They're like, mate, your goals just made ESPN top 10 best. Like, it's not just the best, like football goals.
Aaron Jones
10:16 - 10:34
It's like the best sporting moments in the whole of the states. For that, I think it's the week or I can't remember exactly what it is, but it's like ESPN top 10. So they show like a clip from like a great touchdown, like a home run. like maybe some sort of slam dunk, which is unusual.
Aaron Jones
10:34 - 10:47
And then they put my volley against Clemson in there. So I was buzzing. I thought I'd cracked it after two months of being over there. No, it was a good start.
Aaron Jones
10:47 - 10:55
And then that was just one of a number of things that were just like, this is crazy over in the States. So no, it was a good experience.
Mike Dowling
10:56 - 11:06
I'd generally still be talking about it almost hourly to be honest. But you were then part of something we don't have, the draft, and you kind of went
Aaron Jones
11:06 - 11:07
through the draft
Mike Dowling
11:07 - 11:08
process. Yeah,
Aaron Jones
11:09 - 11:13
that was a bit weird and wonderful, but no, yeah, I was part of that in 2017.
Mike Dowling
11:16 - 11:29
Every time I've ever seen it, it does feel like the playground of I'll pick him, I'll pick him, I'll pick him. But what was that experience like? Is it as they show it or is it just you get a phone call?
Aaron Jones
11:30 - 11:58
No, it's as they show it, to be fair. So, yeah, I graduated, I think it was the end of 2016. And then when you're coming up to graduation, the MLS will basically select, I think it was 80 players across all universities in the States, and they're players who are graduating class. And then there's this thing called Generation Adidas, which they select some lads that are really talented.
Aaron Jones
11:59 - 12:30
which they pull out of school early and they give them pro MLS deals. So I think like Jack Harrison, who was on the bench for Leeds last night, he went through like Generation Adidas, ended up getting, I think he got drafted to New York City FC. So yeah, we all got invited to the MLS Combine, which was in LA. So they flew us out to LA, I think it was in the in the January of 2017.
Aaron Jones
12:31 - 12:47
And then you go and do, you have three games in five days, which is super intense in the LA heat. and they're all played at the LA Galaxy Stadium. So I think you did a day of training first where you basically get put into four teams. So it was like four squads of 20 players.
Aaron Jones
12:48 - 12:57
And on that first day of training, you do like physical testing. So there's like vertical jump tests. There's like a 30 meter sprint test. There was like an agility test as well.
Aaron Jones
12:57 - 13:21
And all of those statistics, they get published. So like all the coaches can see physically kind of where you're at. And then I think the first game was on day 2, day 3 rest, day 4 game and then I think it was even like day 5 game as well. So I think I ended up playing like an hour in the first game, 75 on day 4 and then I think I played a 90 on day 5.
Aaron Jones
13:23 - 13:50
And during those games, obviously, you've got all of the first team managers, you've got sporting directors all in the stands trying to figure out what they need for their squads. And then after the combine, there's basically a draft. So as you see on the movies and stuff, that actually happens. So I think it was three to five days later after the combine, The draft was at the LA Convention Center.
Aaron Jones
13:51 - 14:16
So I was, you could either like, you know, choose to stay and find out your fate in person or, you know, fly back to wherever you were living at the time and then sort of find out through your agent or just sort of check whatever media channels were going on. So yeah, I ended up choosing to stay because I had a really good combine. I felt like I performed well and I was like, I think I'm, I was getting like the right sort of signs that I was going to get drafted.
Aaron Jones
14:16 - 14:34
So I was like, it'd be nice to actually be there in person. So I stayed with a couple of other boys and hung out in LA. And then I think I was sat there and there's like, I think at the time it was maybe like 20 to 24 teams in the MLS. Like the MLS is constantly growing.
Aaron Jones
14:34 - 14:55
I don't know if you follow it a lot, but there's new teams coming into the league all the time. They're expanding at the minute still now. So there's like these 20 to 24 tables all around this massive convention center. And then all the players who are who have played in the Combine, who have chosen to go to the Draft, are sat in the middle, with barriers around you, just on seats.
Aaron Jones
14:55 - 15:12
You feel like you're herded sheep. And then it's literally like teams are on the clock. So I think the first two rounds are at the Convention Centre on day one, and then the second two rounds are done remotely on day two. So we were all sat in the middle.
Aaron Jones
15:14 - 15:40
And then like, I think, I don't know how they do it exactly, but I think it's like based on your league position, like the year before, depends where you are in the draft. Like it's strange, but I think I remember New York City being first pick and then they literally like will be on the clock on the screen. It's like two minutes and you can see like the New York City guys all deciding who they're going to pick. But then like to throw a spanner in the works, like clubs can trade.
Aaron Jones
15:40 - 15:59
So say for example, like a club really wants you, but then you get taken. Like that club won't be able to pick you with their next pick and they're like, well, we don't want to waste the pick and then somebody can buy that pick off them. So there's like inside trades going on all the time. So yeah, it was like very, very interesting to be a part of.
Aaron Jones
16:00 - 16:10
So you sort of sit there and, you know, people get called up on the stage and it's like, with the third pick of the first round, we choose, I don't know, John Smith from whatever university. And then
Speaker 1
16:10 - 16:10
you
Aaron Jones
16:10 - 16:20
have to go up on stage, you say a little bit, and then the clock starts again. And then it's like the next pick. So no, it was, it was mad. And I think I ended up going second round, like 11th pick overall.
Aaron Jones
16:21 - 16:41
So I think I was like 30, 30th pick and I went to Philadelphia. So you're sat there and you could be going like anywhere in the States and you have no control, no say. You have literally no control over it. Obviously, you can choose not to sign the contract.
Aaron Jones
16:42 - 16:56
They can't force you to go. But if you want to go through the draft system and play in the MLS, you have to go where they tell you to go. So I think my big thing was like, I don't know why, but I just didn't want to go to Canada. So I didn't want to go to Montreal.
Aaron Jones
16:56 - 17:13
I didn't want to go to Vancouver, which in hindsight is a mistake because I've heard that's one of the most beautiful cities in the world. And then Toronto, I was like, definitely not those three. And then like Minnesota, I didn't fancy. There was like a few, like five or six, I was just like, please don't send me there.
Aaron Jones
17:14 - 17:31
And then the rest I was sort of indifferent about. And then there's obviously ones that you think, oh, I'd love to go there. Like, you know, I think LA FC had just come into the league, maybe. LA Galaxy, Orlando City, like these types of New York City FC.
Aaron Jones
17:31 - 17:40
You think those ones, like every kid would love to play. I think, was it Vieira? I think Vieira was in charge of New York City FC at the time. And I'm a massive Arsenal fan.
Aaron Jones
17:41 - 17:56
So like, That was what I had my heart set on, was going to New York City. But that never materialized. So yeah, I got selected by Philadelphia. And then you go up and you meet their manager, you meet the sporting director, have a conversation on stage for two minutes, and then you're off.
Aaron Jones
17:56 - 18:06
And then all of a sudden, like a player liaison comes over. He's like, right, tell us where you live in now. Like, we're going to sort your flights, like for a week's time. And then you kind of join up with the team for preseason.
Aaron Jones
18:06 - 18:21
So it was a mad process, like looking back actually, and I haven't spoke to anyone about it in a while. I like just having this conversation now, like I'm sort of reliving it again. Yeah, it was it was crazy, but that was fun to experience.
Mike Dowling
18:22 - 18:41
So. You sort of said a couple of things about your your your time, but what I mean, how do you think it shaped you as a person and what did you kind of learn while you're out there, apart from saying your hometown slightly differently? But what did you kind of learn and bring back?
Aaron Jones
18:44 - 19:03
I think you get challenged and you get put in an environment which is not comfortable. You're in a really different environment to what you grew up in. And I think that pushed me outside of my comfort zone and made me have to grow up really quickly. I had to learn how to cook at 18.
Aaron Jones
19:03 - 19:23
I know it sounds like a stupid thing, but you know, I was a lot of time cooking meals for myself and do my own washing and, um, at university in a foreign country. So you're having to sort out, you know, all sorts of documents and that's what a driving license. And I think you have to become very independent very quickly. So if you had, yeah.
Aaron Jones
19:24 - 19:42
No beer? Well, no, there was beer to be fair. Hopefully they don't go back and arrest me, but I did manage to drink beer when I was 18 over there. But yeah, I think it made me grow up really quickly, maybe, you know, have a real strong sense of independence.
Aaron Jones
19:44 - 20:31
and I think just, yeah, it expanded my horizons and made me realise the world's a big place and not just Norfolk and Suffolk, which is pretty much where I grew up and spent most of my time prior to going over to the States. Met some amazing people from all different kind of backgrounds. You know, when I was playing at my second university at Clemson, We must have had 12 different nations on our sort of squad sheet, like, you know, lads from Costa Rica and Denmark, El Salvador, all over the world, Spain. So it was really cool to kind of understand their background through football and how we'd all arrived in the same place, but with such different kind of cultural backgrounds.
Aaron Jones
20:31 - 20:43
So, yeah, it definitely kind of helped shape me. As a person, obviously, the education was tough, but there was lots of support around the education as well. So, no, it was good.
Mike Dowling
20:44 - 20:50
Excellent. Well, you did finish, you came back and you played fairly close to home.
Aaron Jones
20:51 - 20:51
I
Mike Dowling
20:51 - 21:00
did. What was it like coming back? Were you kind of a little bit like, oh, it's a bit grey and dreary here or were you pleased to be home?
Aaron Jones
21:02 - 21:21
I found the transition really difficult actually. That was probably the lowest point in my life to date because I think I'd been on this MLS contract on decent money after having graduated from college. I thought that that was me set. I was going to be a professional footballer.
Aaron Jones
21:21 - 21:26
That was it. I've cracked it now. I've got my education. I've signed for an MLS team.
Aaron Jones
21:26 - 21:39
Great. But then I got in there and there was a right back in front of me who was just better than me. So he was playing for the national team and he was a very good player. And when I found myself, they sent me out on loan to USL.
Aaron Jones
21:40 - 21:59
I don't know if any of the listeners will have heard of the USL, but it's kind of like you can't get promoted from the USL into the MLS, but it's the second division. So you've got teams like Tampa Bay Rowdies, Phoenix Rising, which Drogba played for, Joe Cole played for Tampa Bay. So it's like a good standard. I'd say it's probably similar to like National League level.
Aaron Jones
22:01 - 22:12
So I was on loan there and then ended up after that season. I had a really good season in that league. I played 35 starts and a few goals, a few assists. I was nominated for Rookie of the Year in the league.
Aaron Jones
22:12 - 22:25
So I was like, oh, Philadelphia definitely take my option. I've had a good season now on loan. And then they have an international roster rule over there. You can only have, I think it's six per squad, can be internationals.
Aaron Jones
22:25 - 22:49
So I had that conversation where They were like, listen, you've done well out on loan, but we're not going to take your option because you're taking up a roster spot and you didn't really contribute to the team last year. I had this massive high of signing and then this unbelievable year out on loan and loved living in Philadelphia. Then it was just like, right, I'm back to Connor Square One now. And I had offers to stay and play in the USL, but financially they weren't great.
Aaron Jones
22:49 - 22:53
And I think I always had this burning desire to come and play at home. So
Speaker 1
22:53 - 22:53
that
Aaron Jones
22:53 - 23:07
was why I was like, yeah, let's do it. Let's just chuck ourselves back into it, back home and see how we get on. And then I think I come home, which maybe like, it was a really like awkward time. It was like February, March.
Aaron Jones
23:08 - 23:13
So I feel like, at that time, teams aren't really wanting to sign players. There's only a couple
Speaker 1
23:13 - 23:13
of
Aaron Jones
23:13 - 23:32
months of the season left. And I really struggled to get a trial, even go in training somewhere. So I sort of had to be patient. And then in pre-season, I was like, oh, hopefully I'll get a trial at a League Two or a National League side, and I'll be able to go and sign somewhere.
Aaron Jones
23:33 - 23:48
And just the phone wasn't ringing, and I just think, people in England don't really respect like the level, the MLS and the USL and like you've done nothing in England. So you have no sort of like credibility if that makes sense. Yeah.
Mike Dowling
23:49 - 23:50
Contact list is small.
Aaron Jones
23:50 - 23:55
Yeah. Yeah. I didn't really know that many people. And yeah, I found that transition really difficult.
Aaron Jones
23:55 - 24:16
Cause I think my expectation coming home was like, I'll go and sign full time and be a pro. And then I realized quite quickly, it got round to like July. middle of July and I was waiting for the phone to ring, it just never did. So I was like, I'm going to have to drop my ego here and go and sign for a club which is not at the level that I think I should be at.
Aaron Jones
24:17 - 24:39
So my local team, Kings Lynn, it's about an hour from my house in Norfolk. I knew the assistant manager there, and he'd sort of tracked my journey while I was in the States. I think I played with him when I was like 17, 18, finishing up at Ipswich and went on loan to like a Step 3 side, and he was there at the time. Now I've transitioned to Kings Lynn, and he was on the phone to me all the time, like trying to get me to come in.
Aaron Jones
24:40 - 25:01
So I went and trained with them, and I realised that the level was actually really good. So I think I had this perception in my head, like, oh, Step 3's rubbish, like, I can play much higher than that. But we had some really good players, so I was humbled quite quickly and really enjoyed it. Good group of boys and I signed there.
Aaron Jones
25:02 - 25:15
We had a really good season. I think we got promoted from Step 3 up to the National League North in my first season. We won in the playoffs. Then we went into the National League North and we were part-time.
Aaron Jones
25:15 - 25:28
We trained once a week. and we were the most southern-located team in the National League North. I think we were the bookies' favourites to get relegated. We ended up top, I think it was after 32 games.
Aaron Jones
25:28 - 25:40
It was us and York vying for the league. And that was when COVID hit. So it was like 2020. And we ended up getting promoted.
Aaron Jones
25:40 - 25:47
The season got chopped short. We ended up getting promoted on points per game. So I think York were above us. They were top.
Aaron Jones
25:48 - 25:59
but had played like two or three more games than us. And we were only like one point behind. So they ended up promoting us on points per game. So we were like celebrating on Zoom as a squad.
Aaron Jones
26:02 - 26:26
Mad times. But then obviously, yeah. So I've gone from, you know, having this ego coming back and being like, I'm not going to sign in step three, to signing in step three, to getting promoted to step two, to step one. now in the National League and as well like the club when they got promoted from step two to step one we then transitioned to full-time football so it was a like a really good experience for me.
Aaron Jones
26:28 - 26:28
It must have
Mike Dowling
26:28 - 26:32
been an amazing dressing room to be part of to get what
Aaron Jones
26:32 - 26:33
it was two
Mike Dowling
26:33 - 26:34
promotions in three years I know
Aaron Jones
26:34 - 26:36
back-to-back promotions yeah we did
Mike Dowling
26:36 - 26:49
oh yeah um i know one of them you had to celebrate in zoom but it must have been a really really buzzing change from what what was the atmosphere like and what did it did you kind of have that thing of you're just rocking up to games and you know you're going to win
Aaron Jones
26:50 - 26:59
Yeah, it's very cliche, but it was one of the best change rooms I've ever been involved in, in terms of how the
Speaker 1
26:59 - 26:59
boys
Aaron Jones
26:59 - 27:13
got on socially. Yeah, so far, so far. And I said one of as well. But no, the boys got on so well socially to the point where we were all relatively local lads, obviously, because we were part-time.
Aaron Jones
27:15 - 27:31
and it was pretty much the same group that got us promoted from Step 3 that got us promoted from Step 2 as well. We just got on so well socially. We had some really good players, like Ryan Jarvis, who used to play in the Prem. He might have scored in his debut for Norwich against Liverpool at Carroll Road, I think.
Aaron Jones
27:33 - 27:45
And then we had Michael Gash, who was a good Football League player. Adam Marriott, who's played in the league for Lincoln. We had Rory McCauley, who's a really solid centre-half. Fraser.
Aaron Jones
27:46 - 28:13
Blake Tracy, who's now playing at Mansfield, scored the other night. We had Sonny Carey, who's just signed for Charlton Athletic and got Man of the Match on the opening day of the Championship season. Michael Cloonan, who was captain at Scunthorpe last year, got promoted, obviously myself. Archie Mair, who is currently not with the team, but he was on loan from Norwich at the time.
Aaron Jones
28:14 - 28:30
and I think he was on loan from Knox County when they got promoted. Saved a couple of penalties in the playoff final. So we had a wicked team, but obviously didn't realise at the time how good we were. We just rocked up to games and we had this real real togetherness.
Aaron Jones
28:30 - 28:52
We used to go out drinking all the time together down the pub, because we only trained on a Thursday when we were in the National League North, so Tuesdays used to be in the pub instead of training, and it just worked. I don't know why. For whatever reason, it just worked, and it felt like a bit throwbacky, like Tuesday club era, but it was unreal.
Mike Dowling
28:55 - 29:01
It works partly because they're your mates and when you're on the pitch and someone's bombing past you like, I'm not hearing about this on Tuesday. I say
Aaron Jones
29:02 - 29:02
you
Mike Dowling
29:02 - 29:21
have to put that in. I'm not having them send the whole evening slagging me off. I had a Sunday team like that and they were all mates and if one of them turned up like a bit hungover, I was like, oh for God's sake, the whole team were gone. But you then, you moved on and you hooked up again with Tommy.
Mike Dowling
29:22 - 29:37
at Aldershot. You had a reasonable 24-25 season last year. What What was it? I mean, you're the second captain I've had of leaving a team out of Wembley, so it's no big thing.
Mike Dowling
29:39 - 29:39
But
Aaron Jones
29:39 - 29:39
what was
Mike Dowling
29:40 - 29:45
it like? Easting, we were in the Papa John's. What was it like? He didn't win though, so.
Aaron Jones
29:46 - 29:49
I grew up watching, it was Craig Eastman, right?
Mike Dowling
29:49 - 29:49
Yeah.
Aaron Jones
29:50 - 30:02
Yeah, so I grew up watching him. Like I said to you earlier, I'm a FIERA Arsenal fan, so he broke through and he was going to be top. Did he play in the Champions League as well?
Mike Dowling
30:02 - 30:14
He did play in the Champions League. I'm not taking this away from him at all, so if he's still listening, don't bully me. I think it was again with some of the rules on players, so he obviously had to be on the bench. But he came on and
Aaron Jones
30:15 - 30:28
Yeah, I'm pretty sure he did, didn't he? What an unbelievable career he's had. And I remember playing against him when he was at Sutton, I think for Kingsley, and I think we got beat 5-1. So he was a great, great leader and great player.
Mike Dowling
30:30 - 30:38
But how was it in the build-up for you to Wembley? And what was it like playing at Wembley?
Aaron Jones
30:42 - 31:05
Really difficult to summarize, to be honest, Mike. I think the whole, we just spent, what, 30 minutes there talking about my journey through football. And looking back on the day now, that day made everything worth it. You know, it sounds a bit cheesy and whatever, but it's just like probably the best day of my life.
Aaron Jones
31:07 - 31:30
And that's the most way I can sort of justify the day. And yeah, the buildup was crazy. We had a really young team. I felt like it was important for me as a leader of that team, as captain of that team, to be really calm and try and get everybody focused just purely on performance.
Aaron Jones
31:30 - 31:57
But you know how much the day means to everyone, and just to have that day is amazing. But I just kept saying to the group, I'm telling you now, it'll be so much better, and you'll remember it so much more if we win. So yeah, I think going to the stadium, we got invited to Wembley the day before the game. And we went on the Saturday and it was roasting, Mike.
Aaron Jones
31:57 - 32:34
It was like, I think it was like 30 on, you know, like on your phone, on the app, it was 30, but it felt like 37 in Dubai on the pitch. It was like walking, you know, when you open the oven and you get that wave of heat, that was what it felt like. But I think walking out on the pitch on a Saturday was such a good thing in hindsight, because I had this moment where I was just like, wow, this is an unbelievable venue, and you think about all the amazing players that have played there, and the thought of walking out and sharing that pitch with players who have played on that pitch was incredible.
Aaron Jones
32:35 - 32:53
So I had my moment on the Saturday where I was very starstruck by the venue. And then we went and walked around the dressing rooms and they showed us, you know, and then they're talking about players who have showered there and blah, blah, blah. So I think you kind of get that out of your system. And then we just prepared as we normally would for any other game, really.
Aaron Jones
32:54 - 33:25
I know it's very, again, quite cliche to say, but we tried not to treat it any different. The only thing we did slightly different, which I take my hat off to the gaffer, he did something really cool, was he got messages from all of our families. We did this game the night before where we shared a fun fact, an embarrassing fact about your teammates and other people read them out and that was really nice. Then he asked your family to describe what it would mean to you to play at Wembley.
Aaron Jones
33:25 - 33:37
That was a nice moment and that brought us together even more than we already had been. And then on the Sunday, it's just try and go and take care of business. And obviously, thankfully, we did that. We had an unbelievable crowd.
Aaron Jones
33:37 - 33:45
There was like 40,000 there. And we delivered on the day. That was amazing.
Mike Dowling
33:46 - 33:46
the fifth
Aaron Jones
34:05 - 34:18
But, yeah, I was in tears on the Saturday night. Yeah, with a message that my dad had sent to the manager. I was crying. But it was nice.
Aaron Jones
34:19 - 34:21
They were, you know, not sad tears. They were sort of happy tears.
Mike Dowling
34:21 - 34:33
No, of course. Yeah. I mean, was there, and I'm probably going to put it in your head now, was there a tiny bit of jealousy when you're looking around at some of these young players and you're going, I've battled my ass off to get here and you're doing it
Aaron Jones
34:34 - 34:34
very
Mike Dowling
34:34 - 34:35
quickly in your career.
Aaron Jones
34:36 - 35:05
I think everyone's journey is different isn't it and I think for me that was the full circle moment that I talked about earlier that like sort of made all of the hard work and sacrifice that I'd had throughout my career growing up worth it so I don't think those boys quite realise yet how lucky they are to have experienced it that early on in their career. And I think there'll come a point where they will realise, but that day won't happen for a few years yet.
Mike Dowling
35:06 - 35:06
Many years.
Aaron Jones
35:07 - 35:07
Yeah, many
Mike Dowling
35:07 - 35:17
years. So you lifted the trophy. The dressing room must have been amazing afterwards. Did the trophy come home with you?
Mike Dowling
35:20 - 35:22
Did you wake up next to it? Did you have your coca pops out of
Aaron Jones
35:22 - 35:36
it? I can confirm the trophy did not come home with me actually. The club were very, very protective about the trophy. And I felt a bit offended that they didn't trust me with it, to be honest.
Aaron Jones
35:36 - 35:50
I think I'm quite a trustworthy person. But there's a really funny picture that did the rounds in our group chat. So straight after the game, the club had hired out this pub. Was it called the Green Man or something like that?
Aaron Jones
35:50 - 36:05
It was like one of the ones in and around Wembley, so we could walk to it from the stadium. And it was all like family and friends. It was like a guest list and that, where all of our family and friends were there. It was like a nice outside area and indoor area too.
Aaron Jones
36:06 - 36:24
So the trophy was there and it was doing the rounds and people were drinking beer out of it. Yeah, we got heavily intoxicated that night. And then the kit man stayed relatively sober so that he could look after the trophy. I think he was under strict instructions, like do not let the trophy out of your sight at any time.
Aaron Jones
36:25 - 36:56
So there was a funny picture doing the rounds in our chats of Ian Gare, the kit man, like no shirt on, in bed, like cuddling the trophy. I was just thinking, how have you got the trophy here? But no, we had a lot of fun, and then the celebrations that continued into the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, I think we were like four nights out straight, which was, yeah, brilliant. Well deserved.
Aaron Jones
36:56 - 36:56
Yeah.
Mike Dowling
36:57 - 36:58
We should have been playing you in that final.
Aaron Jones
36:59 - 37:07
We didn't turn up. Yeah, I think they beat you in the, was it the quarters? Spending more hours. Yeah, I think it was called, yeah.
Mike Dowling
37:08 - 37:30
Anyway, we'll move on, we're not, we're fine, we're over that. So, Tommy's been sort of quite a big part of your career. We spoke to him at the League Awards and I'm going to use the inverted, he was fuming that we'd got you. Nice fuming, because he said you're going to be a massive part of bringing through the younger players.
Mike Dowling
37:33 - 37:45
What's it like having this moniker of a mentor and a leader of these players? I mean, is it something you've worked on or is it something that you just kind of like, why is everyone listening to me? What's going on?
Aaron Jones
37:47 - 38:10
I don't know if they listen to me all the time. Only sometimes. I think I've played under some great leaders, some great managers, and I think it's probably always been in my character to lead. But it's only recently probably come out of me more, in my late 20s and early 30s.
Aaron Jones
38:11 - 38:33
So, yeah, I think at Aldershot, the first season I joined, the manager made me vice-captain. And then we had Stuart O'Keefe, who we played in the Premier League for Palace and he was our captain. Unfortunately, he got injured after like two games. So all of a sudden I've joined this new club and I found myself wearing the armband.
Aaron Jones
38:34 - 38:46
So I was kind of like, right, it's time for me to step up and lead this team now. I really enjoyed it. I really enjoyed being in that leadership role. We had a really good season that year.
Aaron Jones
38:46 - 38:57
I think we ended up finishing just outside the play-offs in eighth. We probably underachieved, to be honest. We had a great squad. I think I just grew into that role, really.
Aaron Jones
38:58 - 39:30
Like I said, having played under some really good leaders, managers and had played under some good captains, You pick up snippets from people and then you kind of have your own style of leadership that you think works for you. I think the most important thing as someone in a leadership position is to be authentic and be yourself. Because I think if you're trying to be someone you're not, then your teammates, they smell it a miler and they just think like, you know, you're a pretender, you're a bit of a fraud. So I just think I try and be myself.
Aaron Jones
39:30 - 39:53
I would never, you know, ask people to do things that I would never do myself. And yeah, I like trying to drive high standards all the time, whether it's a gym session with Sean or training or whatever. I like to see things being done the right way. I hate corners being cut, whether it's a warm-up or whatever it is.
Aaron Jones
39:53 - 40:05
And I think some people probably find it annoying and busy, but I don't care. I think if I think it's going to help the team, then I don't mind being disliked for a moment or two.
Mike Dowling
40:07 - 40:26
that bit about not asking people to do something you do yourself or wouldn't do yourself. I used to be manager of a shoe shop and wear the suit and tie and everything and then be cleaning out around the loo and every time anyone saw it they'd be like we now can't moan about having to do this. Clearly doing it. I had a special suit just for that.
Mike Dowling
40:27 - 40:56
Right, I said to you I'm gonna search around for some curveballs. Now, apart from some interesting insta photos with some even more interesting shirts and haircuts, I think I'm massively sidetracked by the sort of the parallel life that you have and your business interests as well with the park. How do you balance the two. Are you?
Mike Dowling
40:56 - 41:03
Because I've read you're not hands off. You're there as well. It's a family business. How do you kind of balance the two?
Mike Dowling
41:03 - 41:12
I mean, what you just some of what you just said there, I was like, that's a LinkedIn dream. That is all the all the stuff from football coming into business, business coming into football. How do you balance it all?
Aaron Jones
41:14 - 41:34
We have great difficulty. I don't have much, much time. to do much socially, hence why I've got no kids and no wife. Life's busy, but I really enjoy it.
Aaron Jones
41:34 - 42:01
For listeners that don't know, I work for the Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach. That's my family's business. It's been in my family now since 1950s, so over 70 years. My dad's managing director and then my brother is also involved, you know, as a director too, and then myself, sort of bring up the leadership team, plus my mum looks after catering, so it's very much family business.
Aaron Jones
42:02 - 42:43
But my general schedule throughout the week is, if we have a Tuesday game, then I won't go home on a Wednesday. But if we have no Tuesday game, then Wednesday is my office day, so after training finishes at, say, two, three o'clock, I'll then drive back to Norfolk, get home for six, and then I'll work the Wednesday. generally like nine till five and then drive back and get back into Serbeton for sort of like eight, nine o'clock, ready for the Thursday morning. And then if we do have a Tuesday game, like this weekend, for example, after we played Solly Hill because I hadn't gone back on the Wednesday.
Aaron Jones
42:43 - 42:56
I went back on the Sunday instead. So I generally try and get home once a week or at a push once every 10 days. And that was sort of the agreement when I signed for Aldershot with my dad. He was like, you can sign there.
Aaron Jones
42:56 - 43:07
Because obviously I was moving from Kingston to Aldershot. It's a long way from home then. So you can sign there, but you need to be in the office once a week. So he's, and I thought, you know, it was one of them, like I agreed to at the time.
Aaron Jones
43:07 - 43:20
And I thought, oh, I like, he'll get bored of that and like, he'll let it slide eventually. But he's kept me on my toes with it. He's actually kept me really accountable. So, but no, I love it.
Aaron Jones
43:20 - 43:35
And sort of my role there is my official title is director of business development. So anything that can kind of help push the company forward in terms of growth and revenue and yeah, that sort of stuff. So yeah.
Mike Dowling
43:36 - 43:45
So do you, do the roles ever kind of swap? Have you ever kind of met any of your football family unexpectedly there, or do people offer you for freebies?
Aaron Jones
43:46 - 44:07
My teammates ask me for freebies, yeah, a lot, which I'd never mind doing, to be fair. And like, you know, at Kingsley and at Aldershot, you get close with your teammates, you get close with their families because you, you know, end up doing things outside of football with them, which is lovely. And then they're like, oh, do you mind if we bring the kids for the weekend? I'm like, yeah, absolutely.
Aaron Jones
44:08 - 44:13
Great. So I think, I don't know if you know the player Tyler Frost at Aldershot.
Speaker 1
44:14 - 44:14
He
Aaron Jones
44:14 - 44:35
probably would have played against Sutton when Aldershot came to you guys. I think it was in January last year, but he brought his kids. I think it was maybe last weekend or the weekend before on Sunday. And then next teammate of mine, Josh Colson, a bit of a Cambridge United legend, got really close with him and his kids absolutely adore the park.
Aaron Jones
44:35 - 44:52
They're like perfect age for it. They're like nine and six maybe. And they're like there every month. So I just end up giving them like season tickets and Yeah, they always send me a video after they've been and they're very grateful.
Aaron Jones
44:52 - 44:58
But yeah, I was definitely popular in school, but not because people liked me, but because they wanted to. Well,
Mike Dowling
44:59 - 45:12
I was actually going to come to next. I mean, you mentioned it's been in the family for generations and I think there's lots of new stuff. But I think when I read again somewhere, you're quite proud of the little the railway,
Aaron Jones
45:13 - 45:14
the scenic railway. Yeah.
Mike Dowling
45:15 - 45:16
Yeah. That's that's been there for
Aaron Jones
45:18 - 45:20
Ninety three years.
Mike Dowling
45:21 - 45:21
Ninety
Aaron Jones
45:21 - 45:22
three
Mike Dowling
45:22 - 45:22
years.
Aaron Jones
45:22 - 45:29
Yeah. It's nice. It's amazing. It's an amazing piece of sort of parks history.
Aaron Jones
45:30 - 45:34
It was like it's an old school wooden roller coaster. which is
Speaker 1
45:34 - 45:34
still
Aaron Jones
45:34 - 45:56
manually operated by a brake man, so there's a guy who sits on there and controls the speed of the carriage as it goes around. But it's actually, I'm making it sound like it's an antique, like it is very old, but it's still quite thrilling as well. It's one of them, you need to kind of experience it to understand what I'm talking about, so nobody will have a clue. Yeah, there's been some really cool history stuff going on with that.
Aaron Jones
45:56 - 46:16
Like we had, I don't know if you like Madness, like the, the music group, but we had Madness House of Fun at a number one hit single House of Fun, which they filmed the music video was on the scene. Wow. That's a weird and wonderful fact of the Sutton podcast.
Mike Dowling
46:16 - 46:24
So, what was it like growing up? I mean, were you wandering around there at night time? Were your birthdays always very well attended?
Aaron Jones
46:26 - 46:36
I don't know, I guess we just never knew any different as kids. It was just the way we were brought up. Babies in arms. My mum and dad are very, very hands-on with the business.
Aaron Jones
46:36 - 46:54
They're not directors that employ staff and then they just go and sit on a beach in Spain somewhere when we're busy. They're there in the thick of it and they love it. I think as kids we were just there. I was, my first job I think was working in the golf kiosk.
Aaron Jones
46:55 - 47:18
We've got like a little mini adventure golf and I used to hand out the putters and the balls to people when they went to play on the adventure golf. Then I think I got promoted to like candy floss and ice cream. And then, yeah, I stopped getting involved really. So I had a period from probably 16 when I moved to Ipswich as a scholar.
Aaron Jones
47:18 - 47:48
till 24, where I wasn't involved with the business at all and had no intention of being involved. And then at 24, like my dad, unfortunately he got ill, had a heart attack, which was like all of a sudden. And when we saw a specialist in London, in Harley Street, she was like, it's, we're attributing a lot to, a lot of it to stress of the business. So that was when I was kind of like playing part-time for Kings Lynn.
Aaron Jones
47:48 - 48:04
I'd just sort of arrived back in the UK. And I was like, right, dad, I want to help. I've gone away, I've got like a business degree, I think I can contribute in a positive manner. Like you're clearly struggling with the stress of it all, like let me get involved.
Aaron Jones
48:05 - 48:23
So yeah, that was sort of how it developed really. But no, to answer your original question, I think it was just, it's always been in our blood to do that. And we haven't really known any different, but whenever I sort of explain it to people, they're like, what? And it just feels normal to us, do you know what I mean?
Mike Dowling
48:24 - 48:32
You're sitting there going, yeah, you think being in there after it's closed is great, but all I've got to do is clear up stuff all the time and pick up all the litter. It's not so much fun.
Aaron Jones
48:32 - 48:34
It's actually quite eerie at night as well.
Mike Dowling
48:34 - 48:35
Yeah, I can imagine.
Aaron Jones
48:35 - 48:35
Yeah.
Mike Dowling
48:36 - 48:47
Well, that leads on to the next point. You've won an award very recently. Yeah, it is. It was your Halloween Scare Nights.
Mike Dowling
48:47 - 48:49
How did that come about and what other?
Aaron Jones
48:50 - 49:18
You have done your research, haven't you, Mike? I have. I'm surprised you haven't dug up a few more skeletons out the closets for this. But Halloween, like I said, when I started working for my dad again, I think it was 24, 25, I'd obviously just got back from the States and Halloween over in America, I don't know if any of the listeners or yourself have ever experienced it, but they go nuts
Aaron Jones
49:18 - 49:30
for it. like I've never seen before. And I think I went to like a fright night somewhere in the States. I think it might've been in Atlanta, maybe at Six Flags or somewhere like that.
Aaron Jones
49:32 - 49:50
And I come back and I said to my dad, my brother, I was like, do we do anything for Halloween? And the only thing we did at the time was like a pumpkin trail in the day. And I was like, oh, like we need, we need to get involved with Halloween. And this is when, People in the UK hadn't really, like the Friday nights hadn't massively cottoned on in theme parks yet.
Aaron Jones
49:51 - 50:27
You know, like now everybody's doing them, but in 2020 there wasn't that, they weren't that popular. So I basically like done some research and I spoke to a few different people in the UK that I thought might be able to help and we came up with this name, it's called Fairground Frights. So it's like a fright night experience where we like shut all the gates to the park, we have roaming actors everywhere and we created a few scare mazes and I think the first year we maybe had two scare mazes and maybe like 20 actors. So it wasn't very big, but it quite quickly became clear that people loved it.
Aaron Jones
50:28 - 50:54
So I think we're now planning for year six, which is in two months' time. And the event's gone from strength to strength, so we're now up to like 45, 50 scare actors. We're employing a dance team this year. We've now got like five scare mazes and it's like really gone off like we get people from all over Europe come and experience the Fright Nights and yeah like you said we won an award.
Aaron Jones
50:54 - 51:17
I think we won like best event atmosphere last year. So we've put like a stage on the park where we have like DJs come in and play like Halloween funky music. And yeah, it's like my favorite time of year for the business because I think creatively like we can really get our teeth stuck into it and yeah, create such a special atmosphere on the park.
Mike Dowling
51:18 - 51:24
And historically, the season would have kind of been done and now it's extinct.
Aaron Jones
51:24 - 51:28
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Aaron Jones
51:28 - 51:47
Yeah. That's that's pleased that we're able to bring in some some more revenue and but the staff will love it as well. Our team members, they really, really get into it and some of them dress up and, you know, yeah, it's a great time. You'll have to come down if you get the opportunity.
Aaron Jones
51:47 - 51:48
Scary.
Mike Dowling
51:48 - 52:01
Right, so back to Sutton. How did the move to Sutton come about and what was your main reasons for saying yes? And have the early impressions backed up what you were told, what you were sold?
Aaron Jones
52:02 - 52:23
Yeah, there's a lot of questions in that question, so I'll try and attack it methodically. How did the move come about? So my contract expired at Aldershot. I think there was some stuff going on behind the scenes at forward level at Aldershot, which meant that the players that the manager wanted to retain earlier, he couldn't do that for whatever reason.
Aaron Jones
52:26 - 53:06
Essentially, our contracts expired after Wembley and some of us hadn't signed all-year-round agreements, so I was out of contract technically the day after Wembley, which probably two or three weeks prior to that, I'd spoke to my agent and been like, I might need another club because I don't know what's going on here. The manager's told me he wants to keep me, but in football, unless you have a contract, nothing's ever done until the contract's signed. So he started putting the feelers out there, probably end of April, I would imagine, and seeing what interest was there.
Aaron Jones
53:06 - 53:47
And then, yeah, I think after the final, went out and enjoyed it, and then the dust had settled a little bit, probably towards the end of May, and my agent rang me and was like, there's a strong interest from Sutton. And they were always a team that I'd admired from afar, having played against them in the mat era, found them really, really tough to play against, really strong physically, an intimidating place to go and play football on the Ashford turf as well, when you had it on the Ashford turf. And then last season, having played against Sutton twice away, we nicked a point really late after getting battered for 45 minutes.
Aaron Jones
53:48 - 54:05
And then at home, it was a similar story. We were rubbish for 45 minutes and Sutton were very good. I think Simp scored to go 1-0 up in the first half. And then second half, we come out on a completely different team and we scored and we were probably in the ascendancy, maybe could have won it in the end.
Aaron Jones
54:06 - 54:17
But I think both times I played against Sutton, I thought like, they're a good team. I like the way they play football. So yeah, I've always admired from afar. And then my agent mentioned them.
Aaron Jones
54:18 - 54:33
I was like, yeah, I'm definitely interested in going there. So yeah, I sort of jumped on a, I think the gaffer was in America at the time. possibly visiting one of the owners or something. I think he might have mentioned the podcast when he came in.
Aaron Jones
54:34 - 55:02
So I did a Zoom call with him and really liked what he had to say, very open and transparent with me and how he saw me fitting into the plans at Sutton. There was a bit of interest from other teams as well, but I really got a strong feeling that working under the gaffer at Sutton might be a good thing for me. I sort of spoke to my agent, spoke to my family, and I was like, I want to go to Sutton. And that was it really.
Aaron Jones
55:03 - 55:32
I actually, I rung Woody before because we had a mutual friend, someone he played with at Colchester, Teddy Bishop. So I spoke to Woody on the phone, asked his opinion. And then, yeah. That made my mind up that Sutton was the one and I think it was just before I had a holiday booked to go to Guatemala and Mexico and I wanted to get it done, get my medical done before then so I could just go and relax and enjoy
Aaron Jones
55:32 - 56:03
myself. I think it was early June, I came down to the stadium, met the manager, met Terry, had my medical with Luke and signed on the deadline. I think all the things that the gaffer spoke to me about on the call have come to fruition in my first six, seven weeks. experience with the club and I'm really, really enjoying the place where I am and the people I'm surrounded by.
Aaron Jones
56:03 - 56:06
I'm really excited for what's to come this season.
Mike Dowling
56:08 - 56:23
You've read the questions because that moves on. No pressure, but this is year five. And assuming that we ignore 100 years of history, every five years we've been the title. So knowing it's a foregone conclusion.
Mike Dowling
56:23 - 56:33
And it also is what a success look like for you this season. What what what would be a good season for you either on or off the pitch?
Aaron Jones
56:34 - 56:35
For me personally, or for the team?
Mike Dowling
56:36 - 56:38
Either way, whichever you want to do it or both. It's up to you.
Aaron Jones
56:39 - 56:54
I'll go for the team. I think improving upon last season. You guys finished 12th in the league last year. I think we need to be better than that for sure.
Aaron Jones
56:54 - 57:10
I think we want to be pushing towards the top end of the table. We've had a really positive pre-season, but it's now going out and executing and delivering. on the real stuff, which is really exciting. Obviously, games are coming thick and fast.
Aaron Jones
57:11 - 57:26
If we're to improve on last season, have some really strong performances at home. It's always difficult when you get asked that question because people want to go, oh, we want to win the league. Of course, everyone wants to win the league.
Mike Dowling
57:27 - 57:32
Yes, everyone wants to win the league. that's not the only thing that defines success.
Aaron Jones
57:33 - 58:03
Yeah. I think to answer your question, to build like a really, really strong culture for the players where we go about our work in the right way every day. and to build a better connection with the supporters as well. That's something we've talked about as players, to bring that connection back with the fans, have a really, really strong culture internally with the players and a really good synergy with the staff and the management team and everything that they do.
Aaron Jones
58:03 - 58:17
Because I think there's some really great things going on behind the scenes at the club and the way the club's run. I think if we can do our bit as players, everything's there for us to go and There's nothing that we don't have that we need to
Speaker 1
58:17 - 58:17
go out
Aaron Jones
58:17 - 58:31
and succeed. The staff have put some great conditions in place where it's now up to us as players who have been hand-picked and brought here to Sutton together to go out and deliver. It's exciting. It's a really exciting time.
Mike Dowling
58:32 - 58:44
You mentioned some of the things, I mean, you do seem quite sort of keen from what I've heard on the sort of off field stuff as well, into the community. Why is the community sort of factor important to you?
Aaron Jones
58:45 - 59:00
I just think football clubs are so much better when everyone's involved. Like football clubs are rubbish without the fans. I've experienced that first hand, like COVID was miserable. Playing with no fans was bad.
Aaron Jones
59:00 - 59:35
I'm not sure if many people would play if the fans weren't a part of it. The clubs that I've been involved in, when you have that connection with your supporters, and everyone feels part of it. It just feels better and I think success follows if you're doing those things right. Of course you have to have good players and of course you have to be set up right tactically, but if you can get the stuff off the pitch, like your connection and all that stuff at its peak, then I think it just puts you in such a better
Aaron Jones
59:35 - 59:53
place to go and succeed. And I think, you know, when I look at some of the young fans who come and watch us, it's like to engage with them and inspire them in whatever they do is always a positive thing and feels good for the soul to do.
Mike Dowling
59:55 - 1:00:15
Well yeah, you mentioned them, they, poor boys, they work really hard, but they have got a bunch of old gits to drag along with them. What can fans do, what can supporters do to help the players achieve for the season? And just a little message for the fans to tell them what you want from us.
Aaron Jones
1:00:17 - 1:00:29
I think we've talked internally as players about our home form. So last year, I think we looked at the home form, Sutton were 18th in the league for home form. So we talked
Speaker 1
1:00:29 - 1:00:29
about
Aaron Jones
1:00:29 - 1:00:48
how do we go and improve our home form? And one of the things we discussed was the connection with our supporters. and the influence that can have, because there's nothing worse as a player when you go to a really hostile environment where it's a difficult place to play and the fans are right behind the team. So it's like, how do we create that?
Aaron Jones
1:00:50 - 1:01:19
So I think for us, the message would be, if you're a fan, try and get into your seats 15, 20 minutes before the game, as we're coming in for warm-ups, to create that energy, to give the players energy as we come in from our warm-ups. And then also, we talked about the end behind the goal we attack in the second half. You'll have to remind me, what does that stand for?
Mike Dowling
1:01:22 - 1:01:25
I think it's our sponsor's name, but we just call it the Collingwood End.
Aaron Jones
1:01:26 - 1:01:52
Yes, so we want to try and encourage as many supporters to get in there as well, to create that feeling of trying to suck the ball into the goal, second half, and try and make that a thing. So I think there's some little things the fans can do to maybe help us achieve at home, because we want to have a really strong home record this year. Obviously, we started on Saturday. We got a point.
Aaron Jones
1:01:53 - 1:02:03
I think it was a really good performance, really strong performance. There was a lot of encouraging things done, but we want to be really hot to beat at home. So let's try and get that going.
Mike Dowling
1:02:04 - 1:02:07
We don't want Phippsie to have to keep heading the ball away like that. He'll get a headache.
Aaron Jones
1:02:08 - 1:02:14
The throwing was coming in from everywhere in our half, so Phippsie had to be on job and he did it really well.
Mike Dowling
1:02:16 - 1:02:22
I said, well done to Jack for the clean sheet. Afterwards, I didn't do nothing. I just stood there.
Aaron Jones
1:02:22 - 1:02:27
Yeah, I saw him eating paracetamol post-match meal.
Mike Dowling
1:02:29 - 1:02:51
So finally, you'll be pleased to know, because I didn't realize it was going to go on so long, you've given very good answers, sorry. It's exam seasons. You've done a lot on your education and you've achieved a lot both on and off the pitch. What's the one piece of advice you're going to give to young people who want to sort of balance their career with possibly another thing, a dual career?
Aaron Jones
1:02:52 - 1:02:58
This is a proper LinkedIn host. Don't do it. Just focus on one thing. be
Speaker 4
1:02:58 - 1:02:59
good at one thing
Aaron Jones
1:02:59 - 1:03:04
be good at one and if you're good at that one thing you won't need to do the other thing
Mike Dowling
1:03:05 - 1:03:20
excellent Right, we are going to wrap up this episode of Sutton Podcast. As always, thank everyone for their attention and any feedback. Like, share and comment on this episode at Sutton Podcast on social media. Subscribe and everything.
Mike Dowling
1:03:21 - 1:03:36
And a big thanks to today's guest, NotAaron. Gonna regret saying that to me, I'll be honest. You should have just gone with what you prefer, not what you hate. Don't forget to go to the Pleasure Beach website and use the code SuttonPodcast when you're booking your tickets.
Mike Dowling
1:03:37 - 1:03:50
It won't do anything, but it just makes me laugh. I think that people are going to attempt it Thanks to everyone for listening and thanks a lot Aaron for your time. Good luck tomorrow and for the whole rest of the season and Take care. We'll see you soon.
Mike Dowling
1:03:50 - 1:03:50
Thank you
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