Jason Euell’s life has been shaped by the colours of yellow and blue, with two spells as a Wimbledon player kicking off a football career that’s spanned over 20 years.
From being incorporated into the notorious Crazy Gang of the 1990s to making his long awaited return to the Club under Terry Brown in 2012, the forward turned midfielder has plenty of stories to tell about his time with the Dons.
As part of an extensive interview ahead of Jason being our special guest for tomorrow’s game, he takes us through his journey, providing insight into his background, what the Club was like during the 90s and his relationship with Johnnie Jackson.
MY DEBUT
It’s always going to be my best memory. That first game against Southampton. I topped it off by scoring a bicycle kick on the edge of the box!
I will always remember the 24 hours before that. I’d been playing well in the reserves, scoring goals and I was on the bench for the Leeds game a few weeks before that – when Tony Yeboah scored the screamer that went in off the crossbar. I was then in the squad when we played Newcastle away when Vinnie had to go in goal after we went down to 10 men.
I’d experienced a lot but hadn’t made it onto the pitch. It was a Friday, I was training. Efan Ekoku picked up an injury, I got called over to join in with the first-team. Dean Holdsworth kept saying to me that I’d be starting the next day, I didn’t believe him as I thought Efan would be fine.
He kept saying it. I went back to the youth changing rooms still not taking what he said seriously. Back then those changing rooms were based beneath Joe Kinnear’s office. All I heard was “OI, OI!”
When you heard that it meant you were expected to run to the door straight away. I went upstairs and he said “right you’re starting tomorrow”. I replied, “what do you mean starting?” And he said it again: “You’re starting tomorrow against Southampton, get some sleep in.”
I went back downstairs and the lads were asking me what’s going on. I told them I was starting and it was a big celebration with everyone jumping up and down. For me it was about going out and playing, it’s what I had been waiting for. I went into it with no fear, plenty of excitement and wanting to be a Premier League footballer.
I always say it now when I’m coaching players – the easy part is getting your pro contract, the hardest part is getting another one. I never saw myself as a professional footballer until I played. I always felt I hadn’t done or achieved anything until I had played 40 to 45 games. That’s when I felt like I was a proper footballer.
The hard work comes into it and then you ask yourself how long you want to be a footballer for. The team-mates around you and the coaches help you along – fortunately enough I was able to do it for 17 years.
SHOW ME THE WAY TO PLOUGH LANE
I played at the old stadium when I was in the youth team. Selhurst Park never felt like home for me. Wimbledon coming home has been a long time coming. I used to drive past the new stadium when the building work was taking place. Coming to my first game at the stadium made me think “yes, this is exactly what it’s all about”. It’ll be an honour to be special guest tomorrow.
TIME WE HAD A HOME GAME
Selhurst Park was all I ever knew. Half of the portacabins were ours and the other half were Crystal Palace’s. It was a case of getting it into my head that this was the ‘home’ I play at but not the home of the Club itself. I still had a brilliant feeling every time I came out in front of our fans. Sending them home happy is what mattered a lot to me.
IN THE DUGOUT
I mainly played under Joe Kinnear, then I had Egil Olsen for a season and Terry Burton for my final year. They were all very different managers. We all know things didn’t work out with Egil. I owe Joe a lot and the players I played with – I’m still in touch with the vast majority of them. That friendship you have in football is special.
Even up to yesterday I got a message from Alan Reeves. We’ve all been in contact recently because it was Neil Sullivan’s birthday the other day. Everyone in the group is always keeping an eye on each other, seeing what they’re doing, even if they’re not in England.
THE PRODUCTION LINE
It’s always been an important thing at Wimbledon – homegrown players and giving them a pathway. When I first came in at the age of 12, I saw it as an opportunity to be a professional footballer.
As the years started to go on, Neal Ardley, Peter Fear, Stewart Castledine, Neil Sullivan and Chris Perry progressed through, so I started to think there was an opportunity to get into the first-team.
I had opportunities to go to Arsenal, Fulham and Millwall, but I always said “no, I’m staying here because this is the first club that gave me an opportunity and there’s light at the end of the tunnel”.
INFLUENCES ALL OVER
All of the players I played with had an impact on me and my time at Wimbledon. I always say to players, as much as what you do is important, there’s always others who play a part.
Players always take you under their wing when you make that step up to the first-team. I was the youngest in the group when I broke through and I never felt nervous, scared or intimidated. They made me feel welcome and made me feel a part of it. It made me grow up quickly in that men’s environment.
The Club made me the player I was and the person that I am. It was a school of hard knocks, but it gave us life skills as young men. It gave us an idea of what the footballing world was like but also the real world. Wimbledon is the ultimate underdog story, and I always look to take that mentality into everything I do.
My best mate Lenny Piper had his funeral last week. We were both at Wimbledon together. He was my go-to-guy in the youth team. I had a season when I scored 52 goals for the youth team and the majority of them were laid on by him because of the way we knew each other inside out. We hung out together and knew how each other played.
You then bring someone like Carl Cort into the mix. We’re from the same area, me and Carl were at school together. We all knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses. That’s what helped me to become the forward player I was.
We won the league at youth level, we won the Southern Junior Floodlit Cup, and reached two semi-finals. Everyone played a part in getting us there and they all played a part in helping me.
TWO TIMES A DON
It was a weird one. When the Club reformed I came to the first home game against Chipstead with Neal Ardley and Marcus Gayle at Kingsmeadow. I always said then that I would love to come back in some capacity. It’s always going to be my club, it gave me the foundations to become a footballer.
I was at Charlton at the time and I wasn’t getting as many games. I remember I was picking up my car in Beckenham and I got a phone call from Chris Powell telling me I’m going to Wimbledon. I hadn’t heard anything but obviously it was a no brainer.
The plan was to do a month to get some game time. I got a call half an hour later from Terry Brown and I said I was all over it. We got it done and dusted quickly because I was living in Kingston at the time.
I was brought in for the Port Vale game. I ended up getting smashed to bits on my ankle. The first one, he missed me and then the second one he got me, even though I was trying to avoid it! So after that I extended for a further month because I wanted to have an impact on the pitch.
I played through the pain barrier. It was just great to be back at the Club with the fans. The fans I played for in my previous spell, seeing their familiar faces again.
THE CURRENT CROP
You go back to this time 12 months ago and there were a lot of people doubting Johnnie because of the results. It’s a credit to the Club that we stuck by him and gave him the tools he needs because these things do take time. You need to have the right players in the building and you need to gain an understanding of what the Club is about.
He knows how we want to play, he’s got the players he wants and he knows what the fans want and expect. He’s been given the time and we’re now reaping the rewards of that.
We’re going to be there or thereabouts with regards to the play-offs. I’m always on the phone to Jacko and Skivo, we always keep in contact. Would we want to be in the play-off positions now? Yes we would, but with the amount of games still to play, all you need to do is put a run together to get in.
JOHNNIE AND TERRY
I knew Jacko from playing against him in my career. When I went back into Charlton he was club captain. I was a senior pro, so we got on really well. We have the same sense of humour, we had both played at a high level, so we knew what we wanted to pass down to the group we had.
We got promoted from League One and then I moved into coaching. I was around Chris Powell and the first-team, so was still around Johnnie. My coaching journey went one way and he was still playing on. We always spoke about coaching, he was always picking my brain.
When we got the opportunity to work with each other, initially as assistants to Nigel Adkins, we worked really well together. He then got the job when Nigel left and he grew into it.
We knew the strengths and weaknesses of each other. We knew each other’s personalities. The important thing was that we also knew the club. That’s what brought us success and allowed us to steady the ship.
Skivo joined us just after Christmas and it was another piece of the puzzle that gave us something different. He’s a more experienced coach than us and he passed on what he knew. Seeing them two work together is interesting because they are chalk and cheese in terms of personality but it’s for that reason it works really well. It’s great to see my friends doing well at my club.
PICS: REX SHUTTERSHOCK
