Interview ~ Alan Beeton

Former Youth Team Player, Alan Beeton.

WWISC: Alan, you did your YTS training here at Wycombe. How did you come to join us?

Alan: I was playing for my county and district team when I got a letter from Steve Walford that he’d seen me at a county game and he invited me to come down and train with what was the current youth team. I’d only been there a couple of days when I got a letter offering me a place on the YTS scheme.

WWISC: There was a suggestion that you’d been approached by a few other teams including Watford?

Alan: Yes! Watford, Palace and Barnet all came in for me but I had thought about it and I had along talk with my dad before I put pen to paper. I came up and had a look around the place and I thought that it was a club that is going places, so I chose to come here. I preferred to start a bit lower in the ladder and work my way up as opposed too perhaps going to a bigger club where I might not have made it and found myself on the long ladder all the way down. I chose to come to Wycombe, it’s got a great ground and Wally liked me, I got on well with all the lads so that’s why I came here.

WWISC: Where and when were you born?

Alan: I was born in Watford General in 1978

WWISC: Where do you live?

Alan: I live in Garston, which is Watford just by Watford Leisure Centre.

WWISC: Tell us about your family?

Alan: I have two stepsisters ‘Helen and Tracy’ who don’t live at home anymore. One of them is married with a little girl ‘Georgina’, the other is single as is ‘dossing’ about a bit. Mum and Dad live at home, other then that I’m a single man. I’ve got two dogs and German Shepherd and a Collie. The German Shepherd is mine and his name is ‘Rocky’ and he’s only ten months old and other then football he’s the best thing in my life.

WWISC: What do your parents do?

Alan: My mother works as a lawyer in Unison in the NHS and my dad is a caretaker manager in a top secure unit in Watford.

WWISC: Do any of them come and watch you?

Alan: Yes! Mum and Dad come to every single game and my Nan does when she’s not looking after the dogs.

WWISC: Do you have a girlfriend at the moment?

Alan: No! I’m in love with my dogs.

WWISC: Do you remember your first league appearance?

Alan: Yes, I came on as a sub for the last fifteen minutes against Wigan when we lost 2-5.

WWISC: How did it feel to get on for the first time?

Alan: From my point of view it was brilliant to get on. Obviously the result wasn’t too good but for me it was brilliant.

WWISC: How did it feel to get your first assist?

Alan: That was the home game against Southend, I crossed and Stal put it in. I was ecstatic; it was like I had scored myself.

WWISC: What actually happened regarding your illness?

Alan: Well, I was told that I was going to Oxford City on the Wednesday evening for the preseason friendly. I was driving here to meet the bus at the ground and I got a severe headache, I thought that it was a migraine and it would go away. By the time we got to Oxford it was getting worse so I said to the Gaffer and the Physio that I couldn’t be involved as I felt too ill. I was cold and shaking and felt very weak so they told me to go home and ring in tomorrow to see how I felt. It actually got worse over night and I started to be sick, I didn’t sleep all night as the pain was too great. I saw the doctor first thing in the morning and he sent my straight to the hospital where I stayed for a week in an isolation unit. They told me straight away what they were testing for and I was absolutely gutted. When I went in, I felt so bad that I didn’t think that I was going to come out again because I was so weak it was as if I’d lost the fight. I went in on the Thursday and I wasn’t told what was actually wrong until the Sunday. That was a worrying thing, I thought it was bad news and they didn’t want to tell me. That made me a lot more scared and I was now worrying about myself as I was on my own because of course they wouldn’t let anyone in. Even thought it was Viral Meningitis they were telling me what the long-term effects could be and what could happen. They said that I could tire very easily, I could have back problems for the lumber punchers that I had and believe me five time is very painful. I was as stiff as a board when I was discharged and they said that it could take months perhaps years to clear up. It was without doubt the scariest thing in my life. 

WWISC: How did it feel to come on at Wolves after your illness? 

Alan: Brilliant! I came back and I did two weeks with Jonah, just fitness work because I’d lost a lot of weight, in fact I think I’d lost just over a stone (14lb) in weight which was frightening as I looked like a little schoolboy again. Some people might like to lose that much but not in those circumstances. I had to get the lost weight and all of my strength back as well. I worked hard with Jonah and then for the gaffer to tell me that I would be involved and that I’d be on the bench. It showed that he has faith in me and it got me back in the swing of things again and I’ve just taken it from there. It’s the second time I’ve played there as I played in the youth team when I scored the winner from a header. It was nice to go back, even better to get on and I’m now two for two against them. 

WWISC: Going back to your youth team days, how do you feel the place has changed as you go back as far as ‘Alan Smith’?

Alan: It’s a lot more enjoyable now, I’m a pro now and I don’t think that there is as much pressure on me now as there was when I was in the YTS. But then at the end of the day you’re fighting for your livelihood trying to get your contracts and get yourself on that ladder. I wouldn’t like to go back to it but I did have some really great days with my mates like ‘Martin Rowlands’ and ‘Lee Allan’ so it’s sad when half of them are released but Martin is at Brentford and Lee had a spell at Leicester and I keep in contact with some of them. I speak to Lee a lot but like everything you have to move on and football is a very harsh game to be in. I don’t know what I’ll be doing this time next year, I hope I can win a new contract here but you just don’t know.

WWISC: Do you feel that there is a lot of pressure on your place now that Vinny’s fit again?

Alan: Yes, without a doubt he was number one choice and I think he possibly still is but I’ve come in and I think I’ve done quite well and I just want to carry on and get as many games as I can.

WWISC: Whom would you say has influenced your career the most?

Alan: I think it has to be Neil Smillie. My Mum and my Dad have been brilliant, they have gone with me absolutely everywhere, every single match they have always been there, through rain, sleet whatever the weather they were always supporting me even at all of the away games as well. But within the club it’s Neil Smillie. It’s a shame that after he lost his job with the first team that he couldn’t have gone back to help out with the boys, but then you don’t go backwards in life.

WWISC: Do you have any particular friends among the players?

(Macca: "He hasn’t got any friends here")

Alan: I get on well with all of the lads but more with the younger ones like Westy, Mark and Holsie, my generation. I play a lot of golf with Rhino.

WWISC: So how would you like to see the rest of season going?

Alan: I’d like to see me in the first team for the rest of the season and hopefully we can make the playoffs or at least in the top half of the table and pushing for a playoff place. I think it’s about time we did something here and I think we have the right people here to do it, so hopefully this could be our year.

WWISC: So how would you like to see the rest of season going?

Alan: I’d like to see me in the first team for the rest of the season and hopefully we can make the playoffs or at least in the top half of the table and pushing for a playoff place. I think it’s about time we did something here and I think we have the right people here to do it, so hopefully this could be our year.

WWISC: Well Alan those are the questions I wanted to ask you, is there anything you’d like to add?

Alan: I’d like to take the opportunity to thank everyone for their concern when I was struggling and I’m sorry if I ruined everyone’s trip to Ireland and hopefully we can try again next year.

(You didn't ruin my time there - we had more time in the pubs!! - Nick)

Ted’s Note: I found Alan to be a very nice young man who really wants to be part of the success that we all believe will return to Adams Park very soon.