Interview ~ Mark Westhead

Wycombe's Number Two Keeper, Mark Westhead.

WWISC: Mark you’ve just signed a new contract.

Mark: Yes! It’s for another two years and hopefully during those two years I can become the number one and sign a new deal after that.

WWISC: Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

Mark: I was born in Blackpool in 1975 in The Queen Victoria Hospital; I went to Warbeck High School where me PE teacher took me to a team called "Blackpool Mechanics" which is a non-league side in Blackpool. I was there for only a couple of months when we played against Bolton in a youth team game. After the game their youth team manager came up to me and asked me if I’d like to go for a trial. So I went and a week later I signed a one-year pro-contract and stayed there for four years. I had a few lone spells while there, I went to Stalybridge Celtic and won player of the month for the two months I was there, I then want back to Bolton and was released immediately which surprised me a bit. I thought I’d try my luck in Ireland with Sligo Rovers for six months, but I couldn’t settle.

WWISC: Was Lawrie there then?

Mark: No! It was Jimmy Mullen who had taken over, so I went over and no sooner had I signed a three year deal Jimmy left. Nicky Read took over and he was a good lad to be fair. I enjoyed it for the first couple of months and then I started to struggle a bit and I couldn’t settle so I got in touch with my old goal keeping coach at Bolton who used to play for Kidderminster Harriers so they came in and took me on a months lone. While I was on the month Jimmy got the job at Telford so he can in and signed me until the end of the season. I had a clause in my contract that said, "if I could get a league club, I could leave". I didn’t think that was going to happen so I went on a goalkeeping course that summer. It was then that Wycombe came in for me. I spoke to Wayne Turner and then Neil Smillie brought me in to play in to play in two games then Neil offered me a years pro-contract. I signed that and I played against Burnley and Middlesborough and they offered me a new two-year deal straight after the ‘Borough’ game. I wasn’t too happy with it at first because I didn’t think I was on an even footing with Martin which I wanted to be. I wanted it to be that whoever was playing the best would be in the first team, but I didn’t think that would happen so I didn’t sign the new deal. When Lawrie came in as gaffer I was on an even footing again with a chance to prove myself so I signed it straight away.

WWISC: Somebody such as Martin with his experience must make it difficult for you?

Mark: Oh yes! He’s going to play ahead of me because of his experience and he is a very good ‘keeper’, there’s no doubt about that. His performances have been brilliant for most of the season so I can’t argue too much I just have to keep putting the pressure on him and hopefully my chance will come. Believe me I will grab it because after Middlesborough I was very disappointed to be left out.

WWISC: What was it like to play at The Riverside Stadium?

Mark: Oh! It was different class. The Burnley game. I was really very nervous. I knew the night before that I was going to play as Martin’s back was very sore and he had given me the wink that he would not be fit to play, but it wasn’t until we actually got to the ground that Neil told me I was going to play, so I was really nervous before that one. Neil told me that if Martin was fit he was going to play at Middlesborough no matter what, but Martin didn’t pass a fitness test before the kick-off so I didn’t have any time to think about it. It was just a case of going straight out and playing and that’s an experience that will stay with me for the rest of my life. Playing in these big stadiums with a full house, there’s nothing better, but it’s a great experience to play at places like that.

WWISC: You’ve been on the bench a couple of times as an outfield player. So what’s the story behind it?

MARK: The one at Bristol Rovers was because Keith Scott was being transferred to Reading, the deal had been agreed and it was just down to Scottie anyway they didn’t think Scottie should be involved if he was about to transfer to Reading. The fact that we travelled on the day meant I was the only player left so I had to go on the bench. The one at Stoke came totally out of the blue for me as well. The gaffer named the team and just named me as a substitute; hopefully he’ll do it again before the end of the season.

WWISC: What’s the fitness like of a goalkeeper for running around?

MARK: I don’t really know as we haven’t done it too often, but if I got a chance I’m sure I would do myself credit.

WWISC: Do you, Martin and young Mark Osborne get involved in the training sessions that Daly Thompson takes?

MARK: We haven’t done the same running that the rest of the lads have to do, what we have is a goalkeeping coach in Gary Philips (ex Barnet) who gives us a work out whilst the boys are running. What happens is a certain section will go running and we’ll play in a five-a-side so we’re constantly getting a work out.

WWISC: What’s happening with young Mark Osborne coming up behind you now?

MARK: I believe he has signed a two-year contract so I presume that it’s to push me as much as I’m pushing Martin for the number one slot. Yes he’s got it, he’s not a bad keeper at all, he’s got great hands and he should do very well indeed.

(Ed’s note; he then let in three goals against Cambridge Reserves wearing Mark’s gloves)

WWISC: Tell me about your family?

MARK: There’s my mum, dad and my sister who is just finishing university at Birmingham to qualify as a teacher this year. My parents run a hotel in Blackpool.

WWISC; Will they be coming down for the game against Blackpool?

MARK: unfortunately they go on holiday on that Saturday, which is ironic because they were on holiday the day before we played up at Blackpool earlier in the season. My dads distraught that both of their holidays have fallen when we were playing them. They had actually booked them before the season started and we didn’t know where I would be then.

WWISC: Who did you support when you were a youngster?

MARK: I was an Everton fan and Neville Southall was my hero along with Peter Shilton but Neville was my main hero.

WWISC: Are you in a relationship at the moment?

MARK: Yes! I have a girlfriend named Carli. She is a local girl and lives in Hazelmere. We have been together for about five months.

WWISC: Since you’ve been at Wycombe you’ve played under two different managers, is there much difference between them?

MARK: Yes, there’s a big difference between the two, Neil was a real gentleman, he wanted to be friends with everyone, he really was a nice fella. Lawrie is a real hard man and half the time you don’t know what he’s thinking which keeps you on your toes. Perhaps Neil was to honest and open and at the end of the day it’s cost him his job. Lawrie really is his own man, he’s strong, what he says he means and you just can’t second guess him because you just don’t know what he’s going to do.

WWISC: What do feel about being here at Wycombe?

MARK: The facilities here are excellent, some of the clubs I’ve been to aren’t a patch on here. Perhaps Bolton are an exception but then they’ve just had a new stadium, but for the second division this place stands out and Jim does a great job on the pitch.

WWISC: You mentioned the pitch; did you go up to Macclesfield this season?

MARK: yes I did, I actually spent a little while up there on trial. They have come a long way in a short time and have done nothing to the ground. They have done it with the players; they have spent what money they had on players. Here at Wycombe its been done right, they did it off the field and now we’re getting it right on the pitch.

WWISC: Talking about surfaces, you were at Stoke. Player didn’t seem to be able to keep their footing, was there a problem with the surface?

MARK: What the problem was, was that it was very greasy on top but it was very hard underneath and even Bairdy had trouble standing up and he always plays in long studs. We suspect that the undersoil heating must have taken effect and the boys began to struggle keeping their feet at all.

WWISC: You’ve said that you are now on an even footing with Martin Taylor, so what are your hopes for the future?

MARK: I really want to get the number one shirt here and prove to everyone just how good I can be. Once I’ve done that perhaps I can play at a higher level and perhaps even get to play for England. But I know I have to take everything one step at a time.

WWISC: Perhaps a little bit of an uncomfortable question for you. What happened in the 0-9 reversal against Fulham Reserves at home?

MARK: It was one of those days where every chance they had went into the net. I’ve never been involved in anything like that before and I hope never to be again. We started quite brightly, we had a couple of chances and I made a couple of saves. I know they followed up on one and put the rebound in and from then on we just seemed to fall to pieces. The ball just seemed to be pin-balling, it was just coming back all of the time. They had some good players out there and they could probably win this division, it was a very experienced side that they put out against us. That is no excuse for being beaten 0-9, it was one of those days you just want to forget but we showed the right character in the following game beating Barnet 3-0 at their ground. Lucky for us the gaffer wasn’t here then because we wouldn’t have been able to go in the dressing room, he’d have ripped every single head off. It was certainly a very embarrassing defeat for us.

WWISC: The following Saturday their first team arrived expecting to run up a cricket score against us, which as we know didn’t happen.

MARK: We were quite lucky as the gaffer had just taken over and of course everyone was out to impress, as you do when a new boss arrives. Perhaps the fact that they were playing at Old Trafford the following week, maybe some of them had their minds on that. At the end of the day, we played really well. The change in tactics, free kicks and set pieces gave us a real meaning and everybody knew what to do. I know that we conceded from a free-kick but the gaffer is ironing out these problems.

WWISC: Does Lawrie spend a lot of time on set-pieces?

MARK: He did when he first arrived at the club; we did a lot of work on them, now we just brush up on them. Before every game he’ll go through them and make sure that everybody knows their job. That’s from the taking of them to the defending of them. It we concede from a header he can identify whose fault it might have been but he can tell if it was a good kick or a good header, so he can identify with what’s going right and what’s going wrong

WWISC: Are there any player you get on with particularly well with?

MARK: I get on quite well with everybody, but best of all with the players in my own age group, Chris Vinnicombe’s a good mate Alan Beeton, Holsie and Mark Rogers. So it’s really the lads who live locally and my age group.

Ed’s note: I’d like to thank Mark for giving up his after lunch free time to me and I hope he burns the gloves he loaned to Ozzie for the game against Cambridge Res. I hope he has more success than the previous number two keepers we’ve had here at Wycombe.