Mike Lord Interview (18/05/08)

Interview by Matt Harris

When Tunbridge Wells announced its list of new signings at the start of last season, few would have expected it to contain a name who would bag 18-goals in his first season at the club - but that has been one of the pleasant surprises that have unfolded over the past several months. Mike Lord had joined the Culverden club during pre-season from Tonbridge Invicta who had just won promotion from Kent County League Division Two (West), and was effectively stepping up three divisions in a bid to further his playing career.

Goals have been something Tunbridge Wells had struggled to find during recent seasons, but from the start, Lord made his mark, netting his first competitive goal on his home debut against Chessington & Hook in the FA Cup - and ever since then, they have kept coming as Tunbridge Wells have gone on to match their joint best goals tally for a season since 1997-98.

“I don’t think there is any trick behind scoring the goals I have - and to be honest, I’m a bit disappointed I didn’t get more in the end,” Lord revealed to www.tunbridgewellsfc.co.uk. “Obviously you need players around you who are going to create - and in the second half of the season we have had a fairly settled side which helps. People begin to see what runs you are making and where you need the ball played. Next year I’m aiming to bag a good few more goals now I have settled in.”

Lord is a player who has always known how to find the target, having played for Tonbridge & Sevenoaks Junior Football Club all the way through the youth ranks from age 8 through 16, and scoring the best part of 300 goals along the way. At that time, that was the route into the Tonbridge U18 Youth team, and by the time he was 17, he was playing the odd game for Tonbridge reserves (under former Tunbridge Wells manager, Mac McKeown) but University called, and Lord left Tonbridge.

“After playing three years of University football, I came back slightly out of shape - shall we say - and I didn’t start playing seriously again until about three seasons back, when I joined up with Tonbridge Invicta. In my last year with Invicta, we won promotion from KCL Division 2, I was top scorer in the league, and hit 36 goals in all competitions. We also won the Kent Junior Cup Final 3-0 - with me getting a hat trick in the final.

“I made a decision at the end of that season with Invicta that I wanted to play a higher standard of football. By chance, I met Andy Hall (an ex-Invicta manager) on the train back from London one night after work and mentioned I was looking to step up. So he kept me up to date with the times of pre-season training, and introduced me to Martin Farnie - and eventually I signed.”

On the surface, Lord has looked right at home in the Tunbridge Wells first team - but asked about his experiences of stepping up to Kent League football, a familiar theme begins to emerge. “I think the main difference I noticed this year was that the physical side of the game is much higher - not just in terms of fitness but also in terms of the strength of the players you are up against. I’ve also noticed the defenders make a lot less mistakes so you aren’t given many chances - you really have to work for your chances, and make sure that when they come along you take them. That’s something I will be working on over the summer.

“There are lots of different types of strikers in the Kent League,” Lord observes. “I like to look to get in behind defenders, and play off the shoulder of the last man - so the biggest thing for me is that I need the service to score my goals. It helps having players like Joe Fuller, Barry Gardner and Brad Sandeman in the team who are seeing the runs, and producing the balls which are giving me the chances to not only score, but create for others. That’s something else I’ve been really pleased with this year - the amount of assists I’ve made.

“The other thing for me is having a hold-up player like Daniel Jeffrey or Adrian Stone to play off - them winning flicks and maybe taking a bit more of a battering than me… although they would probably both admit the work-ratio is probably 70/30 to me, making up for that!”

Clearly Lord has been enjoying his football over the past few months - but he feels there is still room for improvement to fulfil the potential shown by the forward line at Tunbridge Wells. “Personally I want to improve on a few things over the summer - including my heading, which to be honest is pretty average (although I have scored a couple from my head, and hit the bar). I’m also getting to the gym over the summer to come back stronger and fitter.

“With the strikers who are already at the club, I think we have enough to score lots of goals. I know that a first glance at the goal stats shows I have got the majority of them, but I think if any of the others get a good run in the team next year they will score a few as well - so potential is there. I’m not too sure what the manager has planned in the way of signings - but competition is healthy… I’m still waiting for my new contract to turn up in the post, by the way,” he jokes.

Having demonstrated his ambition to progress in the game at the start of last season, Lord is happy that the ambitions of his current club match his own. “Whenever I speak to the chairman Nigel Bourne, or read articles he has written it’s all geared towards promotion and getting out of the Kent League, which matches exactly what the management are aiming for. I think I am more than capable of playing at a higher level, too, against players of greater ability.

“Personally I would love to score the goals that send The Wells up to the Ryman League, or that brought us some silverware in the next couple of years.” And Lord would have a new challenge if Isthmian League football were to be achieved during his tenure at the club: “I have not played at a level yet where I haven’t been top scorer, so who knows how far that could go. At 27, though, time will catch up sooner or later!”

Promotion is always a decent goal to have in the background - but realistically, clubs need to prepare sensibly before stepping up a level, rather than over-stretch themselves. Lord has his own ideas of what would equate as a successful season next year. “I think we really need to aim for top six next year and get a good run in some of the cups - County and National. With improved performances, we’ll get more people through the gate, we could attract a better range of players - and it’s a bit of a snowball effect from there really,” he observes. “If we can get the pitch sorted, and find a settled training venue to increase the amount of time we are actually being coached, all of this is well within our reach.

“Basically, I think a marked improvement next year with a view to winning the league the season after is realistic. The other thing I would like to see is a few more local players trying to make the grade at Culverden - whether they’d be like me joining from local clubs, or coming through the youth set-up here. I think the fans appreciate that, and it gives them players they can identify with.”

On the whole, then, Lord seems pretty satisfied with the way things have worked out for him at Culverden. “Getting my chance under Martin Farnie was a great start for me at Tunbridge Wells, but things have been brilliant from Christmas onwards,” he remarks. “All the boys get on well, and after Mike Robbins and Martin Larkin’s initial bedding-in period where a fair few players came and went, we have all got to know each other better, and can see not only how we can help each other, but when someone needs a kick up the backside or an arm around their shoulder.

“With a pre-season under our belts and some good friendlies (already lined-up), the boys are all raring to go for next year. It’s not far away now, we have got the Awards Night on May 23, and then the first session of pre season is set for June 14, and that’s when all the hard work starts again!”