PLENTY OF PRANKS BUT NO BLANKS!
AND THEUGL It’s not just about goals for Danny
DANNY Kedwell played for a host of Non-League clubs and carved out a reputation as a powerful centre forward who others could play off.
He gradually worked his way up the divisions and scored the winning penalty in the shoot-out that took AFC Wimbledon into the Football League.
There followed a successful spell in the League with his boyhood club Gillingham before he returned to his Non-League roots with Ebbsfleet United.
Here, the 33-year-old Fleet skipper tells us about his transformation from midfielder to striker, his top strike partners and his car being nicked…
FIRST CLUB
I started at Chatham Town as a 16year-old. I played in the Under-18s as a centre midfielder, scored 50 goals and we won the Kent League.
That year I went up to the first team and I remember the first day back in pre-season training. The manager Steve Hearn said, ‘I want you as my centre forward’. I was a bit baffled because I had always played centre midfield, but he’d obviously spotted something.
Up to Christmas I’d scored 15 or 16 goals and went from there.
BEST MANAGER
I’ve had a couple that stand out. Firstly, Martin Allen at Gillingham. He knew how to get the best out of me.
He had a lot of belief in me, told me how good I was and made me feel on top of the world. He always made me feel like I was the best and going on to the pitch no centrehalf was going to get the better of me.
That year I was top scorer, we got promoted and I scored the goal against Torquay at home to get us up.
Secondly, my boss now at Ebbsfleet, Daryl McMahon. He’s younger than me, but he knows what he wants and gets his message across. His training is
brilliant and I’m 100 per cent sure he will go higher in the future. He’s already lost in one play-off final and won another, so that’s not a bad record in your first two years managing.
BEST TEAM-MATE
Again, I’m going to say two. First up, Jon Main at Wimbledon. The year we won Conference South we just clicked as a partnership.
Everything came off. He knew where I was going to be and vice versa. It was the same with Matt Godden at Ebbsfleet. I got 18 assists for him in his last season – I got
him his move into the Football League! He’s had a great season with Stevenage and that shows how good he is.
FIRST PROMOTION
It was when Wimbledon won Conference South in 2008-09. I only went there at Christmas. Wimbledon bought me from Grays and it was difficult at first, coming in to a team that was up the top. They had their players already,
but they made me feel really welthere come. I loved it there and it was what set my career off
To be part of that championship team and see how much it meant to the fans was great FUNNIEST PLAYER A couple spring to mind. Firstly, Luke Garrard, who’s now the Boreger ham Wood manage when he was at AFC Wimbledon He liked doing pranks and stupid stuff, like pulling faces behind the manager’s back when he was giving a te Also, my Ebbsfleet team-mate Andy Drury. I’ve known
him for years and he’s a funny character. His banter is terrible, but he’s funny – and dangerous. You think he’s not getting involved in something, but he’s the instigator.
FUNNIEST INCIDENT
It was only recently. One of my team-mates, Dean Rance, nicked my car in training and hid it behind a big bush.
I was in a meeting upstairs at the time, but when I came out the car had gone and the lads were all laughing.
Andy Drury was outside on his phone videoing it, but he didn’t get Dean coming out of the car. It was
still a mystery who’d done it, but three or four days later it turned out that Sam Deering had also videoed it and it showed Dean was the one – he still denies it even with video evidence!
BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT
It has to be the promotions I’ve had in my career and I’ve been lucky enough to have four. I’ve mentioned going up with AFC Wimbledon from Conference South already and then there was promotion with them to the Football League a couple of years later.
To score the winning penalty as captain in the play-off final shootout against Luton at the Etihad was pretty special and it was fantastic for Wimbledon fans to get back into the Football League.
The one down side, which I’m a bit gutted about, is that I didn’t play for Wimbledon in the League. I loved it there, but the opportunity to join Gillingham, my boyhood team, came up and I thought it might never come again.
Fortunately, I also enjoyed promotion with Gillingham. Scoring the goal against Torquay to get promoted was amazing and it was great to go on to win the league (League Two in 2012-13). I had never seen Gillingham win a league in my lifetime so that was a massive achievement.
And I’ve also really enjoyed helping Ebbsfleet to win promotion from Conference South this season.
LOWEST MOMENT
The first one was being told for the first time in my career that I wasn’t wanted. It happened at Gillingham and I didn’t expect it. I was top scorer at the time and don’t know what went wrong. The silver lining is that I’ve gone to Ebbsfleet and we’ve won promotion. However, there was another low moment in early April at Truro when I broke my wrist and needed ten pins and a plate.
We were going for the league at the time and I thought I’d miss the rest of the season. The doctors said don’t play for eight weeks, but I was on the bench for the play-off semis and started the final.
I had a couple of whacks and a fall on it in the first five minutes, but the adrenaline rush got me through it.
Winning the play-offs made it all worthwhile. I had to get the gaffer to help me lift the trophy! The place I hated going to was Bradford City. It’s a great stadium, but every time I turned up it was horrible there. The changing rooms are really small for the size of the stadium – you couldn’t even move.
They probably do that on purpose. You think ‘what the hell is this?’ and your head goes. It plays on your mind.
The other time that stands out was the fear of going back to Wimbledon with Gilingham the first time after I’d left.
I knew I was going to get abuse and it was just worry. To be fair, the fans gave me a bit of stick in the beginning, but they were brilliant.
TOUGHEST OPPONENT
Fleetwood Town’s Sean Gregan. He was mouthy and horrible, and would kick you off the ball, but I thrived on battles such as those. I loved it.
He was coming towards the end of his career when we beat Fleetwood 8-1 on aggregate in the Conference play-offs in 2010-11. He hung his boots up around then – I did a job on him!
FAVOURITE PLACE TO GO
One place that stood out for me was Millwall. I played there for Wimbledon in the FA Cup when we were Non-League and it had the best atmosphere.
Normally I don’t take much notice of the crowd, but their fans were making a lot of noise – they didn’t shut up. We lost 4-1 but I loved playing there.
Fleetwood was another place I liked – I scored a couple of times there. Weston-super-Mare is good, too. I always seemed to score against them.
AMBITION
Hopefully my boys following in my footsteps. Harvey, 12, and Preston, 8, are both at Charlton. Harvey’s a centre midfielder and Preston’s a centre forward. Sitting in the stadium watching them would be nice.
I run the academy at Ebbsfleet and five players have gone to professional clubs this year.
That’s good, but hopefully we can go up the leagues and keep those youngsters in future.