LIONS AND ROSS – THE IDEAL FITZ
ROSS Fitzsimons had planned to spend his 23rd birthday in Thailand.
Instead, the Chelmsford City keeper was in Wolverhampton with England C.
On Tuesday, he made his first appearance wearing the Three Lions as an FA Representative XI took on Jersey.
Ultimately, that ended in a penalty shoot-out defeat – Fitzsimons saved the first spot-kick – but he was more than happy to lose five days of his summer getaway to be there.
“There was a point, when I was trying to get it sorted, where I might have had to cancel my holiday,” said Fitzsimons, who was treated to a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday from his new team-mates last Sunday. “Luckily, we got it sorted and it’s the best thing I could have done.”
It’s been a big season for the former Crystal Palace and Bolton Wanderers keeper.
Having sat on the bench in the Championship, it was time to dive head-first into the muck and nettles of Non-League.
“For a young goalkeeper, it’s vital to play,” he says. “This is where you learn your trade. The more you drop down the leagues, the nastier it gets. People leave their foot in, they go up for a cross and leave an elbow in – it’s hard work. You have to adapt to that.
“Under-21 and Under23 football is all pretty. It’s tip-tap, play out from the back, pass, pass, pass.
“League Two down it is any way to win, whether that’s going direct or whatever. It’s managing the game differently. That’s been massive for me.
“Having grown up in two big academies – Palace and Bolton – it was play out from the back, don’t worry if you make mistakes or if you win or lose. This year was: win at all costs. If we do it playing pretty, that’s a bonus.
“Adapting to that was difficult at the start but once I did it was easy to maintain.”
Fitzsimons played 51 games, kept 23 clean sheets and was crowned the club’s Young Player of the Year as the Clarets reached the National League South play-off final.
They lost to Ebbsfleet United but Fitzsimons is happy with how well the team did – and on a personal note too, something he puts down to not letting playing part-time affect his focus.
“Dropping down the leagues, it’s crucial you keep that mentality that you want to get back to where you were,” he says. “If your mentality and standards drop, you won’t pick it back up.
“It comes with the fact you don’t train every day. You’re not playing in front of crowds of 5,000 or 10,000 every week. Financially, it’s not as good and the lifestyle isn’t as good because on the side you have to get a job and put a hard day’s graft in.
“There’s going to be days when you get into training tired because you’ve been at work.
“Personally I was working with my brother on a building site for six months. You work from 8am to 5pm, you’re straight to training, you feel lethargic but that’s where you drag it out of yourself and put that work in.
“This season and coming away with England has done me the world of good. I want to build on that now.”