NLP player columnist Russ Penn speaks to FC Halifax Town striker Liam McAlinden
LIAM McAlinden is enjoying a new lease of life at FC Halifax Town after joining from Cheltenham Town in the summer, with his goals firing Pete Wild’s Shaymen to the top of the National League table.
Here I catch up with the former Wolverhampton Wanderers and Exeter City frontman to find out how his career-building exercise is going...
IT’S BEEN A FANTASTIC START FOR YOU AT FC HALIFAX TOWN. ARE YOU ENJOYING YOUR TIME UP THERE SO FAR?
It’s been great, we have had a fantastic start to the season and are competing at the right end of the table. I’m really enjoying it and we have a great set of lads, hopefully we can continue the good early form we have shown and see where it takes us.
WHAT BROUGHT THE MOVE ON TO THE SHAYMEN THIS SUMMER?
I had an agreement with Cheltenham to mutually end my contract there so I went on trial and was training with a few different League clubs throughout the summer. The Halifax offer came out of nowhere, but with nothing definite on the table I felt I needed to make the decision to sign and get back to playing regular football to hopefully kick start my career again.
SEVEN GOALS SO FAR THIS SEASON – A GREAT RETURN...
More goals is definitely something I needed to add to my game. Whether I play centrally or out wide I knew I needed to start scoring more goals than I have been over the last few seasons and so far this seson it’s been going well.
HOW HAS YOUR JOURNEY IN FOOTBALL BEEN TO DATE?
It’s been a bit stop-start really. Coming through at a club like Wolves there was always plenty of competition for places which ment I had to go out a loan to try and earn my place. After being around the first team squad from the age of 18 and having several spells out on loan it wasn’t until I left Wolves permanently and signed for Exeter that I was playing regular football. I had a successful two years at Exeter, just missing out on promotion losing in the play-off final two years running. I then went on to sign for Cheltenham, but that move never worked out the way I would have liked with a change of manager shortly after I arrived. That brought me to where I am now and now I’m trying to work my way back to playing in the Football League.
BEING BROUGHT INTO THE SPOTLIGHT AT WOLVES AT SUCH A YOUNG AGE, HOW HAS THAT AFFECTED YOU AS A PLAYER?
It really helped me. Being at the club from the age of eight and working my way into the first team you think that it’s never going to end. It was always the dream to play for Wolves, being a local lad with most my family and friends being Wolves fans. When I made my debut, the club wasn’t in the best place, we were relegated to League One that season which meant the following season was all about putting it right. That was the first season I was fully involved with the first team week in, week out and it taught me a lot about men’s football and the importance of winning matches. When my contract finally came to an end, I had to make the step of moving away to Exeter – a new team nearly three hours away from home. I thought it was going to be difficult to adapt, but being in the first-team environment at Wolves really helped me settle in down there and adapt as a person and a player.
HAVING HAD SPELLS IN THE FOOTBALL LEAGUE AT EXETER AND CHELTENHAM, HOW DOES THE NON-LEAGUE SCENE COMPARE?
The gap between Non-League and Football League is getting smaller and smaller each year. Looking through the National League this year I don’t think many teams would look out of place in the EFL. There are a number of established League clubs who have been playing in the National League for years. Whoever ends up being promoted at the end of the season will be confident of competing next season in League 2.
FUNNIEST FOOTBALL TALE?
At Wolves we had an under
18s game away at Liverpool.
It was 1-1 and in the 91st minute Liverpool had a corner and it got cleared to me on the half way line.
I was through one-onone with the goal keeper and decided to shoot and missed. I should of passed to my mate who had an open goal.
The game was live on Liverpool TV which the gaffer (Mick McCarthy) was watching back at the training ground.
When I got on the coach I had about five text messages from different lads saying “wait ‘til the gaffer sees you!” As you can imagine it wasn’t a nice coach journey home. All I could think about when the next time I bump into the gaffer I’m in for it. For the next three days at training I managed to hide from him, hoping it would all blow over until on the fourth day of hiding I heard “MACCAAAAA” in his thick Yorkshire accent. I just froze on the spot. The next thing he said was: “WHICH ONE DO YOU WANT THE LEFT OR THE RIGHT?” I turned round he had both fists in the air at the other end of the corridor. I starting awkwardly laughing as I didn’t really know what else to do. I soon stopped laughing and slowly walked up to him, knowing I’d have to deal with punishment.
He could see I knew what I had done wrong, started smiling and said ‘What you going to do next time?’ I replied ‘Pass it’. ‘Yes’, he muttered. ‘You best do else next time you won’t be so lucky’. I was then put on equipment duty for the first team and had to do everything for the next week.