CARDS JUST RIGHT FOR MATT
MATT Jarvis instantly recognised the voice on the other end of the phone – but didn’t expect the conversation which followed.
A cold call from Sky Sports commentator Martin Tyler got his mind racing.
“I was thinking, ‘brilliant, does he want me to do a game with him at Sky or something?’” Jarvis told The NLP. “He said, ‘I don’t know if you know, but I’m the assistant manager at Woking’. I couldn’t believe it! It caught me off guard a little bit. Martin said he knew I had other things on and that I could play at a much higher level, but Woking was local and it would work.”
The former Premier League winger, who earned an England cap under Fabio Capello in 2011, was without a club after being released by Norwich City last summer.
Jarvis was eventually lured in by impressionable Cards boss Alan Dowson who needed just one look at the 34-yearold in a friendly in January.
A month later, Jarvis ran on to the Kingfield turf as a second half substitute against Maidenhead United in the National League and four minutes later scored with his second touch.
He would then deliver an assist to seal the points.
He missed the long trip to FC Halifax Town the following weekend for the birth of his daughter Ella Rae but returned three days later to provide another assist in a defeat against Barnet, the last match before lockdown.
“I only trained twice and played two games, getting a goal and two assists in 60 minutes,” Jarvis said, having re-signed with the Cards for the coming season this week. “It was great to get back and enjoy football again.
Laurels
“Speaking to the manager and hearing his views on the club as a whole and what he’s done in and around the area is incredible. I’d been messed around a little bit [elsewhere] and I wanted to continue to play. It was perfect for me.
“Lots of other people said why would you not just stop and just enjoy what you’ve done in your career and think about doing something else. But I love the game, I’ve done it my whole life, it’s what I enjoy doing. My wife will say I’m much happier when I’m training and playing. For me it’s a new lease of life. I’ve still got loads to prove, I’m not going there to rest on my laurels, I’m going to give it everything and try to get back up the leagues as high as possible.”
It was nine years ago in March that Jarvis played the last 21 minutes of a friendly for England against Ghana at Wembley.
The call-up came after impressing for Wolves, who he won the Championship with in 2009, after bursting on to the scene at Gillingham, and went on to make 108 Premier League appearances for the club, scoring 15 goals.
Following relegation, Jarvis returned to the top-flight becoming West Ham’s record signing for £10.75million and made 78 more appearances under Sam Allardyce.
However, he was plagued by injuries in his last season at the club and would have three surgeries in three years on his knee and ankle while only playing 21 times for Norwich and a brief loan spell at Walsall.
Now, though, after the reinvigorating experience at part-time Woking, a town he is familiar with having grown up nearby
in Guildford and now living in Cobham, Jarvis is raring to go for the new season along with striker Dave Tarpey and midfielder Max Kretzschmar, who also resigned this week.
Expectations
“I think I’m fitter now than when I first signed,” he said. “I had other offers but I just wanted to continue playing at Woking. I’ve got a young family, I wasn’t going to move anywhere for football.
“Part-time means I can continue to do some media work and coaching badges and keep playing football as long as I can. I’m super determined to carry on.
“In the nicest possible, way seeing us three sign, hopefully everyone will want to be part of it. It is a great club and everyone is starting to mould into what Dowse wants it to be.” The National League is a world away from what Jarvis is used to but he’s embraced the honest nature of Non-League – and knows his pedigree brings high expectations.
“That’s probably why people don’t go down the leagues because they don’t want to ruin a reputation or have to prove yourself all over again,” he added. “I’m absolutely fine with that.
“The players were brilliant the way they attacked training and in the games everyone gives their all. Commitment wise it’s fully there. A lot of it is for the love of the game because it’s part-time and they have other jobs. It’s really refreshing to go into and see everyone is working for each other.”