43 TOM BROADBENT

BRISTOL ROVERS POSITION DEFENDER AGE 26

You have impressed in your first season in the Football League. How does it feel to make the breakthrough in your mid-20s? It feels great. I only expected to be a fringe player after signing my first pro contract last summer, but I’ve played a much bigger part this season than I thought I would. I feel like I’ve progressed a lot.

You almost became a pro as a teenager – what did you do after that? Bournemouth wanted to sign me, but they went into administration and could only take one player on, which was Danny Ings. After that I worked at Sainsbury’s and did some labouring. At 19, I joined the Army.

In 2014 you were stationed in Afghanistan. What was that like? I enjoyed it. I didn’t want to leave the Army without serving anywhere, but also it was, ‘F**king hell, this is real’. It was a reality check that, ‘S**t, I’m kind of in danger here’. You have to keep your wits about you, and we were shot at over there. I didn’t tell my family about that at the time. I’d say, ‘Yeah, everything’s fine’. They were worried about me going there.

Did you play football in the Army? I used to play in the county league with my mates when I came home at the weekends. A few years ago I played non-league football for Farnborough, and then Hayes and Yeading. I had a good couple of seasons, and realised five years into my time with the Army that I didn’t want a full career there. I wanted to give football a proper go.

How did the move to Rovers happen? I took a big gamble. You’ve got to give a year’s notice to leave the Army, although you can get early release after six months if you’ve sorted a new job. I handed in my notice last February so that I would be six months into my notice by the start of pre-season. You’re allowed days away from the Army to do courses, and I used all of mine for a trial at Bristol Rovers. Luckily the gamble paid off, or I’d have been stuck!