FOOTBALL FACTORY STAR RESCUES JAKE
Nicholson lands Wimbledon move after dinner with actor
THE WORLD’S best players are used to being treated like movie stars, but without the help of an actor last summer Jake Nicholson’s own script would have ended in anti-climax.
As it is, the former Tottenham trainee’s career has been rebooted at AFC Wimbledon – after a brief spell in Scotland with Greenock Morton – following his departure from White Hart Lane last summer.
The remarkable turnaround, he says, is all down to Football Factory star Tamer Hassan after a chance meeting through a friend last year.
Fed up of unscrupulous agents who offered the world but gave him nothing, the midfielder shared his story with Hassan – who then got busy.
“My friend runs a few businesses and a chain of restaurants in Essex, and as he knew my favourite film was The Business he arranged for me to have dinner with Tamer,” said Nicholson.
False
“He’s like a king in Essex but he spoke to me for three or four hours. He said that he had contacts and he really wanted to help me, and hated it when people aren’t given opportunities.
“I had been given so many false promises since leaving Tottenham but I went up to play in Scotland through his input and he also put me into contact with an agent who’s helped me with the move to Wimbledon.
“He is like a father figure to me, he texts me every week to see how I’m doing and congratulated me on my move.
“I say to my missus every day: ‘Can you imagine where I would be now if we didn’t go to dinner with him?’
“I truly believe without him I wouldn’t have gone to Morton, I wouldn’t be at Wimbledon – there must be someone looking over me I think.”
Last summer however there was no shortage of people looking to give Nicholson his chance.
Initially on a trial at Crystal Palace, the 21-year-old believes he was always fighting a losing battle after he was drafted in without thenboss Ian Holloway’s approval.
Back on the market his phone didn’t stop – but each one was offering a bad deal.
“I went into Crystal Palace on trial off the back of someone who was close to one of the chairmen, Steve Parish, and I did say I don’t like going into the club without the manager knowing me – it puts his nose out of joint,” added Nicholson.
Honest
“I was stuck in the reserves but I managed to perform so well that the reserve manager said to Ian Holloway: ‘You need to look at this kid’.
“So I played in a first-team match against Fulham alongside players like Mile Jedinak but Holloway was honest with me and said we’d just made a new signing and he couldn’t see a place for me.
“Then I was at home and people just kept contacting me, offering this and that. I was very open, I didn’t expect a contract straight away – just somewhere to prove myself and my ability can take care of the rest.”
A promising start at Spurs was railroaded by 18 months of hip injuries just a week after signing a two-year contract in 2012.
But with a manager in Neal Ardley he can trust, Nicholson hopes the worst is over.
He said: “My new agent has been very truthful, saying this is how it is – you could be at Wimbledon for two years, three years, four years, but the most important thing is you enjoy your football.”