Striker reaps benefit from change in direction

TEENAGE DREAMS . . . Jonson Clarke-Harris (left) holds the ball while playing for Coventry City under-18s against Aston Villa

JONSON Clarke-Harris was a virtual unknown when he signed for Athletic last summer.

But in the space of only 10 months, the 19 year old from the East Midlands has become a firm fan favourite, attracted interest from bigger clubs and has been crowned the club’s young player of the year.

In the first half of a face-to-face interview with ‘Jonno’, the forward opened up on a variety of subjects, offering an insight into how the misunderstood young man’s mind ticks.

Born in Leicester, Jonno’s dad is half Irish and half English and his mum is half Jamaican, half from Montserrat.

“I’ve got two older sisters, Whitely and Jalice. I’m proper close to my mum and sisters; whenever I get time off I go and see them.”

A surprise to many will be that the powerhouse striker started playing football when he was 13 - pretty late. Football wasn’t the route he hoped to follow after school.

“I started playing Sunday League football in the under-13s,” he said.

“In the under-16s, a scout came to watch me playing for Beaumont Town and asked me to trials at Coventry. “I did all right, so they offered me a two-year scholarship.

“School wasn’t best for me; I couldn’t concentrate on lessons. I always wanted to be a sprinter because I could run fast, but I started to play football and just went from there. I had no plan. I just went with the flow - and this is where I ended up!”

Jonno is currently reaping the rewards of his decision, boasting a better than one-in-three goal average with an impressive 10 strikes in only 27 league games.

But he accepts things could have turned out differently - and believes moving away from his home town has given him a better chance of progress: “My upbringing probably wasn’t the best. I was in with the wrong crowd all the time. Coming out of Leicester was the biggest thing I’ve done in life .”

Jonno has been a massive hit with Athletic fans in his first full season in the first team - so why didn’t it work out at former clubs Coventry and Peterborough?

“I had a bit of an attitude problem and couldn’t listen to instructions properly,” he admits.

“From Peterborough I went on loan to Southend and when I returned (Christmas 2012), me and the manager Darren Ferguson just didn’t click.”

Clarke-Harris found himself loaned to Bury - where he was noticed by Latics manager Lee Johnson.

“We played Oldham at Gigg Lane and Lee Johnson sort of liked me,” he added. “He came to watch a couple more games and this time last year I got the phone call from him.”

Having had the opportunity of signing for bigger clubs, why Oldham?.

“I think it was because Lee Johnson was a young manager willing to give me a chance. He was telling me I was going to play games. I liked the Manchester area..

“I had the chance of going to Blackburn and Stoke to play in their development squads, but I thought I was better than that. I believed I was ready for a first team, learning from experienced strikers.”

READ the second part of Charlie MacDonald’s exclusive interview with Jonson Clarke-Harris tomorrow.