Dan Gleeson
Born just minutes from the Abbey Stadium, Dan Gleeson watched the U's with his family as a youngster before joining the club as a scholar and eventually becoming a first team regular.
Primarily a right back, 'Glees' established himself in the reserve team as a second year scholar and made his first team debut as a sub in the 2-1 win at Northampton in December 2003.
He signed a one year professional contract three days after his 19th birthday on 20th February 2004 and went on to become a regular in the next two seasons, so he admits it was a surprise to be released by Rob Newman last summer at the end of the club's first season in the Conference.
"It was a bit of a shock when it happened," he says about a decision that also surprised many fans. "I know that's what football is like, but I was disappointed to leave.
"I didn't know what I was going to do but three or four days later I got a call from Steve Thompson at Notts County, who knew me from when he was here at Cambridge.
"He invited me to go there for two weeks in pre-season and see how it went and after about ten days he offered me a year's contract so it all happened quite quickly, which was a pleasant surprise, but it wasn't a nice experience and I wouldn't want to be in that same situation again."
Dan began the season as a regular at right-back and was a fixture in the side until early December, hitting the heights of second in the League Two table, but then things changed.
"Notts County is a big club and a good club and I was in the team and playing well, but things change suddenly in football and then I was out of the team and not playing," he recalls.
"There were three right-backs at the club and I played the first 15 or so games. We were doing well and we were up in the play-off places then the manager decided to rest me, which is fair enough, we'd played a lot of games. But the lad who came in did very well and took his chance, and from then on I've not really had a look in.
"But that's football and I'm here looking to play regular football and hopefully to help the lads stay up," he states.
Dan was actually on his way to speak to Steve Thompson and ask for the chance to go out on loan to play first team football when he was told that Jimmy Quinn wanted him here.
"It was a very welcome chance to come back," he confirms. "It's obviously a setback to be left out at Notts County but I like to prove people wrong, so hopefully I can come here and show people that I am good enough to play football in the League and help Cambridge United stay up in the process.
"It's nice that it was Cambridge who came in for me and it feels a bit strange to be back, but it's good to come back and try to help the lads stay up and do the best we can."
Returning to a mixture of old and new faces, he says the mood in the dressing room is positive: "There's always a little bit of worry that there's a chance of being relegated but the lads are all very positive and all still believe that we can stay up. There would be no point being here if we didn't believe we can stay up.
"You've only got to look at the table and see what a difference a win would make."
Dan is under contract to Notts County to the end of this season but confirmed that if the chance arose to come back to Cambridge United on a permanent basis then he would be interested.
"Definitely. Obviously it depends on what happens at Notts County and that will determine what I do, but I would definitely like to stay. I'm a local lad, I live five minutes away, so it would definitely be an option.
"I've stayed in touch with friends from around here and a couple of them play for Histon, so they're obviously on a high at the moment and there's been a little bit of banter but it's all light-hearted stuff," he reveals.
"No one in the city wants the club to get relegated and it would be a bad thing for everyone, but I think we're all upbeat about it and positive we can stay up."
Dan, who enjoys fishing in his spare time as a complete contrast to the demands and pressure of playing professional football, is well-placed to compare League Two football with the Conference and he thinks there is little difference in the quality of the players.
"It's not a big gap and I think a lot of Conference players could definitely play in the league, and there are quite a few players moving up," he says.
"I think there are a lot here who could play at a higher level, as we showed on Sunday."
In addition to the new faces that greeted him in the dressing room, and the new management team, Dan has noted the changes at boardroom level too; "It was good to see the news on Monday night. The club always seems to have had money problems but hopefully we can push on now."
Although he usually plays at right-back and has played in the centre of defence, 'Glees' has returned to the team in a right wingback role, which he thoroughly enjoys. Always comfortable on the ball as he progressed through United's youth and reserve sides to the first team, he says, "I've played there a few times before and I do really enjoy it.
"In the two games since I've been back, the manager has told the wingbacks to push on and support the attack and at Northwich it was good to play against other wingbacks. He told us to push them back and stop them getting forward, and I really enjoy the attacking side of the game as well as defending.
"It was a brilliant game," he adds, of the 4-0 win. "The lads said it was really bad to be on the wrong end of a couple of 5-0 defeats so it was a big relief to be on the right side. It gives the lads a lot of confidence from that and we relaxed a bit after scoring a couple of goals, so hopefully we can take that into today's game and keep it going."
With most of the teams around us in the table having games in hand, wins are vital and today against Weymouth is another opportunity to keep our future in our own hands.
"It's my first home game since coming back and I'm really looking forward to it. The manager has told us he wants us to be positive and play good football - he doesn't want us to sit back, he wants us to push on and score goals," says Dan.
"One of the first things I noticed when I came back was that the pitch looks excellent - although I think the opposition teams come here and really enjoy playing on it too - but it's a lovely place to play and I'm really looking forward to playing here on Saturday in front of the home fans."
My Favourite Game:
"There are two: At Notts County we went to Middlesbrough in the Carling Cup this season and won. I came off the bench and played for about half an hour, and we went on to beat Southampton after that. And I'll never forget playing at the Abbey Stadium in the FA Youth Cup against Leeds in front of 2,000 fans. Leeds won but it was a great experience and a great night."
Andrea Thrussell
*This interview was first published in the programme for the match against Weymouth on 31st March, 2007
Previous Featured Players:
23Mar07: Michael Morrison
14Mar07: Shane Herbert
07Mar07: Dan Chillingworth
28Feb07: Robbie Willmott (scholar)
17Feb07: Dean Holdsworth
11Feb07: Michael Gash
31Jan07: Stephen Smith
11Jan07: Piers Wixon (scholar)
13Dec06: Phil Smith (scholar)
07Dec06: Danny Brown
23Nov06: Sam Cutler (scholar)
16Nov06: Robbie Simpson
02Nov06: Craig Bussens (scholar)
12Oct06: Michael Hyem (scholar)
06Oct06: Rob Wolleaston
25Sep06: Matt Kendrick (scholar)
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16May06: Jon Brady
04May06: Tommy Jaszczun
26Apr06: David Bridges
20Apr06: Scott Howie
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01Feb06: David Chick
08Dec05: Michael Morrison
29Nov05: Ritchie Hanlon
25Oct05: Stephen Smith
05Oct05: Fola Onibuje
29Sep05: Mark Peters
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