A £15,000 signing by Gary Brabin during the close-season, Jon Challinor has already established himself as a key player in midfield - and, last weekend, at right back!
Jon grew up in Peterborough and attended school in Sawtry, and he has played all of his football in the local region with the exception of two spells in the USA. He even came close to joining the U's early in his career. On Luton Town's schoolboy books until he was released at 16, he had trials with several clubs including Cambridge United under then-Youth Team Manager David Batch.
"I was with Cambridge for a couple of weeks on trial but they let me go, and then a letter went round saying that Rushden were starting up a youth system, the first one at the club, so after a trial period I was one of the few that was taken on," he explains.
He spent three years as a trainee at Rushden before joining Cambridge City as a part-timer, but jumped at the opportunity to try something different by playing in America for Michigan club Kalamazoo Kingdom, located geographically between Chicago and Detroit.
"Football at Rushden had become a bit of a grind and I'd always wanted to live in a different country and see a different culture, so I went out there for three months one summer," says Jon.
"The teams there generally don't take players they haven't seen so they were taking a gamble and luckily it paid off. It got me back to enjoying football and looking forward to playing again. You hear the name of the club and wonder if it's a joke, but it was a well-run facility and everything was done professionally, and I thoroughly enjoyed it."
Jon admits it was a daunting experience to travel alone to a new country where he knew no one, but he adds, "The lifestyle was very different to this country, so laid back, and as a young lad of 20 it was a great experience to go out there and live life and meet new people."
Returning to England and expecting to start the second year of a two-year deal with Cambridge City, Jon found that things didn't go to plan.
"I'd agreed with the management to let me go to America for three months and come back, but when I came back they told me the second year wasn't there. Those sort of letdowns happen in football so I joined St Albans and spent a year there, but then exactly the same thing happened again.
"I asked if I could go out to America for three months - it was a good experience the previous time and I'd come back as fit as I'd ever been so it was beneficial for the club too - and they agreed. Then when I came back they told me the second year wasn't there."
But it turned out well because he went on trial to Aldershot instead, who had just been promoted to the Conference, and earned a two-year deal.
"It was a gamble because I had the chance to go back to City, where I already knew Gary Roberts from my time at St Albans, or go on trial at Aldershot, but I did well and got a deal there," he recalls.
Jon joined the Shots in 2003 and was a first team regular for two seasons, scoring 21 goals in 78 Conference appearances, reaching the play-off final in the first season and the play-off semis in the second season before he was surprisingly released.
"It was immense to play in the play-off final and it couldn't really have gone a lot better for me there," he reflects. "It was a good experience too, moving away from the Peterborough area and living on my own, and after two years there I moved on to Exeter.
"I couldn't really move much further away and into more unfamiliar territory!" he smiles, "but I think it's good for you to do things like that and it was another brilliant two years.
"My girlfriend moved down to Exeter with me and we bought our first house together, so it was a new chapter and everything went really well. We were floating around the play-offs and in the second year we got to the final, and I've loved every minute and there are no regrets."
Jon returned a respectable goal tally for the Grecians too, with 22 goals in 87 league appearances, and another Conference Play-off Final appearance when they lost to Morecambe in 2007.
"It's worked out well for me on the goalscoring front," he admits. "When I went to Aldershot Terry Brown told me he wanted an attacking player in the side so I took that upon myself and fortunately I found the goals, and it's carried on from then.
"To go from right back to centre mid to an attacking player is quite a feat and I'm quite proud of myself for doing that," he adds. "The goals have come and I've done the easy part by getting on the end of balls that other players have put in for me. It took me a little while to get going, like it has this season, but the goals will come and as long as the gaffer's happy, I'm happy."
At the end of his two seasons at Exeter, Jon decided it was time to move nearer to home again after four years living far away from his parents, brother and family and friends.
"I'd always said I would like to go back to Rushden after starting out there, and them coming down to the Conference gave me the chance to go back there," he says. "I was over the moon when they got to League One but thought I'd never get the chance to play for them, so when they came down I had the chance to go back."
Re-joining Rushden & Diamonds on a free transfer last summer, he played in the first 45 league games of the season and only missed out on an 'ever-present' record when an injury ruled him out of the final game against his old club Aldershot.
"I played 60-odd games in all last season, which is no mean feat, and I played in every position apart from left-back and in goal and scored eleven goals too, so I have no regrets about last season," he reflects.
"I did the whole of this pre-season at Rushden and we played Peterborough in a friendly and I did well in that, but the tables turned within a week. Garry Hill pulled me in and said he'd brought a few players in so he couldn't guarantee me games.
"I didn't agree with that because we'd chatted last season about how to get the best out of me and I hadn't really got a look in at the start of last season, so he said he'd circulate my name. Cambridge was the first club to get in contact and I had no hesitation about coming here.
"I wouldn't have had a problem with moving again because that's the type of job football is, but joining Cambridge had the added bonus of being down the road and I knew the area and the club already, so it was ideal because I wouldn't have to move my family again. I think that's shown on the field so far because I've settled right in and so far it's been really good."
Having been on the losing side twice in the play-off final, Jon is keen to go one better and he reveals that Gary Brabin did not have to do much persuading to gain his signature on a two-year deal: "I knew the majority of the players through playing against them, and when you look at the calibre of the players here, the facilities and the fan base and the direction the club is moving in, he didn't really have to sell the club to me.
"He just said that with the players we have here we have to be looking at going straight up. They were unlucky not to go up last season and everything about this club was very attractive to me, and hopefully we can do what Exeter did; they missed out one season but went up next time and I see no reason why we can't do that, and I hope I can repay the faith the club has shown in me."
Jon showed his versatility when he started at right-back last weekend and looked as though he had always played there with a solid contribution to a clean sheet in the 2-0 win against Wrexham.
Gary Brabin made it clear when he signed the versatile 27-year-old that he regards him primarily as a midfielder, although he had a spell up front with Rushden last season. However, with Dan Gleeson injured and Rory McAuley suspended last weekend, the manager asked him if he would play at right back.
"I started out there and I played there a couple of times last year so it's not alien to me and I said I'll play wherever I'm needed," Jon reveals. "We were short of bodies and the gaffer shuffled the pack and played a different formation and it went well.
"I enjoyed it because I got a bit more time on the ball to work with Mark Convery in front of me and we got the result, and we'll see on Saturday if I play there again. I've got that versatility if needed and I don't see it as a problem.
"The clean sheet was pleasing too," he adds. "Whether it's me or Danny Gleeson at right back we're strong. All the good teams build from the back and we've got the players in front of that back line too, so everything's positive and we're all optimistic about pushing on."
After a win last weekend against fancied Wrexham, Jon is hoping for a repeat today against another former Football League club in Torquay United.
"These are the games that show you how strong you are," he says. "I think most of the teams that come down don't realise just how hard this league is, and it takes some of them by surprise and it takes them a while to rebuild.
"Cambridge have been in the Conference for a couple of years now, we know what it's about and we've got the players here that can do the job. I think it can only be a matter of time before we get out of this league and hopefully it can be this year. We need to maintain the start we've made and hopefully the players who know this league will be able to do it for us."
Jon, who counts relaxing with his wife, watching DVDs and playing on his X-Box as his favourite pastimes away from football, is clearly relishing another tilt at promotion this season and he concludes with his hopes for the rest of this season.
"From a club point of view it's very simple; we just have to keep doing what we're doing and aim to get promotion. Cambridge United is a League club, everyone in the club believes we're on the up and we need to get back up there," he enthuses.
"From my personal point of view, I want promotion and just to play well and enjoy playing football. If you enjoy playing your football, everything becomes much easier."
Jon, keep enjoying your football!
Andrea Thrussell
web@cambridge-united.co.uk
*An edited version of this interview was published in the programme for the match against Torquay United on Saturday 13th September, 2008.
Previous Featured Player articles
Anything to say about the interview? Make your click count for the U's by discussing it on the Message Board!
You are respectfully reminded that any article, as with all content on this website (unless otherwise stated), is subject to copyright and the Official Cambridge United Website must be acknowledged as the original source.
AT080917
