Chris Holroyd made the switch to Cambridge United from League Two side Chester at the start of the season and regards the change of clubs as a step up, not down.
The Cheshire-born striker was on the books of Manchester City for a season as a schoolboy before joining the renowned youth academy at Crewe Alexandra for the next seven years and completing a two-year YTS there.
Speaking highly of the set-up at Gresty Road, Chris says, "The training and coaching there is really good and I enjoyed my time there, but things didn't work out and I had to move on."
He then joined Chester City for the third year of his scholarship and hit prolific form for the youth team, scoring 21 goals in 28 starts, but red tape linked to Chester's transfer embargo meant that he was unable to sign pro forms and make the step up into the first team that season.
However there was no such obstacle the following season (2006-07) and he finally made his first team debut, racking up 22 league appearances, mainly from the bench, although manager Mark Wright included him in the starting line-up seven times towards the end of the season.
"I enjoyed playing under Mark Wright, he was a good manager and I enjoyed that season a lot," he says.
A change of manager in the summer saw Bobby Williamson take over and Chris thought he had staked a claim for further first team action when he played well and was the leading scorer in the pre-season games, so he was disappointed to find himself on the fringes as last season got underway.
He eventually made a further 24 league appearances, scoring four times, but says, "I felt at Chester that when I deserved my opportunity in the first team I didn't get it. Sometimes when you come off the bench you have enough time to make an impact, but I was getting ten minutes if that and it's hard to do anything in that time when you might only get a couple of touches.
"I didn't really play as much as I'd have liked, so this summer I said to myself that I really wanted to be playing games this season."
At the end of last season, Chester took up the option of a further year on Chris' contract, but soon after he had returned for pre-season training the manager told him of Cambridge United's interest.
"There was a lot of drama with all that," he smiles as he explains why there was a few weeks' delay between United making a bid for him and his eventual release by a mutual termination of his Chester contract.
"I had a lot of trouble with my agent and stuff, and I didn't get a chance to come here and speak to the management, which I would have liked to have done as soon as I heard about the interest," he says.
"It all dragged on and I did a bit of training with Morecambe and there was some talk of interest from Stockport, but it got to the point where I needed to get something sorted for this season.
"I had been in regular contact with Paul Carden and I came to watch the game against Northwich and I was impressed. The manager and Paul really impressed me with their plans and ambitions for the club and I signed later that week. To be honest I'd like to have had it sorted a bit sooner but I was really pleased to come here and I'm happy to have some stability and to be playing games again."
It is the first time Chris has lived away from home but he seems unfazed by the experience, and could soon be sharing accommodation with the other North-west based players.
"It wasn't really a difficult decision to come here," he states. "It's a beautiful part of England so that helped, but at the end of the day as a footballer you've got to go where the work is so I didn't have a problem with that. It's my first time away from home but I'm dealing with it OK and I'm not homesick yet!"
Although Gary Brabin, Paul Carden, Wayne Hatswell and Phil Bolland have all played for Chester in recent years, the only one who was there at the same time as Chris is Phil Bolland, with whom he could soon be sharing a house.
"I'm in a hotel at the moment but the club is trying to sort out a four-bedroomed house for me and Chris Jones, Steven Drench and Bolly," he explains. "Then we can all get settled in properly because it's not ideal living out of a suitcase."
Chris is also firm in his belief that joining Cambridge United in the Blue Square Premier is a step up from Chester: "I don't see it as a 'drop' into the Conference, and if anything it feels as though I've come to a better club. The squad is fantastic and training and everything is brilliant, so I don't see it as a drop; if anything I think the standard has gone up a bit.
"The fans have been great too, even at away games. For instance at Oxford on Tuesday night we went one-nil down and they were still getting behind the team and that's what you want from fans."
Having commented earlier about a lack of time to make an impact off the bench at Chester, Chris laughs when he is reminded that it took him less than five minutes to score on his debut at Eastbourne, drawing the keeper before chipping the ball over him and into the net.
"That was a nice start!" he agrees. "We were two-nil up and it's nice to come on in a game like that when you're controlling it, so I was just lucky. Bees played me in and it was just instinct from there, so I was delighted with that.
"And it's nice to be starting games again," he adds. "I think the last game I started was in March for Chester against Darlington and I got a nasty injury on my Achilles. I hadn't started a game since then and I only played one game in pre-season, so the three games before Oxford were my first starts and it's been nice to get back into things."
For two of those games Chris started in a front three with Lee McEvilly and Mark Beesley and they seem tailor-made to complement each other with their different qualities.
"It's all about partnerships in football and I think in the game here against Wrexham everything just clicked and we all worked well together," he says.
"People with different attributes can work together well and that's one of the things Paul Carden said to me when I signed; he was telling me that they want different kinds of strikers to blend with each other and it worked really well in that game.
"Now we need to get back to those ways, but the injuries don't help. With Parky being out for so long with his knee, and Courtney and Bees out as well, it will be like new signings when they come back. We've just got to keep fighting and then when we get these players back hopefully we can really push on."
Although he grew up in Macclesfield as a Manchester United fan, Chris says his main influence as a player was former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry: "I try to look at every aspect and I try to take things and learn from a variety of players, but if I had to pick one person I really admired when I was growing up it would be Henry.
"Not just for his abilities but the way he plays and his style and everything. I really admired that."
Returning to Cambridge United and the club's prospects this season, the 21-year-old striker is confident the U's squad has the quality to mount a serious push for promotion despite the recent sticky run of form and luck.
"The squad is very strong," he states, "I was playing in League Two last season and our squad is stronger than a lot of teams in that league, so I think we should be in that league. They say this is one of the hardest leagues to get out of and it's proved to be that way over the last couple of years, but I do think we have the right quality of player."
Having set himself the personal target of playing and starting more games this season, Chris is reasonably happy with his start at Cambridge United but feels there is more to come from him personally and the squad as a whole.
"I wanted to get into the team and be playing games and I've done that, but I need to play well to keep myself in there. That's my main aim at present and that's what I'm working for.
"There's a good blend of experience and younger players in the squad and training is really good," he adds.
"The strikers do a lot of finishing work with Bimmo after training and that's something I feel I can really benefit from, and I'm aiming to score more goals and help the team get some more points on the board."
Andrea Thrussell
web@cambridge-united.co.uk
*An edited version of this interview was published in the programme for the match against Grays Athletic on Sunday 28th 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.
AT081001
