Wayne Hatswell seems to be making a habit of scoring against his first club, Forest Green Rovers. On Thursday evening this week he followed up last season's 'goal of the season' free kick by heading home United's equaliser in the 2-2 draw at Forest Green.

Here's an extended version of the interview published in last Saturday's programme for the match at home to Weymouth, in which he talks about that 40-yard free kick last season:

An ever-present this season, defender Wayne Hatswell has also scored two memorable long-range free kicks since joining United from Rushden & Diamonds in January.

The first of those goals was voted last season's 'Goal of the Season' by supporters, and that seemed a good point at which to start today's interview.

"I just lined it up and thought 'I could score from here', and luckily that's how it turned out," Wayne says of that 40-yard drive against his first club, Forest Green.

"I've hit a couple of free kicks beforehand at different clubs from that distance and they have gone in, so I was always quite confident that I could hit the target. The keeper gave me a little bit of an opening and I just put my head down and hit it as hard as I could, and it was good to see it go in.

"Courtney Pitt was going to take the free kick and I told him to get out of the way because I was going to hit it, and he looked at me as if to say 'do you know how far away you are?'. But I hit it and I don't think he could believe it when it went in the top corner.

"It was my first goal for Cambridge United too, which makes it even nicer."

Wayne then opened his tally for this season with a similar goal in the home win against Barrow, although he feels the Barrow keeper contributed slightly to that one: "He didn't hold onto it and he'll be disappointed with that, but with the type of ball being used at the moment there's a lot of movement in it so you can use the wind to good effect, especially at home where the wind picks up down the pitch.

"I'll be looking for a few more chances when the goalkeeper edges out a bit too far," he adds. "There was a chance down at Weymouth when I was a bit annoyed with myself because the keeper was way out and if I'd have hit the target I'd have scored. It was from almost the halfway line and it was the first time I'd missed from that sort of distance, but if we get the chance again I'll always be looking to have a go."

Looking back on the last three games of last season, Wayne admits they are among the highlights of a lengthy career.

"Those occasions don't come along very often for most players so if they do you have to try to cherish them," he advises. "I've never had the experience of getting to Wembley before and playing in such a big game so it's very memorable for me.

"But also the support we had in the two semis, and Rob Wolleaston's flukey winning goal at home and all the fans celebrating afterwards - that was unbelievable. The Cambridge supporters never cease to amaze me - they always get behind us and it was nice to give them a day out at Wembley, but we didn't win and it turned from one of my best days in football into one of my worst.

"We ended up staying in the Conference and that was hard because I felt we had a better team overall that Exeter. You can see how well they're doing this season and I have no doubt that we would have done well too, but I look back on it as a great day for the club and for me, my family and my girlfriend."

Almost immediately following the Play-off Final, Wayne along with Dan Gleeson and Michael Morrison joined up with the England C team, where he captained them to success in the Four Nations Tournament in Wales. The England C squad then jetted out to the Caribbean where they drew against Grenada and beat Barbados in a busy period for the players at the end of the normal league season.

"It was good for me because I had to get straight back into my football and try to put the disappointment behind me and do well for England, whereas some of the players went off on holiday and were still thinking about it," he recalls.

"It was a great honour for me, and that's something else I will cherish because not many people can say they played at Wembley and then went straight on to represent their country and be captain as well.

"We won the tournament in Wales and went away to the Caribbean, and although we worked hard we did get a couple of days off to sunbathe too so that was nice. Then by the time I'd come back and gone on holiday with my girlfriend it was almost time for pre-season again, but I couldn't wait to get back and start the new season."

Wayne was away on international duty when he learned that Jimmy Quinn had left the club, and he admits that the turnover of staff and players at the end of the season surprised him.

"I've been in football a while and you normally see things happening like that when the club has been relegated. People lose their jobs and the team gets broken up because of the wage structure, but we hadn't been relegated so I was surprised all these players were leaving and being sold.

"Then a new manager came in and all this was happening while I was on holiday, so it was a bit of a nightmare but there wasn't anything I could do. I've been in football a long time and as far as I knew the club wanted to keep me so there was no point in worrying. I just had to wait until I got back to the club and take it from there."

Having met Brabin while he was at Chester City, Wayne was reassured by what he knew of the new manager personally and what he heard from other people.

"Our paths crossed when I was at Chester and Gary was coming towards the end of his playing career, and obviously he's good friends with Paul Carden and I'm friends with Paul so I knew of him and it was good to know that he might know a bit about me," he explains.

"I hoped that he would want me to stay at the club because you never know when a new manager comes in, and it's gone OK. We hit the ground running, which was important to do, he's made some good signings and the lads want to do well for him, and that's a big thing.

"He wants to get the best out of the players and they want to play for the manager and do that bit extra. He puts an arm around a couple if they need it, but he treats everyone as a man and he does things in the right way, and I like that.

"A lot of the lads, including myself, want to do well for him and I certainly want to do well for Cambridge United and hopefully put them back in the Football League where the club belongs and where we're all striving to play. A lot of lads have played in league football and want to get back into, and I'm definitely one of them."

One of the features of this season has been Wayne's solid defensive partnership with Phil Bolland, and he agrees that they have found it easy to play together.

"We're the old stalwarts at the back," he smiles. "What you see is what you get with Bolly and it's probably the same with me. We know each other from our Chester days when we had a good pairing up there, and we're good friends and we've just clicked back together again.

"He was one of the Scousers to join the club and because I played up at Chester I'm included in the 'North' side when we play North v South in training - but I don't speak the lingo!

"We just get on with our jobs and we play off each other," he adds. "I think we might have done better in some games but we've had three good clean sheets now - and I hope that hasn't put the mockers on it - and we want to keep as many clean sheets as possible and hopefully it will become a habit."

At the age of 33, Wayne already has an eye on the future with a soccer school in the Swindon area and his coaching qualifications well under way, but he hopes to play on as long as possible.

"It's going well but I want to do everything in the right way and my job here at Cambridge is my main priority. I love the coaching side of things, and that's something I'll look into when I finish playing, whether that's in youth football or in men's football. I think I could do that quite well but I want to concentrate on playing right now and perhaps get into coaching via the sort of role Paul Carden's got, so I can learn the process without having the pressure the managers are under.

"They call me 'grandad' at the club but at the moment I'm showing a few of the youngsters how to do it so they can call me 'grandad' all they like!"

Wayne already has his UEFA 'B' qualification and is considering doing the prep course for the 'A' licence in March, although he adds, "I haven't decided yet and I need to speak to the Gaffer to see if I can go on that, so this might be the first he's heard of it!"

But there are a lot of games to be played before then and Wayne has high hopes for the rest of the season.

"There is only one aim and that's to win it, because I don't know if I could go through all that in the play-offs again!" he says. "At the very least we need to be in the play-offs, it's as simple as that, because we need to stay up there at the right end of the table for as long as we can and I think we have a great chance.

"But there's a lot of hard work and a lot of games, and a lot of big clubs who are all fighting for that top spot. You have to hope you get the rub of the green and we need to start scoring a few more goals and keeping a few more clean sheets, and hopefully we can push on up the league and win it.

"There will be a lot of ups and downs and it's a long season, but I'm quietly confident that we can do really well. I'd like us to be the quiet ones and just do our talking on the pitch, and if we're in the hunt about March then I think with our run in we've got a great chance.

"It's going to be close this year and I don't think it will take as many points to win it as it has in previous years," he concludes. "If we can be the first club to get to 90-odd points I think we'll be there or thereabouts to win it."

Andrea Thrussell
web@cambridge-united.co.uk

*An edited version of this interview was published in the programme for the match against Weymouth on Saturday 11th October, 2008.

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