Many of us enjoy visiting our local non-league club at the weekend and during the week. We finish work, watch the match and head home ready for a new day. But what about the players who have to fit in their work commitments around the football? How do they do it?

The Echo will be speaking to non-league stars from across south Essex this season about how they juggle two of life’s most crucial aspects – work and football.

This week we speak to MIKE JONES, 25, who has appeared in every Gulls match so far this season.

 

SATURDAY

For a weekend home game I’ll wake up about 9am-ish to get my son Jacob’s breakfast and chill out for a bit with the missus.

I usually start my routine on a Thursday night with training, where I stretch well and eating well is important to me. I stocked up on carbohydrates yesterday and all I eat is pasta! My other half hates pasta but she is very good.

I’ll usually tell Jacob off for complaining when I turn his cartoons over for Soccer AM but otherwise, in the mornings, I will ring a mate or two who also play non-league to see who they have got and wish them good luck. I used to drive with Robert Bartley. But he left earlier in the season so I have been travelling solo.

This Saturday we travelled to Barton Rovers in the FA Cup 3rd Qualifying Round.

I was a little anxious to be honest, as they had beaten Margate, but this helped me prepare and be 100 per cent focussed on the task in hand. We had to soak up a lot of pressure early on in the game but once the nerves settled we started to impose ourselves on the game.

We went 1-0 up after I made a good tackle on the number 10. I gave the ball to Dobbo (Kevin Dobinson) and he put John Sands in to score.

After that we soaked up a lot of pressure and I had a good game like the whole defence but I managed to get man-of-the-match which is always nice.

The FA Cup means so much to me and my number one goal in football is to play in the first round proper. I made it twice with Bromley playing in every qualifying round game two years on the spin but the manager didn’t believe in me enough and he bombed me out of the squad which was heart-breaking.

We almost got there last year (before losing to Biggleswade Town). So I bet you can imagine how much I want to play in the first round!

In the evenings I’m not at footy, I just chill and play with my sons and enjoy the family time as they grow up so quick. When my son hears me at the door he runs and hides and shouts ‘daddy come find me’.

Then the missus and I read him his nightly story and after I will watch TV or play a bit of FIFA or Call of Duty before bed.

 

SUNDAY

My fiancée and I live in a one-bedroom flat in Bermondsey. I have been with her since I was 12 and our two boys, Jacob, three, and Thomas, five and a half months. We also have two Staffordshire Bull Terriers and 20 tropical fish.

Sunday is family day for us. I took Jacob to the local pet store because he loves it there. We got a few bits for the fish tank then we went to a soft play centre where we had lots of fun before meeting friends at a carvery.

This summer I took up a new hobby called airsofting – similar to paintball but a lot more tactical. I went in the summer and it’s good fitness.

 

MONDAY

I work at Walworth Academy, in Southwark, which is my old school, and I have been here for five years now.

I started as a mentor when my old Greenwich Borough chairman Devon Hanson was principal. He asked me to be a mentor and I grew up in the area, so I thought it would be easy for the children to relate to me. I started coaching a football team, and this led to me teaching part-time and now I am a deputy head of Year 10.

I’m up at 6.45am and in work by 8am and I am home about 5pmish. I make sure I’m well hydrated and eat well before tomorrow’s game against Harrow Borough.

 

TUESDAY

The missus would have prepared my pre-match beans on toast so I will quickly eat and get changed then drive to football.

Heavy traffic on the A13 hindered our preparation a little and Harrow got off to a quick start. But we soaked up the pressure and grew into the game, and John Sands scored a nice header from a good cross which eased the tension at the back. There was a nasty tackle on Victor (Osobu) which led to some handbags and our Rio Bryan-Edwards being sent off but we remained solid at the back and ground out another 1-0. I think that’s four clean sheets out of six for me so I’m happy. We needed the points and we can take this momentum into Saturday’s game against Hornchurch.

The rest of the week will involve five-a-side on the odd Wednesday – I occasionally bless them with my skills as I used to play fútbol sala in Spain so I’ve got a few tricks!

And on Thursday it’s training so I won’t be home until 11pm. A busy week but a great one!

As a footballer I have to make sacrifices. I rarely drink and have early nights on Fridays although there is a lot of travelling away from my fiancée and kids. I have no sex 24 hours before a game and we have to eat a lot of pasta – if it’s not chicken pasta it’s spag bol, tuna pasta, lasagne... the list could go on! (My poor missus!)