Interview with Glen Southam

Prior to the start of this most heavily anticipated of seasons at Eastleigh Football Club, the team’s captain, Glen Southam, vowed that he and his team mates would ‘be stronger’ and ‘work harder’, as they pursued their avowed aim to win the league

Now, after nine games in which the Spitfires have dropped only five points to sit proudly at the summit of the Conference South, Glen is able to reflect on a fine opening to the campaign.

‘There is a good feel about the place at the minute. When we set out at the start of the season, with the new boys that had come in, we wanted things to gel and be running smoothly as quickly as possible. Apart from the one setback at Basingstoke, we’ve had a very, very positive start. Fingers crossed we can keep it going’.

Those early term points that did slip by inspired a touch of restlessness among a minority of the Eastleigh faithful. It was, perhaps, a reaction borne of an inherent fear that last year’s heartbreak – when their side fell at the semi-final stage of the season ending play-offs – will strike again. A firm favourite among that Spitfires’ support, Glen is unperturbed by any brickbats that may come his team’s way.

‘I think you’ll always get that (criticism). With what we’ve got here now there is expectancy. But no one expects more than the players and management. You just have to take the rough with the smooth. Having said that, it was two derby matches, and they are never easy games. It would have been worrying if, in those two games, (a 2-0 defeat at Basingstoke and a scoreless home draw against Havant & Waterlooville) we hadn’t been playing well or creating chances.

‘Early on at Basingstoke we could have been three or four to the good. Havant & Waterlooville was a pretty even game. All you can do is respond in a positive manner, and you can’t ask for any better than winning six matches on the spin (including last week’s F.A. Cup tie against Mangotsfield United) which we have managed’.

The skipper has, typically, been ever-present during Eastleigh’s lightning start. That despite an accumulation of niggles, in particular a troubling groin problem which, until recently, restricted the dynamic midfielder’s movement, as well as impinging on his ability to train with any regularity.

‘It’s never nice playing with niggles. You do it a lot in your career. There are many times when you’re not pain free. I’ve been lucky with the boys who are around me, and the team that we’ve got, that we all work hard for each other.

‘If I thought I’d be letting the team down I wouldn’t play, and in the games I don’t think there’s ever been a time when I’ve let anybody down. The last couple of weeks, the injuries have started to wear off and I’ve begun to get myself back together. I’ve scored a couple of goals and feel, touch wood, a lot better at the minute. I’m still not totally there, but hopefully in the next week or two it will be gone.

‘It has helped that we’ve got into comfortable positions in games, meaning they haven’t been too strenuous. We’ve been able to keep the ball and pass it. At Boreham Wood (where Eastleigh won 3-0) I was able to come off and have a bit of a rest. On other days, such as at Bath City (a 1-0 win) and then at home against Havant & Waterlooville when Toddy (Chris Todd) had to go off and I was struggling, we dug in and that’s what you have to do.

‘It would take something pretty drastic to keep me out, but I wouldn’t play if I really didn’t think I could contribute’.

After alluding once more to the work ethic which pervades this Eastleigh unit, Glen moved onto another subject which he animatedly discussed when in the midst of pre-season preparations. The ‘in-it-together’ spirit which flows through the entire club - and that he perceives as being essential to any successful football operation. 

It is a factor which the north-Londoner cites as key to the 2006/2007 Dagenham & Redbridge outfit, of which he was an integral part, running away with that season’s Conference Premier title.

‘When I was at Dagenham we built something special on and off the pitch. If you can do that, it has such a good influence on everything. Then, when we are playing so well it makes it easier to keep a settled side. You need continuity, and want to be able to pick more or less the same team every week.

‘Anyone who has been successful knows that if you can stick with a team that is doing well, with just one or two changes here and there when they need to be made, it’s a luxury. Luckily for us, we’ve started well and been able to do that.

‘But, anybody who is not playing at the moment is able to come in and do a job and fit in. Off the pitch, the atmosphere is great, and winning games adds to that. Even in pre-season – from day one – we said we needed a togetherness and good atmosphere about the place. We didn’t have that last year and, to be fair, the gaffer (Richard Hill), Stu (Stuart Donald, Eastleigh’s chairman), and everyone who has brought the players in have made that easier. It feels like we’ve been together for a long time’.

As has been well documented, the Spitfires league campaign last time out fell into two distinct halves. An infuriatingly inconsistent five months, followed by an epic charge to the line and eventual fourth placed finish. That was Glen’s first year at the club, and he believes the differences this time around are stark.

‘There is a lot more trust. There is a bond that you can feel – and that’s developed in a short period of time. It helps that a lot of the lads know each other as well. I played with Strevs (Ben Strevens) at Dagenham for five years. I’ve known Jamie (Collins) a few years. There are a lot of different combinations. Macca (Craig McAllister) and Fleets (Stuart Fleetwood) played together at Exeter City.

‘There’s a mutual respect, and we’re all striving for the same thing. Everyone is trying to pull in the same direction – on and off the field. We want that to carry on.

‘Every game this season I go out, look around at my team, and think, ‘this is strong’. Even if we suffer a setback we know we can overcome it. If we were to go two goals behind, there’s a mentality instilled in all of us that would make us believe we can comeback, no matter who it’s against or where we are. That is something you can’t buy. Last year we barely kept a clean-sheet all season. In our first 10 games this year (including the F.A. Cup tie) we’ve had seven.

‘The defence has been superb, but everyone has worked tirelessly - in training and through to the games. The main difference (this season) is the way we’ve defended but then, with the likes of Macca, Fleets, Yemi (Odubade), Jai (Reason), Strevs and, hopefully, myself we can get goals between us’.

Turning 33, which Glen did on 27th August this year, might be the cue for some footballers to start yearning for a time when the daily rituals that come attached with playing the game for a living are no longer the overriding feature in their life. Anybody who has ever watched the fervent intensity with which Eastleigh’s skipper goes about his on-field business won’t be taken aback to learn that he is not among their number.

‘I’m not getting any younger but, touch wood, I’m fit. My legs have served me well up to now and I’ve got a lot of football left in me’. 

In fact, ask Glen if he has considered what life beyond football will hold, and an instinctive sharp intake of breath offers a sizeable hint.

‘I don’t really think about it. I don’t like to. I’ve always been one someone who believes that if I take my eye off playing then I won’t be giving it my all. That is, first and foremost, what I want to do. It’s what I love. The minute I can’t perform to a level where I’m happy then I’ll start to consider other options but, for now, there is nothing other than playing football in my mind’.

With that settled, does the man who was brought to the Silverlake Stadium from Dover Athletic envisage Eastleigh being his home right up until body begins to betray mind?

‘Definitely. I like to be settled and stable. When I joined this club it was for a reason, and that was to help it progress. The ambitions the chairman had were sold to me, and that was what I wanted. I’d like it to finish here. Whatever happens I know that the ambition is right and it fits me.

‘I wouldn’t want to be at a club with no ambition. I always want to be at a place where the aim is to achieve something. Only if I were at a club where that’s not the case would I begin to question what I’m doing. Certainly, I’d love to finish here’.

And, no doubt, finish this season by lifting the champions’ trophy as his club’s promotion winning captain.

By Paul McNamara