(c) MTFC
In the world of lower and non-league football players continually move around.
Luke Jones has played for a total of eight clubs and interestingly had two spells at both Mansfield Town and Kiddy during his still youthful career.
He played under Mark Yates and later Steve Burr before moving East to Field Mill once more in the summer of 2012.
Aggborough Chat caught up with the defender to discuss his Harriers memories, last season’s titanic title battle with his former employers and the future.
Do you look back on your time at Kiddy fondly?
Kidderminster is a good family club and all the staff and people within the structure of the club always pull together in order to try and make each campaign as successful as possible. Not only that, but when you went out as a player under the managers I did, there was always an emphasis on going out and expressing yourself and enjoying your football which brings out the best in players. My only real regret within my spells there is the fact I missed out on the play-offs narrowly twice.
During your two spells at Aggborough, what was your personal highlight?
Luke’s 91st minute winner at Haig Avenue in April 2012 saw Harriers leapfrog Southport into the Blue Square Premier League play-off places. (c) KHFC
Under my second spell with Steve Burr, I had the pleasure of captaining the side for a large part of the season, which is always a nice and proud moment at any club. From a team point of view, under Steve we produced a great spell of football near the end of the 2011/2012 campaign to put ourselves in the hunt for play-offs and during that time there were some memorable games in which we snatched late winners. At home to Newport and away to Southport were two of my favourites.
What was it like going toe to toe with Harriers in the race for the BSP title in the latter part of the season?
If I’m honest towards the end of the season, the form that the two teams had shown meant both deserved to go up but unfortunately that’s football. Having said that, I think it was a special end to the season and at times I wondered if I made the right decision leaving but thankfully in this case I think on the outcome I did. Having known the majority of the Kiddy lads well, I tried to distance myself from contact until the league was decided because it was important to not have any distractions. There were certainly some twists and turns near the end but it’s a season I will never forget in my life!
Were you sad to see them miss out on promotion?
As soon as we had won the league I made sure I wished the majority of the lads well in the play-offs. I genuinely thought they deserved to go up on form and I was behind them as a fan in the play-offs but having put so much in for the fight for the title I think it left them drained and they had nothing left to give in the two games against Wrexham, but I’m sure they will come back strong again next year. You would think looking back on this season the title would be Kiddy’s for the taking but we know football doesn’t work like that. But I certainly expect Harriers to be challenging in some way and in my mind, they can earn a play-off spot again. What’s certain is that I will be watching Kiddy’s results and progress with added interest.
Finally, you now move onto Stevenage, what made you decide to leave Mansfield?
Jones will now play under Graham Westley at Stevenage. (PA)
Mansfield is another great club that’s well run and supported and I would always recommend any player to join and the same goes for Kidderminster. That made my decision all the harder especially after the special season we just encountered. The buzz at the club this year will be awesome and I can’t speak highly enough of them. As a player though, it’s always important to push yourself if you want to be the best you can and the opportunity to join a great club like Stevenage with its recent success and League One status meant it was just too big to turn down. Football is a short career and about good timing so I’m hopeful that it will push me on to another chapter in my career.
