FC Halifax Town: “It’ll have been a long time coming” - Spence can’t wait to make his mark with The Shaymen

The midfielder is yet to play for Halifax since joining them from Scarborough Athletic in October due to a knee injury.

The 20-year-old remained at Scarborough until the end of last year, but then suffered a miniscus injury just as he was preparing to fight for a place in the Town team.

“It was a nightmare,” he said. “I was really enjoying training, I was still training with the Halifax lads while I was at Scarborough.

“I got two games in for Scarborough after joining Halifax and then I caught Covid, so I was off for a couple of weeks with that.

“As soon as I came back from that Scarborough’s league got cancelled!

“So I was training with the lads but wasn’t eligible to play. There were a couple of times the gaffer spoke to me and said he was about to recall me back in, but then more games got cancelled or we got lads back and it never ended up happening.

“I was training really well, feeling good and really confident, just waiting for my loan to be finished on January 2. I felt ready and excited to contribute to the team.

“I think it was around December 20, my knee had been bothering me for around a month or so, just feeling a bit sore and clicking, but not enough for me to pull out of training, and it was literally the last kick of the session.

“I took a strike from about 40 yards, it was stupid of me, got it out of my feet, took a strike and absolutely shanked it over the crossbar, and I felt my standing leg click and lock.

“I stood there for a bit thinking it’s just what’s happening every session where it clicks a bit, and then after about five seconds I realised it wasn’t, and my leg was locked in a bent position and I just fell down screaming.

“Aaron Scholes, the physio, was sure I’d just shattered my miniscus. I couldn’t straighten my leg for about four weeks, got a scan and it confirmed that’s what had happened and I needed an operation.

“I was meant to get a miniscus repair done but I went in to get my operation and they said they thought it was beyond repair and that it wouldn’t heal, so they just did some keyhole treatment and took it out.”

Spence says he is now on the verge of a return to action.

“I’m miles ahead of schedule, I’m back running, changing direction, striking a ball,” he said.

“I’m hoping by the end of this week I’ll be back in full training, and that I might be in contention for the Wealdstone game.”

Spence grew up in Harrogate and played futsal as a youngster.

“Even before I could walk my dad was lifting me up, pushing my legs and kicking the ball, and then as soon as I could walk I was toddling around with a ball at my feet,” he said.

“I got taken to my first football class, a Brazilian Soccer School, for my fifth birthday, but got stage fright. I was a really shy little kid, sat there crying the whole session and didn’t join in.

“But I kept going as the weeks went on and fell in love with it, then every night after school I’d be playing futsal.

“I’ve always wanted to be a footballer and I’ve been lucky enough for that to happen.”

After playing for his local side, Pannal Sports, Spence joined York City when he was aged 10, playing in the year above in his first season and then playing with his own age group the season after.

He then signed for Middlesbrough aged 12 after a successful trial, staying there until he was 18.

“It was great. I’m from Harrogate so Middlesbrough’s a bit further than York, so it was a big commitment for my family to get me there most nights a week after school, getting back late on,” he said.

“But it developed me massively as a player, not just football wise. I’ve always been a confident lad but you’re playing against the best kids your age and when you do well, it boosts you up even more.

“It was brilliant there, I absolutely loved it.”

Leeds winger Jack Harrison was at Middlesbrough with Spence, and the Town midfielder trained with the first-team on numerous occasions.

Spence played in three Checkatrade Trophy games for Boro as a second year scholar during the first-half of the 2018-19 season, but left after his second year.

“It wasn’t a shock at all,” he said of his departure. “If I’m being honest with you, my first year scholarship was absolutely incredible, when I was 16, 17, it couldn’t have gone any better.

“I got moved up to the under 23s, I was starting every week for them and I absolutely smashed it.

“Then for some reason I went back in for my second year scholarship and things just didn’t really go right for me.

“I got offered another year at the end of that second year but I wasn’t enjoying myself and I’d made my mind up long before I left that I wanted to go, have a new challenge, get men’s football and start enjoying my football again.

“We had a discussion around April time and agreed to mutually let me leave.”

When asked what changed during his time at the club, Spence said: “To be honest, I’m not too sure. I think it was a gradual process, more little things happening and piling on top of each other, and then it’s nearly the end of the season and you just realise you’re not too happy anymore.

“So there wasn’t one specific thing. I think after the high of my first year scholarship I was kind of expecting it to progress even more, and then when that didn’t happen and little things happened outside the club, it kind of took its toll and my head probably went a little bit.

“So I made my mind up that I wanted to clear my head and have a new start.”

A family connection then saw Spence join Scarbrough during the summer of 2019.

“I went training with a few teams and ended up signing for Scarborough Athletic,” he said.

“My dad knows their ex-boss John Deacey, and once I left Middlesbrough John got in touch straight away.

“I trained there, played a couple of games and I think it was after my second game, he said they wanted to sign me, and I snapped his hand off.

“I was just buzzing, really excited at the chance to play in-front of some fans.

“By that time I was busting a gut to get back playing.

“My first training session there was my first for a while and I was so excited driving to training.

“It was the first session back so we were just doing running, but I was so excited.

“Then the first game rolled round - I just needed a fresh start to clear my head.

“I’d been at Middlesbrough for so long, and I absolutely loved it.

“I had no experience at all playing men’s football, and I’d had a ridiculously intense summer training wise so I went back as fit as a fiddle.

“That’s probably my main strength, I can run for days.

“I played all the pre-season games and I was flying, never felt better, playing really well.

“First game of the season there was over a thousand fans, the place was buzzing and I was like ‘this is for me this!’.

“I did alright, started the first two games, the second was at Stalybridge but the pitch was horrendous, fans screaming at you, and I had an absolute shocker.

“I think I was a bit naive, coming from Middlesbrough, having a great pre-season, I thought I was going to trot my way round I think.

“For a few weeks after that I was in and out of the team in midfield, playing alright but not as well as I’d expected, then I got moved to right-back in about October, because of injuries, and I ended up playing really well.

“So for the rest of the season I think I played seven different positions - I played right-back, right wing-back, right-wing, number 10, sitting midfielder, centre mid, left wing-back.

“I really enjoyed, it was a really good learning experience for me at 18, 19-years-old.

“It was almost a different game to what I was playing at Middlesbrough, playing for scraps, playing for seconds, doing everything you can to win instead of playing inside your own box.

“It took me a while to adjust to that and get used to it, but it made me so much better as a player and such a more well-rounded player.”

Despite loving his time at Scarborough, Spence was keen to move higher up the pyramid if he could.

“I went to a trial session, about a year ago, at Barnsley,” he said.

“I’d just come back from injury and I wasn’t really fit. I was there for two weeks but with me playing for Scarborough it was hard for me to get many sessions in.

“I didn’t get signed, and then I went to a trial session at Halifax a couple of weeks later.

“I’d got some more games in by then, increased my fitness.

“I think it was at Calderdale College, on the AstroTurf, with people around my age and a couple of years older. We played a trial game against the youth team.

“I did OK, did well, and the gaffer and Milly rang up and said they wanted to get me into training and look to sign me.

“So at the end of last season I was meant to be doing that, around February, March time, and then Covid happened.

“When it all got lifted, Milly stayed in touch and said when they were planning to go back in, so I went in training middle of September, did OK, I didn’t think I did that great, but fortunately they did.

“After three or four weeks training and a couple of trial games, they said they wanted to sign me.

“I was absolutely over the moon because after being at Middlesbrough, I’d been at Scarborough for a season and, although I absolutely loved my time there and it was such a great learning curve for me, it wasn’t full-time football.

“That was my main goal for this season, to get back in full-time football, so when everything was signed I got emotional to be honest.

“It was just all that weight coming off my shoulders of finally knowing what I was going to be doing, with Covid starting in the March and not knowing what I’d be doing for months and months. It was just a massive relief.”

And now Spence is aiming to finally pull on a Town shirt having neared his recovery from injury.

“It’ll have been a long time coming,” he said of a possible debut.

“I was flying in training (before the injury), really excited to show everyone what I could do.

“Obviously the fans don’t really know anything about me.

“I played two games for the youth team before I got injured and scored three goals, got four or five assists, so I was like ‘if I do this for the first-team everyone’s going to love me!’

“It’ll be an absolute privilege, just to announce myself to the fans, hopefully help the team out and give the fans a bit of enjoyment and show them what I’m all about.”

Spence believes he is good enough to force his way into the Halifax team.

“I’m a really confident lad, and I’m very confident I can make a good contribution to the team whenever I get my chance,” he said.

Spence’s contract expires in the summer but the club have another year’s option.

He says his best position is central midfield.

“I’ve got legs to burn,” he said. “If I was going to describe myself as any player I’d probably say Kante.

“I’m really flexible where I can play, I can play centre-mid, full-back, wing-back, number 10, holding midfield, but I’d say I’m more a standard number eight or a sitter.”

Spence says he has benefited from working under Town boss Pete Wild and assistant manager Chris Millington.

“It’s been fantastic. I wanted to get back in full-time football and they’ve been brilliant with me,” he said.

“From when I first went in to before I got injured, the improvement I’ve made, honestly, was ridiculous.

“Knowing what they want, and with the lads they’ve brought in, the older players like Luke Summerfield and Martin Woods. Me speaking to them about what they do, why they do it, I can also speak to Chris and the gaffer about what they want from the people who are starting at the minute, what I’m doing that they like, what I’m not doing that they want me to do.

“Even little bits in training sessions, they’ll pull me in the break and say ‘move five yards this way’ or ‘rotate your body this way’, or ask me questions like ‘what was I thinking there?’

“Not necessarily in me giving a right or wrong answer, just for them to understand my thinking, so it’s really refreshing, absolutely brilliant. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

When asked how far he thinks he can go in the game, Spence said: “My ambitions are sky-high, there’s no limits to what I think I can achieve in the future.

“My goal is to play as high as I can, that’s the Premier League or any other top league, but especially the Premier League.

“I want to end up playing for England one day.”

It’s a path already trodden by Jamie Vardy.

“Exactly! So what better place to start than where he started!”