Ghana’s Jojo Wollacott enjoyed a short spell on loan at Gloucester City AFC midway through the 2018/19 campaign where it became obvious that he would succeed at a much higher level.
The 25-year-old impressed at the then-National League South side, who finished 17th that season, for 13 matches over the festive period.
He had previously spent time on loan at Woking, in the division above, which was telling, according to Gloucestershire football expert Bill Ledbury.
‘’So I think with Jojo it was pretty evident that he’d played at a level higher than Gloucester,” he told Park Life Sport’s Charlie Barnett. ”He’d had spells at Woking in the National League and that showed when he came on loan to City in the 13 games he was at the club.
”At the time we were pretty desperate for a goalkeeper, that position was chopping and changing quite a lot. It was around about the Christmas period that he came in and offered assuredness.’’
In total, Wollacott experienced nine loan moves, including one at Bergsøy in Norway, which set him up for a permanent move to Swindon Town.
The Robins assembled almost an entire squad last summer, on the back of serious ownership struggles, of which Wollacott may well be the pick of the lot.
‘’Obviously he was at Bristol City, whether he would be able to make it at the first-team was unclear but to play at a professional standard was definitely something he was going to achieve, whether that was in the national league or the football league,” Ledbury added.
”He’s at Swindon Town now who are flying high at the moment considering the problems off the field they’ve had.’’
Indeed, his exceptional form for the League Two playoff hopefuls, seeing off competition from Lewis Ward, has earned him a starting place in Ghana’s international team.
The Black Stars suffered a 1-0 defeat to Morocco in their opening fixture of the Africa Cup of Nations on Monday, meaning a result in this evening’s clash with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s Gabon is vitally important if they are to progress to the knockout rounds.
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