“Some amazing memories along the way,” says Ian Howell as the ex-Cheltenham and Gloucester City player looks back on his playing days.
Since his early childhood in Swindon, Howell has always been passionate about football and started his career for the Swindon Town’s Centre of Excellence and Youth Teams (COE).
“I started playing at Swindon Town in the COE when I was at school and eventually progressed into the youth teams until I left the club aged 18.
“I had some great times as a young player at Swindon Town, playing against a lot of professional clubs and competing against excellent players.
“I remember my last game for the club being the final of the Midland Youth U18 Cup Final v Leicester City at Filbert Street, which we unfortunately lost, but it was still a good memory playing in front of quite a big crowd on the night in a great stadium.”
His time at the Southwest club saw Howell come up against excellent opposition playing for the youth teams, and after leaving Swindon Town, he eventually moved to Trowbridge in 1991.
“I can always remember I played at Cheltenham Town for Swindon Schoolboys when I was about 14 or 15 and remember playing at the stadium (Whaddon Road) and thinking, oh jeez, what a great place to play, and it’d be nice one day to get an opportunity to play here when I’m older and 10 years on from that, it materialised,” said Howell.
Howell eventually got his move to Cheltenham in 1994, and when speaking about his ex-team, he explained how he loved every moment at the club: “I’ve always felt a special place in my heart playing for Cheltenham Town. When I started playing semi-professional/non-league football, Cheltenham Town was one of the biggest clubs around at that time, and it was always my ambition to play at the highest level I could and to do that at Cheltenham Town made it even more special.”
“I’ve always said to friends and family, I wish I had stayed longer, as I had one of my best spells enjoying my football, playing most games with great players in a top team,” said Howell.
“I should not have moved at the time I did, but it all happened very quickly, far too quickly at the time, and it was a snap decision that I had to make on the final day of the transfer window and one I always regretted when I looked back. I felt I could have stayed at Cheltenham for a few more seasons.”
During his playing career, Howell played with some top players, including ex-Cheltenham Town manager Wade Elliott: “I can remember Wade was a young player in our team at Bashley, and you could tell he was a very talented player even at his young age.
“I eventually left Gloucester City, and I can remember moving to Bashley FC when I was about 27, and the manager there was Jimmy Case, the ex-Liverpool, Southampton & Brighton player.
“I can remember Jimmy telling me about a younger lad called Wade Elliott when I signed, and he was an exciting young talented player,” said Howell.
Howell had a lot of special memories with Elliott as he reflected on his time with the 45-year-old: “I remember we played in a pre-season game to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Bashley Football Club, and we played Southampton FC.
“Wade and I played for Bashley in that game against them, which was a fantastic game to play in, and we faced some of Southampton’s top players like Matt Le Tissier, who you know is an unbelievable player,” continued Howell.
“So that was a nice little memory. We had a few decent games in terms of cup runs, and we finished runners-up, missing out on promotion one season.”
After finishing up his playing career, Howell switched to coaching and has now spent the last 17 years at Chelsea Football Club. He spent multiple years as an Academy coach but is now working in an academy scouting and recruitment role for the London club.
This has given Howell loads of opportunities to lend his knowledge of the game to the new generation of players coming through the game: “I can now observe the journey and development of the boys I’ve worked with at all different levels now, and it’s quite amazing the see so many players progress on their journeys into top-level football.
“I do believe a lot of the experiences I had as a younger player gave me a good understanding and knowledge of how to help develop and impact these players when I was coaching them across all ages, to cope with the demands of professional football whilst maintaining their love for the game,” he continued.
Howell has made memories for a lifetime as he takes all his experience into his new scouting role at Chelsea in the next couple of years.
“It’s nice to now be in scouting and be in a recruitment role looking for the next generation of players for Chelsea.
“There have been some amazing memories from my playing days, and I’m so lucky to have been able to stay involved in the game I’ve always loved and been passionate about and be able to create many more great memories from my coaching career.
“Hopefully, I can do this again within my scouting role.”
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