Szmodics: Iron opened my eyes

By Jon Couch

LEARNING CURVE: Sam Szmodics and Danny Cowley, inset

PICTURE: Alamy

PREMIER League ace Sam Szmodics says learning his craft via a Non-League ‘journey’ has helped keep him humble as he embarks on life at the top of the English game.

Szmodics, who turned 29 this week, completed a £9 million move to Premier League new boys Ipswich Town in the summer after topping the Championship scoring charts at Blackburn Rovers last term with 27 goals.

It’s a move which has propelled the Essex-born front man to all new heights after scoring on his first top-flight start, against champions Manchester

City at the Etihad, while adding two more Republic of Ireland caps in the last international break, taking his tally to six.

Shock

But the new Tractor Boys’ fans’ favourite has revealed it was a month-long loan spell as a teenager at Braintree Town back in October 2015 which kept his feet firmly on the ground.

“I went to Braintree at 18 and I think we travelled up to Halifax on the day of the game,” Szmodics told BBC Radio Suffolk.

“I asked ‘would we not travel there the night before?’ and was told ‘we don’t do that here’.

“It came as a massive shock but, if anything, it opened my eyes and made me think that, with no disrespect, I didn’t want to be playing down there because it is a tough level where people are fighting to pay their mortgages.

“Seriously, you don’t earn loads of money, the games are tough and you go to work and travel to places like Halifax just cause you love football.

“I have played and scored in every league [from Premier League to National League] but if you’d have said to me at 19 years old when I was on loan at Braintree, under the Cowley brothers, that in ten years’ time I was going to be in the Premier League and scoring at Man City, I’d have laughed at you.”

Journey

Szmodics made a goalscoring debut for Braintree with the winner in a 1-0 win over Macclesfield Town at Cressing Road, but his loan was cut short when he was recalled by parent club Colchester following the sacking of Tony Humes.

He went on to turn out for the likes of Bristol City, Peterborough United and Blackburn before joining Ipswich on a four-year deal last month.

“That’s the journey I’ve been on and I’ve enjoyed the journey because I just play football,” Szmodics added. “I don’t go over the top with anything, I just love playing football, love learning, and it’s a journey which has taken me from one step to another.

“Now I’m in the Premier League, I’ve got to learn from it, grab it with both hands and stay here as long as I can.”