Aaron McGowan talks football, clothes and social media.
So Aaron you hold the record for Morecambe’s youngest League player is that right?
Yeh I was 16, I’d been on the bench a few times for the first team and my mate Doyley (Chris Doyle) got sent off last game of the season and I ended up coming on… I think it was 2-0 versus Torquay at home.
When was your next appearance after that?
It was away at Mansfield, it was a good game and I’ll always take that it was 0-0 when I came off (laughs) but we ended up losing 1-0 to a last minute goal from a long throw.
Were you nervous going into those early games in your career?
No. I wouldn’t say I’m a nervous player I’m actually quite… I’m not the type of lad that gets nervous. I wouldn’t say that nothing phases me but I’m definitely not the nervous type. I’ve always been quite comfortable going into games but it wasn’t like I’d just come up, I’d been training with the first team for around six months when I made my debut so the gaffer obviously thought it was the right time to throw me in and give me an experience.
Was there a point where you started feeling disappointed you weren’t included in the team?
I would’t say there was a point where that happened, I think that last year I was flying and had played 15 games in a row mostly at left-back which I enjoyed then my hamstring started playing up and every time I came back for a game the hamstring went again and that was frustrating because as I said at the time I was flying and, you know I thought I was well on the way to doing what I wanted to do in my career and it was a real knock-back. I wouldn’t change it though because you learn from those things and they give you mental strength. As I was going through that I signed my contract extension (2 and a half years) so it worked out okay to be fair.
It will have been tough being the right back behind Beeley who was doing well for us?
Yeh it was for obvious reasons, you know I’ve learnt a lot from Shaun Beeley I think he’s a great player, he’s a good lad as well he wasn’t the type to see you as competition, he was one of my good mates when he was here so yeah it was tough specially because he was vice captain last season and because of the gap at left-back I filled in there a lot of the time and I think I did enough to make the gaffer comfortable enough with putting me in there.
Off the pitch, would you agree that you have quite a presence on social media?
I wouldn’t say I have quite a presence I’ve… I think I’ve definitely died down a bit. I think I like interacting with fans but I think they do too because since I’ve been a young age they’ve seen me you know even before my voice had dropped and that (laughs). You know they’ve seen me grow up as a lad, I’ve been here nearly 5 years now so I think it’s just they feel as though I’m one of their own which is great so I interact. Nothing over the top and I don’t do anything stupid on there I just like getting involved.
You seem to knock about with a few of the Liverpool U21 lads?
(Laughs) Yeh my best mate for the last 5 years, Con (Connor Randall) he’s gone on to do well and what he’s doing with Liverpool, good on him. Jordan Williams too, he’s done well with his loans but just had an unfortunate knee injury at Swindon, which has come at a bad time for him as he was involved in Wales squad for the Euro (2016) qualifiers.
What would you prefer to be doing, playing for Morecambe's 1st team or Liverpool's U21s?
Morecambe first team one hundred and fifty percent.
Do you talk about that with them?
Yeah I know from what they say that they would prefer playing first team football, it’s a no brainer for them. I think a lot of young lads now get carried away with how they go about things with the money and that. I think playing first team on a Saturday just keeps your feet on the ground and I think it’s important that as a young lad you don’t get carried away and the U21 lads can get that way I think.
You quite like expensive gear is that right?
(Pause) I don’t know if it’s expensive, yeah I’ll admit to that I do like my clothes yeah (laughs).
Would you ever buy cheaper stuff?
I wouldn’t say I never buy cheap stuff I just… Yeah. I do enjoy dressing well, looking good.
There’s a new Primark opened in Lancaster, have you checked that out yet?
Definitely won’t be attending.
Back to Football matters, is there a particular part of your game you’re looking to improve upon at the moment?
Yes I’m working with Dave Billows who worked under David Moyes for ten years, went over to Real Sociedad and worked with England. I’m having sessions with him at the moment to try and improve my sprint speed.
Do you have any personal aims for this season?
Yeah I think I just want to get more appearances under my belt. I think I’m on 55 now. So I don’t think I’m doing bad at the moment but I think the most important thing is playing games and not just playing games you’ve got to play them well. I think if you can keep performing consistently, keep playing keep improving and pushing on.
How about aims for Morecambe as a whole?
I think to start with we need to win more games at home, I think it’s no secret to everyone that we’re not doing great at home and we need to put it right. I just don’t know what it is though I can’t put a finger on it how we can be so good away but at home we’ve been poor. I think all we need is a few wins back to back and get our confidence up. Football’s a big confidence game and if you’re not confident you probably end up not playing well which is just the way football is.