Members of the Hornets squad talk us through their careers so far, in their own words.

This time, it's Mattie Pollock...

Footballing Family       I come from a footballing background which has obviously been helpful. My dad Jamie was a footballer who played for Middlesbrough, Manchester City, Bolton Wanderers and Crystal Palace, and my brother Ben also plays at a good level.

I grew up in Middlesbrough and my dad also worked at Middlesbrough FC’s Academy. This opened a few doorways for me around the area and I was at the club from a young age. All of my mates are from Middlesbrough and growing up was good craic. I went to school with all of my mates and did footy with all of my mates, and actually signed for Middlesbrough with a lot of my mates as well.

That made it a lot easier but I wasn’t actually at the club very long, as I was released around the under-9s. My brother then signed for Leeds and I went with him. I was there from about the under-10s to the under-16s and I loved every minute of it. It’s a really big club and I have no bad words to speak about it. They’ve got great fans, a great training ground and a great everything really.

I learnt a load there but when it came to scholarships I didn’t get offered one which was obviously hard. But in the same breath I think the two releases probably helped get me to where I am as it was an eye-opener. It was like ‘get your eyes into it’ because things were changing and football is a tough industry. I had thought it was easy, so the rejections put me in the right position to push on and kick-start my career.

When I finished with Leeds I played my under-16s year with Polton which is a Sunday League team. My dad ran them and it kept my fitness up while I tried to find another club. At that time I was a little bit nervous as I was finishing school without a team. I had been on trial at a few clubs but I was thinking maybe I should have just stuck in at school. I just needed to play football again and kick-start my career, and I ended up at Grimsby Town where I was able to push on.

Grimsby Breakthrough       Grimsby put a lot of trust in me and gave me a platform with my debut against Exeter City in 2018, where we won with 10 men. I believe I repaid that trust over my three seasons there. Neil Woods, the academy manager, and coach Callum Lester were huge for me. I arrived during a pre-season and they put me in the right condition, they got me playing football how I should.

They gave me everything to push on and once I did push on, they were still around and constantly giving me advice and tips. In the first team I played under some different managers – Michael Jolley, Paul Hurst and Ian Holloway – so I learnt a lot. The one most people know is Ian Holloway. He is a bit of a character but he was massive for me. He showed me football in a different way and put belief in me.

We were in a bit of a sticky situation when Ian was appointed in 2019 and he could have come in and gone for his own players, but he stuck by me and I think I repaid the favour. I actually ended the season as top scorer which isn’t bad for a defender! The team kept changing with nobody getting a clean run, and I got five or six.

Scottish Adventure       I joined Watford in May 2021 and spent some time on loan at Cheltenham Town, before joining Aberdeen on loan last year. Aberdeen is a huge club in Scotland and playing in front of that fanbase every week was massive. It was a huge learning curve because that was probably the first time I’d played for a club as big as that, week in, week out.

The club gave me everything. They put me in for every game and I loved every minute of it. I fitted right in straight away and we had a good season – finishing third in the Scottish Premier League and qualifying for Europe. That was good for the club and good for me as well as it was something to put on the CV. I scored a couple of goals, both against Hearts, and it put me in good stead to come back to Watford.

Playing away against teams like Celtic and Rangers was good, the crowds are crazy there and Aberdeen playing at home was always a good atmosphere. We beat Rangers at home and should have beaten them away as well. I think people underestimate how big some of the clubs are in Scotland. It was a real eye-opener for me because it’s a great league. It’s a lot better than what people think.

I had been given the chance to go to another couple of teams in Scotland which I’d turned down, not knowing what the level was like. In a way I got pushed into going to Aberdeen but it was one of the best things I’ve ever done in my career.

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