Conor, let's start at the beginning. Your career started at Mansfield Town as many people know. What age did you join and how did that come about?

I signed for Stags at 14 after playing most of my younger years in the Chad youth league. I was offered a trial by one of the coaches after he watched me play. I turned up and after 6 weeks they signed me and the rest is history

You made your first team debut in the Conference at 17. That must have been an amazing moment? And what was it like to eventually score for them?

I was given my professional debut away at Northwich Victoria which was a proud moment for me personally but I can remember coming on and not making much of an impact. It was a huge eye opener as the pace of the game and the physicality was something I had never experienced before. It made me realise I was miles away from being a regular and was now a small fish in a big pond.

As for the goal it was actually two seasons after and what I think was only my 3rd appearance at the time. It was against Southport at home. I had spent the last 20 months on loan at Glapwell. After a successful stint and Mansfield having an a bit of an injury crisis, I finally got the chance and lucky for me I stayed in the team for some time after that.

How important was the time you had on loan at Glapwell? They were playing at a good level and you scored plenty of goals.

I spent almost 2 seasons on loan at Glappy in what was known as the Unibond League/Evostik League more recently. It was a real eye opener and I learnt a lot from the seasoned lads that played at the club. I think playing over 80 times for them across the 2 seasons and scoring 37 times as a raw 17/18 year old was pretty decent! It certainly set me up for the seasons that followed years after.

Coming through at that time, as a young lad, who were the first team players you looked up to and helped you development?

At the time I had quite a few of the lads I looked up to and who really helped me. Daryl Clare, Paul Connor and Stevie Istead were 3 really influential players that helped me on a day to day basis.

Who was the best player you’ve ever played with?

Professionally it would have to be Daryl Clare. He was by far the best finisher I have ever played with. His movement and his influence vocally on the pitch was something I really admired. He seemed three steps ahead of everybody all the time and from a young age I tried to base my game around his, razor sharp in the box, high energy with an endless quality as well.

What was Mansfield as a club like during that period? You sort of just missed ‘The Radford Revolution’

When I started full time at Stags they had just been relegated from the Football League so we didn’t get the same perks as Football League scholars at the time. We didn’t even have new training kits or bags, it was all hand me down stuff from the first team the year previous!

John took over in my last season at the club and his impact since has been huge; he's completely transformed the way the club runs with his investments. I just wish he had taken over a few years before as it might have been very different for a lot of younger players.

You left at 19 to join Sheffield FC. Was that a tough decision? What were your reasons?

Funny story this one. Mansfield had actually offered me a new contract which was signed and sealed and then they decided to sack the manager Duncan Russell who really believed in me. They brought in Paul Cox and he sat me down and was really honest and said I will be going out on loan again as he couldn’t really see me fitting in to his plans with the players he was signing.

It was a huge shock at the time but I was man enough to take it on the chin. I didn’t want to go on loan again having been a regular in the side at the back end of the previous season so I agreed to leave by mutual consent. The club paid me up 3 months of my contract and I signed for Sheffield FC a week later.

Mansfield went on to win the Conference two years later under Paul Cox. Do you have any regrets about leaving when you did?

I think back sometimes and wonder if my journey could have been different if I had stayed at Mansfield and maybe just been a good boy and gone out on loan like he wanted me to. The full time training for another season would only have been beneficial but I look at what I have now 10 years later and that’s down to the non league clubs I have played for. I have no regrets about that decision I made as me and my family are really comfortable.

What was your mentality like when you dropped down a few levels after leaving Mansfield? Did you see it as taking a step back to potentially move forward? Did you still believe you could make it professionally?

Like most kids, I felt like I had something to prove and felt it would only be a matter of time before I would be a pro again but non league seems to just swallow you up and sometimes is very unforgiving. I had a good season at Sheffield FC but it took me so long to adapt to the lifestyle of being part time it cost me the chance of going full time again. I had to get a job to subsidise my football wages, my diet wasn’t great and I wasn’t flying fit like I was used to being. My advice to any player dropping out of the pro game is just keep physically fit and train like a full timer and also keeps playing as high as possible to give yourself a slim chance of getting back up there.