Exclusive: Charlton Athletic goalkeeper would have been a pilot if his football career had not taken off

BY RICHARD CAWLEY
richard@slpmedia.co.uk

Charlton Athletic goalkeeper Will Mannion has a plan for life after football and it is not a career path trodden by most ex-players.

The 26-year-old goalkeeper was contemplating an occupation away from the game before he landed a scholarship with AFC Wimbledon at the age of 16.

Mannion had previously spent time in the youth ranks of Watford and Reading before, in his words, trialling unsuccessfully “everywhere”.

“I was at Dagenham for six months as an U16 and I didn’t get offered anything,” he told the South London Press.

“Wimbledon was the last chance to do something – otherwise I probably wouldn’t be playing football now.

“I would have been a pilot. I’ve always liked the aviation side and I think I would have had enough UCAS points from the BTEC we did at Wimbledon to get on to a scholarship programme.

“I’ve done a few flights and I’m trying to get my private licence at the moment. It’s still something I’d like to do after football.

“It’s just a little washing machine with wings that I fly at the moment. It’s not as bad as it sounds! You’ve got to do something like 45 hours to get your private licence and there are countless other exams – it’s quite expensive.

“I started when I was 14 and 15 in west London and then I did a bit when I was at Cambridge – at Duxford. That was quite fun – being behind Spitfires when they are taking off.

“I’m probably about 15-20 hours into my license. I need to find somewhere down here (to fly at) – probably Biggin Hill is the nearest now.”

Mannion’s progression with the Dons ensured football was his future. In July 2016 he joined Hull – then in the Premier League – on a three-year contract with compensation settled by a tribunal.

“There were another couple of clubs interested but I met with Steve Bruce, who was the manager at the time, and loved his enthusiasm,” said Mannion.

“He made it feel like he really wanted me and that is why I went.

“Gary Walsh (the goalkeeping coach) as well – he was brilliant. Funnily enough Steve Bruce left six weeks after I signed.

“I worked with loads of good coaches and managers there – Marco Silva came in – but, on the flip side, that probably killed me a little bit because of the changes every six months.

“I think I worked with seven or eight different goalkeeping coaches in four years. So it was difficult to find a footing there.

“I managed to go on loan a couple of times and that helped a lot.”

Mannion joined Pafos in August 2020 on a free transfer when his Tigers terms expired.

The Cypriot club also signed former Crystal Palace midfielder Jason Puncheon during that period and Sam Hutchinson, who came through Chelsea’s academy and played for Sheffield Wednesday.

“It was a strange one,” said Mannion, who was a season-ticket holder at Chelsea as a kid.

“It was during the height of Covid – it was very, very slow in terms of any kind of movement in the UK.

“I just thought it would be a great experience.

“On the football side it wasn’t the best – I only played one game – but as a life experience it was really, really good.

“I was by myself in a foreign country and it definitely changes your perceptions about a few things.

“The biggest challenge was you couldn’t have family flying out. My first couple of months it was okay and then there were five or six months where you couldn’t do anything – complete lockdown and you couldn’t leave your house.

“We had games called off. That was the hardest thing – being away and not able to see anyone.”

Mannion was Charlton’s first signing of the summer transfer window.

He featured 18 times for Cambridge United in the previous campaign – nine of those in the run-in as they secured League One safety on the final day.
Mannion kept a clean sheet in a 0-0 draw at Port Vale in late April as the U’s just about inched over the finish line.

“It’s a strange game, football,” he said. “Six weeks before the end of the season I got thrown in and I was doing really well – it’s quite hard then to prepare and be thinking ‘are you going to get a move to Charlton?’

“Until the end of the season I wasn’t really focused on anything other than trying to keep us up and playing really well.

“It was only after the season I could sit back and think ‘okay, what are more options here? What would I like to kick on and achieve from that starting point I had made for myself’.

“The first thing that came to mind is that it (Charlton) is a massive club. I managed to sit down with the manager and his aspirations for where he wants to take us is a massive reason why I came.

“Everyone wants to play at the highest level they can. I want to help us get to the next level and even further, if we can.”

Mannion has been an ever-present for the Addicks and kept four clean sheets in his first eight matches in all competitions.

But it is no secret that manager Nathan Jones was initially intent on bringing in a more experienced stopper who arguably would have been viewed as the starter.

“My only focus is doing as well as I can,” said Mannion, asked about speculation over the goalkeeping department being strengthened.

“I can’t control anything that happens outside of the pitch. In terms of the way I approach it, I focus on myself.

“Luckily enough I’ve managed to get the number one spot and managed to keep it.”

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