For those who didn't pick up a programme at the Luton Town or Cambridge United game. Gleeson spoke about his time with Cambridge United, Luton Town and now Lowestoft Town.......here's the featured article

Lowestoft Town Player/Coach, Dan Gleeson will be looking forward to this weekend with excitement, as the Trawlerboys start their pre-season campaign with two mouth-watering home ties against Luton Town on Sunday and then Cambridge United on Tuesday evening.

Gleeson has spent most of his career and built up some of his best football memories playing for Cambridge United, Luton Town and now Lowestoft Town.

Both games will undoubtedly see Gleeson, along with Ady Gallagher and the team fully focused on the games and their pre-season preparations. However, prior to and after the games it will be a time for Gleeson to rekindle memories and cross paths with friends at two clubs that will always be close to his heart. "I've had good and bad times with both clubs but I'm really looking forward to us playing them over these few days. There's a few people at both clubs that I still speak to and still get on with and even though a lot of players have moved on, there's still a lot of staff and players at both clubs that I'm looking forward to speaking to" stated Gleeson.

Gleeson joined his boyhood club, Cambridge United as a trainee in 2001 and with the exception of a brief spell at Notts County, he played for them right up until 2010. During his time he suffered heartache against Exeter and Torquay but still beams with delight when speaking about his time with The U's, stating; "Cambridge United are obviously my hometown club and I've supported and watched them since being a four year old kid, and I still support them now. I had some good times there, going to Wembley on two occasions with them but at the same time disappointment in that we never got promoted. In all honesty it's probably my biggest regret in my football career, that I never got promoted with Cambridge. As I said, I watched them as kid and watched them at Wembley when the likes of Dion Dublin played for them and would have loved to have been promoted with them but missed out on two occasions when going down to Exeter and Torquay. They're a great club though and I still go and watch them when I can as a fan, and I always will do".

On the 19th May 2010, Gleeson brought his time at Cambridge United to an end and signed for Luton Town; who at the time were conference rivals of his former club. He became a regular for The Hatters right from the start but yet again his promotion jinx struck, this time with Luton Town and again on two occasions. Cambridge were his boyhood club but his time at Luton was similar in that respect, explains Gleeson; "It was similar at Luton Town really. Obviously I didn't support them as a fan but whoever you play for, you do your best for. Unfortunately I didn't really show my true potential during my time with them and had a few bad injuries, with my back being the notable one that finished me playing full time. At the same time I did have some good times at the club with us reaching the play-off final twice but yet again (I think it must be me!) we lost on both occasions and on one of those occasions on a penalty shoot-out. If I'm honest the team at Luton, particularly in the first year, under achieved and should have gone up automatically but we had a sticky patch halfway through the season and that's what probably cost us".

At the end of the 2012/13 season, Gleeson was released by Luton Town after not having his contract renewed but for The Hatters, happy times were just around the corner. In the 2013/14 Conference Premier season, Luton Town won the league and made their long awaited return to League Two. While Cambridge United defeated Halifax Town in the play-off semi-finals and then Gateshead in the play-off final to follow Luton into League Two. This is something that Gleeson firmly believes is deserving of both clubs and their fans bases, stating; "At the end of the day I still have a massive amount of respect for both clubs and I'm really pleased that both of them are now in my opinion back where they belong, in the football league." Gleeson went on to explain that both clubs have an incredible level of support that deserves to be in the football league; "When I was at the clubs you'd get anywhere between three and five thousand fans at Cambridge and eight or ten thousand at Luton, and clubs like that shouldn't be in the Conference and are now back where they belong. Both Cambridge and Luton are massive clubs and Luton's fan base is phenomenal with them going all over the country, taking two or three thousand away with them and that's still the case now. It's a hostile place at Luton and away teams really don't like going there, as the home fans are very loud. They're both massive clubs and I'm privileged to have played for both of them".

At the end of his two-year stint at Kenilworth Road and with his back causing him problems, Gleeson knew his time playing full-time football was up and he moved to Lowestoft Town in July 2012. He combined playing and captaining the side, and eventually broke his play-off final jinx when Lowestoft Town beat AFC Hornchurch 3-0 in the Ryman Premier Division play-off final at the end of the 2013/14 season to gain promotion to the football conference. He continues to combine playing and mostly recently coaching the side, since the departure of Craig Fleming, with his duties of holding down a full-time job and being a loving father-of-two.
The player/coach played his part in Lowestoft's first ever season in conference football and was instrumental, along with both Ady Gallagher and Mick Chapman on the sidelines towards the end of the season, seeing the blues have a strong finish and securing their place at that level with a 16th place finish in the Vanarama Conference North.
The strong finish and attitude of the players is something that Gleeson is keen for them to take into this season and pre-season is already underway but in somewhat testing conditions, as Gleeson explains; "It's been terrible conditions with it chucking it down with rain one week and then last Saturday we trained in heat that must have been pushing 30 degrees. Pre-season is tough at the best of times but to be fair the lads deserve a lot of credit for really getting stuck into it whatever the weather. We've got a bunch of lads with a great attitude that's been carried over from last season when we had an unbelievable run at the end of the season and that's something we want to bring into the start of this season. We made slight changes to the way we play at the end of last season and we want to continue that this season. We've lost a couple of players but at the same time we've brought in two or three faces that we're really delighted to have at the club and who are big signings for us. In this league with the players we've already got, those additions can only help us progress and that's the aim for this season, of which we're quietly confident".

Lowestoft Town start their 2015/16 Vanarama National League North campaign on Saturday 8th August at home to AFC Telford United.

Terry Bullen