The day is 15th May 2016. The sun is shining on Paradise, the chants are being belted out and Celtic are six goals up on the final day in what is a real party mood at Parkhead, as the Hoops’ wrap up their fifth straight league title by a huge fifteen points. Not a single soul in the house is unhappy.
Jack Aitchison is one of these happy souls – a young West Lothian lad, Jack sits patiently on the bench, wondering if he will get the nod from Ronny Deila, in what the Norwegian’s swansong game at Celtic Park. Luckily, he does with fifteen minutes left – the chance to impress at the age of just sixteen has dawned, and for a lad who has just left school, this is a dream come true. The fourth official’s board comes up, and Aitchison replaces Celtic’s main attacking threat, Tom Rogic, in a bid to get himself onto the scoresheet.
This is the proudest moment of his life so far – but it will only be temporarily so.
Just two minutes later, Aitchison latches onto a loose touch from a Motherwell defender which takes im one-on-one against the keeper. He couldn’t have asked for a more clearcut chance to start his Hoops’ career; and promptly drilled it past the hapless Connor Ripley to send him into dreamland. From now, he holds the record for the youngest goalscorer in the club’s competitive history, and the Bhoy who joined Celtic at the age of six couldn’t believe his eyes; leaping around almost hysterical at what has just happened.
Yet, fast forward just four-and-a-half years, and Jack is now in the Hertfordshire suburb of Stevenage, plying his trade in League Two – the fourth division of English football, on loan from Barnsley. Many wonder why and just how his career trajectory has gone so downhill; does it owe to personal reasons? Injuries? Or bad attitude? Surely, the record holder at the most prestigious club in the country must have some flaws to his personality.
But it couldn’t be further from the truth: Jack is a committed, professional sportsman who simply just loves his playing time too much to want to sit on the bench. Speaking to the Glasgow is Green podcast, Aitchison explained his career change; stating he’d rather be playing football than rotting away anywhere.
“For the last year, year and a half, I’d wanted out,” Aitchison explained. “I actually tried to get out before I went to Forest Green on loan. I believe everything happens for a reason and obviously, I went there and done well, which stood me in good stead for getting that move to Barnsley. It was obviously a bit of a difficult one. It was nearly the full lockdown that a deal was getting sorted. There was back and forth; it was a bit tough. I don’t think Celtic really wanted me to go, but I just tried to get out and play football.”
“I didn’t see a pathway for me there. I was really frustrated, so I wanted to get out and get a fresh start somewhere new. Sometimes that’s what it takes. Day to day, you arrive at Lennoxtown about 9 am, go straight up for breakfast. You’ve then got an hour to 90 minutes to chill. You do all your pre-activation in the gym, go out and train, get your lunch.
His move to Barnsley on Deadline Day in October didn’t quite work out as planned; the midfielder didn’t even make an appearance for the Tykes’ before being shipped out to Stevenage the same day. They have fared well without him, reaching the top-half as opposed to their literal last-minute survival on the final day of last season, given Wigan Athletic’s point deduction. But the winger doesn’t let it faze him – despite living in a hotel since October. Making 13 appearances, he seems to be coping well with the demands of League Two football given his injury layoffs.
“It depends on how many games a week you have. Maybe you’ll go in and do extra gym work or recovery. Sometimes the days are long or quite short. The more you’re up there, you adapt and become professional. When it’s going good, it’s good, but when you have tough times, sometimes the training ground can be a tough place to be.”
They are wise words from a man whose career started to stagnate just as Celtic – unfortunately for Jack – came into the best period of their recent history.
If he does well in his time in Hertfordshire, and returns to the Tykes and excels in the Championship, then we may see him linked with a move back home; let’s hope it happens.