I LEWIS PAGE

LEWIS PAGE

To sign a 25-year-old yet to reach his peak but with Europa League and League One experience already under his belt, it would be a coup for clubs throughout the EFL. This summer, Town did exactly that following the arrival of left-back Lewis Page. The Enfield born defender joined Weaver’s squad after leaving Exeter City at the end of last season, having previously played for Cambridge, Charlton and West Ham where he shared the pitch with the likes of Declan Rice and Dimitri Payet. A career that has had highs as well as injury lows, this is the story of Lewis Page’s journey to Harrogate Town.

Interview by Henry Whitaker

Page grew up in North London and was a selfconfessed “sporty kid”. He played football, cricket and golf to a high standard and before he reached his teenage years had to decide which sport he wanted to focus on.

The defender first kicked a football playing for Bishop Stortford Swifts and by the age of nine had already been scouted by West Ham United. Page was also involved with Hertfordshire’s County golf team, competing with other youngsters whose handicaps would put the local club member to shame. Ideally, Page would have played both sports for longer but a continuous clash of dates meant he had to pick one over the other. He chose football - not a bad decision.

In his early years with the Irons, especially the first, Page admits it was a case of getting used to surroundings and trying to fit into a group that had been together since six years old. “The first year was me getting used to the tempo,” Page recalls. “I remember playing a school game in the afternoon before then going to West Ham in the evening and the difference in levels was huge so I had to get used to that. It wasn’t until I was 15/16 where I felt I could handle things physically.”

The now left-back had always played on that side of the pitch, sometimes as more of a winger but the majority of his time was spent marking opposition wingers from the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and Man United. It was a big test for Page who admits he was a small kid, but it was all part of the challenge and becoming as technically good as possible until his body started to fill out. Page reveals how his lack of physicality almost cost his youth team scholarship as he reckons three out of the six coaches believed that would let him down. However, the defender was offered a scholarship and played almost every game in his first year.

West Ham United is famous for producing talented players from their academy; Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard, Joe Cole and Mark Noble are just a few. In Page’s youth team, he played alongside the likes of Declan Rice, Reece Oxford, Martin Samuelsen and Josh Cullen, all of who now play at a high level - Rice, in particular, was a near ever-present for England’s Euro 2020 campaign.

The Iron’s youth team came second in their under 18s league playing against the best academies in the country, and a few years later they’d go on to win the Under-21 Premier League Cup.

Before that though, Page would sign his first professional contract with the East London club.

“It’s been my biggest moment, 100%,” Page states. “I remember getting in the car and getting a call from my agent saying I’d been offered two years and I was absolutely buzzing. I immediately started ringing all my mates and family and that’s what makes it my favourite moment. They were happy for me and I was moving into digs with some of the other lads so that was a nice feeling knowing I was going to be with my mates, having a laugh and doing what I love with them.” Like many footballers, a huge part of them making it professional is down to the time, energy and support from their parents. For Page, it was no different and he speaks fondly of his dad Martin, in particular, who would always encourage him to achieve the dream.

“There were times throughout the academy years where I just wanted to pack it in as I didn’t think I could handle it but I don’t think my dad would have kept taking me 3-4 nights a week if he didn’t think I had a chance. He’s probably my biggest critic, giving me the classic rundown of what I did right and wrong on the journey home but if I didn’t have him doing that I think I would have taken my foot off the pedal, he kept me on it.”

Sam Allardyce was the man in charge when Page signed his pro deal but it was Slaven Bilic who would hand him his first-team debut. The defender often found himself training with the first team despite only being 18 years old and it was a “massive jump” being around the likes of Dimitri Payet and Andy Carroll, but an experience he loved.

Pages’ West Ham debut came in July 2015 in the club’s first Europa League qualifier match of

the season with the defender playing the full 90 minutes in the Irons’ 3–0 victory over Lusitanos. It was a day that will live long in the memory of Page, who weeks before making his debut, sensed the chance was coming.

“We came back to pre-season really early, before June had ended so I thought there was a good chance I’d be in the squad for the qualifiers. An injury to one of our fullbacks meant I came into the starting XI and I played really well, probably one of my best performances. I was just full of adrenaline for the entire time,” Page continues. “Upton Park was packed as it was our first European game in years so it was a great atmosphere. I was s******g myself though, I was properly nervous. I knew roughly 10 days before that it was coming so I had all that time for it to build up and the night before I was a bit stressed.”

Page went on to feature in the second leg of the third qualifying round but found himself on the losing side as Romanian side Astra Giurgiu beat West Ham 4-3 on aggregate. The day was made even worse for Page when in the closing stages of the match, he got a nasty ankle injury which kept him out of action for over two months, following an unnecessary challenge on the defender in the dying moments of the match. On his return to action, Page spent time with the under 21s, mainly to build up his fitness before venturing out on loan. He joined Cambridge for a month in January 2016 and played six times before his spell was up. The plan was for him to stay longer but breaking his toe during training put an end to that plan.

The month was a good experience for the then 19-year-old, however. It was his first taste of men’s football in England and the physicality was something he hadn’t experienced before, coming up against Adebayo Akinfenwa on his EFL debut can be best described as a ‘baptism of fire’.

After another spell on the treatment table, Page was again with the under 21s and featured in the side’s Under-21 Premier League Cup victory. West Ham would beat Liverpool in the semi-finals to then face Hull City over two legs. A penalty shoot-out was needed to decide the winners and it was the Irons who came out on top. That brought an end to the 2015/16 season and the following campaign, Page was back with the first team and part of their pre-season tour in America and then Austria. It was another new experience for the defender who was ready to start playing football week in, week out.

“My plan was to go on loan to a League One club,” he explains. “While in America we played some good teams and in Seattle, we were playing in front of 55,000 fans. That year was also the opening ceremony of the Olympic Stadium and I came on for 10 minutes against Juventus which was a great experience.”

The day after featuring against ‘The Old Lady’, Page was on his way to Coventry for a six-month loan. He would feature more than 20 times before January came around and although doing “OK” himself, he was part of a Coventry side which were struggling on and off the pitch. He returned to West Ham for just a couple of days before receiving news that League One side Charlton Athletic wanted to sign the

defender permanently. Once the manager and owners had given the green light Page saw the move as a “no brainer”.

“I had sat on the bench for a long time while at West Ham and they had just brought in Arthur Masuaku for a big fee so I knew I wasn’t going to get a chance,” Page explains. “A Premier League side has money and every position on the pitch had players they’d brought in for silly money so I never thought they’d change anything for me. I don’t think anyone was playing from the academy at that moment so it made my mind up for me.”

Page arrived at The Valley and was thrown straight into the team, featuring eight times before a horrible hamstring injury ended his season. While shepherding a ball out of a play, he got a slight nudge from an opponent and then when trying to slow down, it felt like his leg had “blown up”. The left-back couldn’t walk and a scan soon revealed the hamstring had completely ruptured. It meant an expected three to four months on the sidelines but it turned out to be half a year when a small slip during rehab meant he needed to go under the knife again. It was a nightmare situation for the young defender who was desperate to get back playing. The saving grace for Page was that he still had two years remaining on his contract, meaning there was time for him to work his way back into the team. Lee Bowyer was now in charge of The Addicks and the former Leeds United and West Ham player chose to include Page as soon as he was deemed fit. The 25-year-old featured towards the end of the 2017/18 campaign and started the following season with minutes and momentum under his belt. However, Page’s injury hell would not yet be over as the defender was battling with an niggling hip injury which came to a head against Scunthorpe United in October 2018. The former West Ham man wouldn’t play another competitive game until 2020.

“It just wasn’t healing,” the defender stresses, “and with that area, it’s heavily involved when playing football so I had to slowly build myself up. It was really tough as I had been playing well and the coaches were wanting me to play but I couldn’t even sit up. It was one of the most frustrating times,” He continues. “I had played with it for three months and everyone knew I had it. I wouldn’t train Fridays but I’d take tablets on matchday to get through the pain but it just got gradually worse and popped.”

“I thought about stopping football completely but I got back playing in March for the under 23s. The lads had got promoted so we were now in the Championship and I thought it was the chance to start again. Then in the last pre-season game, I injured my hamstring again so that killed me. Trying to get back to fitness, I just didn’t feel right. My legs constantly felt tight and then I’d just get injured. I thought about packing it in, not that I knew what I’d have done otherwise. I just didn’t want to feel the stress and agro from it all.”

The defender wouldn’t play a competitive game throughout the 2019/20 season and when that ended prematurely due to Covid, Page knew his time at Charlton had come to an end. They didn’t offer him a new deal and so the left-back was on the lookout for a fresh start.

He went on a trial with Plymouth Argyle and impressed the coaching staff at Home Park. Page was offered a monthly rolling contract due to his injury history but when Exeter then came to the table with a year deal, the defender swiftly moved to the South West of the country.

Page went on to have a much better season, playing 35 times for the Grecians. It was the consistency he wanted and needed if he was to restart his career. He was offered a new deal at the end of the 2020/21 season but Page sought to look at alternative options, one being Sunderland where the defender was set to trial for a week. However, three days into that, he felt tightness in his hamstring. Timing had crippled his chances of a move back to League One.

Sunderland’s loss would prove to be Harrogate Town’s gain as Simon Weaver soon declared his interest in the 25-year-old. After a chat with the manager, Page saw the move as a great opportunity and on July 16 2021, he became a Town player.

So far, it has been a stop-start debut season for Page. Since making his league debut for the North Yorkshire side on the opening day of the season, he’s been in and out of the starting XI due to an innocuous cut to the cheek and a minor hamstring tweak. Nonetheless, the defender has found himself a key figure down the left and proved to be instrumental in away victories against Leyton Orient and Mansfield Town.

Page feels he’s now in a place where he knows what his body can and can’t take, and it’s now a case of working that perfect balance to help himself and the team kick on this season.

“We’ve discussed why the injury has happened but I feel like I’m getting there now. We’re in the process of working out what works best for me and over the years, I’ve decided what works best for my body. I’ve really enjoyed it here so far and moved up to Leeds, it’s great up here. It’s been a positive start for the team and on a personal note, I want to reach that 35 game mark.”

“I’d like to get a few more assists and a couple of goals which will hopefully help the team finish as high as possible. If we get to the playoffs or better then that’s great. All we’ve got to do is keep aiming as high as possible.”