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Jordan Green has only been a Gillingham player for a few weeks but there is already a blossoming love between the player and the fans.
The tricky winger has played with no fear, taking on players and influencing games. He went off to a standing ovation from fans at Priestfield on Saturday and bagged his first goal in the 2-0 win at Wimbledon on Tuesday.
Green said: “I came on trial, I had to prove that I really do want this, there was no slacking off, no ifs, buts and maybes. This is what I want, I have to put in the effort every time. This is me.
“I was part-time last year and a little bit before that I wasn’t doing anything so I think it is important for me to not slack and show exactly what I can do, week in, week out, put the effort in and prove why I should be here.”
Green has already done the hard graft in football, with a rollercoaster career which included time at Premier League Bournemouth, a transfer to League 2 Yeovil on a free and then a money-move to Championship side Barnsley.
Loan spells in the lower leagues followed before dropping into non-league and eventually Sunday League. At no time has he felt so much support from the stands as he has in the first few weeks of being a Gillingham player.
Responding to the fan reaction as he was substituted on Saturday, he said: “I couldn’t explain how I felt, I wasn’t expecting it of course, but to see the fans actually standing and clapping for me, it gave me so much confidence and so much love for the fans, getting behind me, helping me, supporting me.
“To have more people behind you is like ‘wow, go and do you, go and impress the fans’.
“I have never really had it before and it has really won me over, it feels special.”
That love for the fans might have cost him on Tuesday, however. Already on a booking for a foul, he almost dived in among them after scoring, risking a second yellow and a sending off.
He said: “I just thought, ‘if the ref says anything I would just tell him I got pushed into the crowd!' That was my excuse.”
It feels like a second chance for the 27-year-old in the Football League and he is certainly making the most of it.
“I feel very supported and I want to do well for the fans now,” he said.
“The gaffer (Neil Harris) has put so much trust in me, the fans have supported me since I have been here, it has been different class.”
And responding to the Carabao Cup win against Wimbledon, he said: “I think it is a great feeling, especially as we won on Saturday (against Rochdale in the league), to carry momentum and now hopefully we can get a little run going.
“They (Wimbledon) beat us on the first game of the season so it was important for us to go and bounce back and show them what we can really do. Both teams wanted to win, we wanted to do well, we tried to show it, whether it was the quality, or the effort we put in or the tackles, there is no malice.”
