‘Not many players get that chance to play at Wembley’ – Joe Day relishing EFL Trophy chance

Cheltenham Town goalkeeper Joe Day is looking to become a two-time EFL Trophy winner ahead of his showdown with one former club Peterborough in the tournament quarter-finals

Every day is a school day for Joe Day now that the Cheltenham Town goalkeeper is in the twilight years of his career.

The 34-year-old now has a different remit as a senior shot-stopper, splitting his time between keeping goal for the Robins and coaching his cohorts in the keeper set-up: a role he took up back in the summer.

12 months ago, Day was keeping goal for Yeovil Town in the National League South. After winning the first league title of his 17-year career, the opportunity to come back into the EFL in a hybrid role at Cheltenham alongside head coach Michael Flynn, someone he knows all too well from his Newport County days, was too good an opportunity to pass up.

“For me at this point of my career, it’s added an extra bit of interest. It’s just seeing it from a slightly different point of view,” he explains to Mirror Football .

“Being a goalkeeper for so many years and getting to this sort of age – I’m a dad of three kids – I feel like that coaching and teaching element comes quite natural. So for me, it’s more just sharing my experience and trying to help the other goalkeepers in that way.”

The plan was for Day to be back-up to Owen Evans. But when the Cheltenham keeper got injured, Day stepped up. He’s since become a big figure in a team that has picked up in League Two and put together a cup run in the EFL Trophy, meaning they are now within touching distance of Wembley.

For Day, there was the added focus of making sure he was giving his best for the team and still supporting those keepers around him, including 17-year-old Mamadou Diallo. It’s been a learning curve for all.

“It was definitely a balancing act to make sure [Evans] was ready when he was playing. And then for when he was injured, I had to be making sure that I was ready when called upon. For me, that was probably the biggest juggling point; trying to get that right.”

Day will be in between the posts on Wednesday night when Cheltenham bid to progress to the semi-finals of the Vertu Trophy. Ironically, that will see Day come face to face with Peterborough, the same team he won the competition with back in 2014.

“I wasn’t on the pitch, but I was in the squad,” Day recalls. “And we got all the way to Wembley and beat [Chesterfield] 3-1. So, yeah, I’ve got very good memories of winning this competition with Peterborough United.

“To then get them away in this draw, it’s funny, the old world, how it works. I had four years at Peterborough with Darren Ferguson there as well, another manager I’ve got a lot of respect for.

“As a team will look forward to going there and testing ourselves against League One opposition. Like I say, we’ve had a good run. So we’ll go there full of confidence and belief that we can beat them.”

Posh are the current holders of the competition after they became two-time winners last year and, given they are a division above the Robins, will represent a tough challenge for Day and co.

But after claiming the first league triumph of his career last season, Day is eager to add more honours to his resume.

“They’re achievements. To win anything in football is tough. To win a league match is tough. Nothing gets given to you. So, definitely, we look back on these sorts of things. They’re proud moments in your career.

“The younger players in the squad, I’ve told them that I’ve been to Wembley with this competition. This ain’t no joke. You can get to Wembley, you can have success with this.

“Not many players get that opportunity to play at Wembley. We’ve said in this competition before, not just myself, we’ve said that this is possibly, for some of us, the last time or the best opportunity you’re going to get to reach Wembley.

“That sort of mentality has hopefully helped us to get to this point. We just need to keep it going because now it’s within touching distance.”

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