Maidstone United's on-loan Brentford defender Jarvis Edobor was discovered by Terry Venables' former England assistant
00:00, 29 March 2019
Jarvis Edobor has told how he was discovered by a former England assistant manager.
Edobor, who's on loan at Maidstone from Championship club Brentford, was playing for Chalfont St Peter when he was spotted by Ted Buxton, Terry Venables' old right-hand man.
Buxton got the defender's career moving and, now 19, he's approaching the end of his third season at Griffin Park.
Edobor said: "Brentford helped me come into the professional game because I was playing non-league football.
“I was at Chalfont St Peter, which is quite low, very low, I think it’s below Ryman. That’s where I was.
“I was doing my A-levels actually and playing for the under-18s and got some recognition for the first team.
“From there I met a man called Ted Buxton who used to be assistant manager when Terry Venables was in charge of England.
“He was a great guy and he used to watch me and took a liking to me because of how hard I worked and how I carried myself.
“He helped me get an agent and everything and the rest is history.
“I got a trial at Brentford and they kept me there for quite some time, while I was still doing my A-levels and then at the end of that season they told me they’d like to give me a contract.
"We negotiated with my mum and a few of the coaches that I’d continue my A-levels so I got to play football part-time almost in my first year.”
Edobor's Brentford deal is up in the summer and he doesn't yet know whether he'll be kept on.
But the Bees appear to be a club going places with a new stadium on the way and their successful B-team model helping homegrown talent into the first-team squad.
Edobor said: "I think the club is really going in the right direction, the way they play and everything has changed under the new management and the B team has helped.
“There’s loads of B-team players who make their first-team debuts now because they’re so close to the first team.
“My contract ends at the end of the season and we’ll see where we’re going in a few weeks, how that’s going to work.
“I’m just working hard every day, trying my hardest and doing the things I know I can do and that will come if you’re good enough.
“You’ve just got to keep working towards something and keep working the best you can and not let it affect you too much and hopefully everything falls into place for you.
“Mentally, that is tough for footballers, that’s what makes it so hard.
“Obviously your contract can only be so long and at the end, depending on how you’re doing, everything’s up in the air.
“But you can’t let it affect you, you’ve got to keep working hard every day and keep doing what you can do.”
