Jon Gardner is set to make his debut for Ardley United on tomorrow night at Chalfont Wasps, just 72 hours after walking out on BGB Southern League Didcot Town, who he had signed for on Friday.
The Oxford Mail reports that the former Oxford City winger left Loop Meadow Stadium on Saturday after being named as substitute for their Southern League Division 1 South & West game against Beaconsfield.
Gardner said he was led to believe he would be starting. He had only signed from Brackley Town the day before. Didcot boss Stuart Peace said he would never play for his side while he was in charge. “People can make up their own minds about what happened,” said Peace. “I planned to give him half-an-hour against Beaconsfield. No new player can expect to walk into the side. It’s not Robinho we are talking about here, it’s Jon Gardner.”
Asked if there was any way back for the former Banbury player, Peace replied: “No, not unless I have my head cut off. I know he is registered as a player here, but he will never play for me.”
Gardner said: “I don’t want to say any more about it. The reason I walked out was he told me I was going to play, it wasn’t because I was on the bench. If he had phoned me afterwards I would have explained why I walked out. We could have had a chat, man to man. But he made me feel an idiot in front of the other players. I think it’s a bit pathetic really. I wish it had never happened.”
But now it looks as though Ardley boss Kevin Brock, whom Gardner played for at Banbury, has come to his rescue and he will make his Premier Division bow at Chalfont.
Gardner added: “We had a laugh about it, he asked me if I fancied being on the bench for their game at Chalfont!” said Gardner. “I’m definitely in the team. When I was at Brackley we were told we should register with a side in the Hellenic League so that if we were injured or were out of the side we could play for them. To be honest, it’s nice to be playing football again.”
Success At Awards Night -12th June
