This week’s episode of A-Leagues All Access centres on former Premier League defender and current Newcastle Jets co-captain Carl Jenkinson. Watch the full episode below.
Number 34 flashed green on the fourth official’s board at Victoria Park, as a teenage Carl Jenkinson prepared to take to the field on his league debut for Charlton Athletic.
The Addicks were on the road on that night in February 2011, taking on Hartlepool United in an English League One fixture.
Sat in the stands was a scout from Premier League giants Arsenal. The scout was there to watch Jenkinson – not that the 19-year-old was aware of that fact at the time.
Later that night, long after the final whistle, Jenkinson’s father would later relay that news to his son.
It was a revelation that brought the full-back to tears, fearing he’d blown his chance at the Premier League.
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“I remember it clear as day,” Jenkinson says. “I was so enthusiastic.”
Jenkinson replaced the injured Simon Francis in Charlton’s backline, just seven minutes into the second half.
He tells the story to A-Leagues All Access; the current Newcastle Jets co-captain is the protagonist of the latest episode of the docuseries, titled Away From Home.
More than 12 years have passed since his league debut for Charlton, but the memory sticks vividly in Jenkinson’s mind after a moment of near-catastrophe that threatened to stall his first steps into professional football.
“I flew into a tackle,” Jenkinson says. “It was a bit of a naughty tackle. There was a risk of getting sent off, borderline.”
Charlton were 2-1 down and chasing the game, and Jenkinson let debut exuberance get the better of him in a foul committed right under the linesman’s nose.
“I remember the linesman going to me: ‘Don’t worry son, I’ll tell him it’s just a yellow’.
“I stayed on the pitch, and then after that I kept my place in the team.”
Jenkinson made seven consecutive league starts for Charlton following his debut, putting together a strong run of form that lasted to the conclusion of the 2010-11 campaign.
Just months later, he was signed by Arsenal.
From time to time, Jenkinson reflects on that moment at Victoria Park.
He thinks about those discomforting seconds between his agricultural debut challenge, awaiting the referee’s determined punishment.
And he thinks of the linesman who, with a quiet word into the referee’s ear, prevented the 19-year-old debutant from being sent to the stands.
“I always look back to that moment and just think: I’d love to buy that linesman a beer!” Jenkinson says.
“I didn’t think I played that well. My dad was sat on the sofa in the evening after the game and said: ‘Arsenal were there today, the scout was watching you’. And I remember I started crying.
“I was upset because I thought I didn’t have a great game, and he said: ‘Don’t worry son, (the scout) loved you and they’re coming to the next game’.”
WATCH A-LEAGUES ALL ACCESS EPISODE 18: AWAY FROM HOME
Produced by KEEPUP Studios and JAMTV, each new episode of the docuseries will debut on Thursday at 7:30pm AEDT on 10 Play, KEEPUP.COM.AU, the KEEPUP app. It will be available on Australia’s fastest growing streaming service, Paramount+, and will then be broadcast on 10 Bold at 2:00pm AEDT on Sunday afternoons as an appetiser for the evening’s Isuzu UTE A-League Men game on the same channel.
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