Houghton excited by Parkway challenge
The traditional curtain raiser of Argyle’s pre-season schedule is fast approaching, and Jordan Houghton is looking forward to getting back out on pitch again as the Greens prepare to take on Plymouth Parkway on Saturday.
For the past five seasons, Argyle and Parkway have begun their summer warm-up matches with a game and this season is no different.
Jordan made his return to life in a green shirt at Bolitho Park last season, in a 5-1 win for the Pilgrims, and is looking forward to heading back there again.
He said, “I will be nice to get out on the pitch again in front of the fans.
“This was my first game last season, so it’ll be nice to go back and remember that.
“It was an enjoyable game last time, packed out and I’m sure it’ll be full again on Saturday.”
Relationships between the two clubs are strong; the annual fixture is now a regular occurrence and there has been a pathway for younger players at Argyle to spend time on loan at Parkway.
The friendly nature of the fixture, as well as the proximity of the clubs, makes this a popular fixture for both sets of supporters – Saturday’s game is already sold out.
Jordan feels that links with local clubs are important and sees the relationship with Parkway as a very strong one.
“These games sum up the club and the city really.
“To play Parkway as the first game of every season, get the fans in, it’s a very friendly, family orientated day.
“We have that little walk from the coach to the ground, there are loads of fans, lots of kids, it’s just a perfect game really.”
Pre-season fixtures always attract a lot of interest, it’s the first chance for fans to see the new players and the new kit and for the players, it’s a chance to play in front of supporters again and break up the relentless nature of pre-season training.
“We’re really looking forward to it, obviously pre-season is a long and tough time, so it’ll be nice to get out and play football again.
“The training has been good. I have had different, more old school pre-seasons in the past, but this is different it’s good and with a lot more ball work.
“It has been very enjoyable, and we can see why the sessions have been planned the way they have.
“That’s good for us as players because we can get on board with it and see why Elliot [Turner] is doing the things he’s doing with us.
“You want to win, that’s engrained in us as players. We do though have more of an emphasis on running harder and getting those metres in.”
With the majority of the squad signed on and continuing from last season, it won’t be the usual ‘getting to know each others game that is quite often seen in the early matches in pre-season.
The Argyle squad is settled and has seen just two new arrivals so far in Matt Butcher and Mickel Miller.
Jordan believes that this will be a benefit for the squad going forward and has been impressed with the new recruits so far.
He said, “It’s a great group, we are a tight unit on and off the pitch and the new lads have settled in really well - there was never any doubt about that.
“It’ll be nice to get out and play with the lads again, it’s different from the training ground, but I think it’ll be a bit easier as we have kept pretty much the whole squad.”
The game kicks off at 3pm on Saturday and Bolitho Park is sold out. Anyone without a ticket can follow all of the action on the club’s social media pages and website.
