Goals, goals, goals.
That’s all that happened every time Joe Hatch touched the ball for Argyle’s Under-18s last season, it seemed. Now, having signed his first professional deal, Joe has had the opportunity to shine in front of the Green Army at Home Park and is embarking on a new loan journey up the M5 at Taunton Town.
Kicking a ball for the first time at the age of five, Joe’s uncle’s love for football overtook his Dad’s for rugby, with football shirts quickly becoming a part of his wardrobe at an early age.
However, joining a youth team in Braunton wasn’t easy for a youthful Hatch, due to being too young for the side, which sent him crying in anger because of his eagerness to play.
Fast forward 13 years, and he was making his first team debut for the only team he thinks of now, Plymouth Argyle, but shares full thanks to those around him for helping him get to the point he’s at.
“The only thing I've ever really wanted to do is football; there hasn't really been a backup plan,” Hatch said.
“I played grassroots from six to about 12, and then I was in the academy from 13 onwards, after coming through Chivenor Soccer School. It’s not an academy, but it's for higher footballers in that area and is more of a pathway to professional teams. It was an easy way to get academies to see you and showcase yourself. We had a showcase game against Argyle, then I got on trial, and I’ve been here ever since.
“I loved all of my time in the Academy, after joining at 13. It was good and I really enjoyed it. I loved playing against different teams. Especially when we were younger, we used to play against the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United for various reasons, and they were great experiences.
“It's obviously all about developing, learning, training at different venues, and I loved that. Because I lived quite far away in North Devon, my Dad did lots and lots of traveling for me. Taking me to training two or three times a week, two hours there and two hours back on school nights. He dedicated a lot of this time to me, so I appreciate that from him.
“I made some really good mates that I still talk to now. Some of my best mates are still from the Academy, and I can’t thank them enough.
“I didn’t start out as a number nine. In grassroots, I just played anywhere; I didn’t care because it was no more than seven-a-side, and you would just go anywhere, wouldn't you?
“I've always been an attacking player, and then I remember I joined the Academy and was more of a wing-back because I was quite fit and I could run for ages! Then I started scoring more goals at the under-14s and -15s level and they decided to shift me up front because of my height, strength, and speed for my age. We just knocked the ball in behind and I would just score.
“The Academy pushed me to be a more attacking-minded player, and it's worked out.”
Progressing through the age groups, Joe earned the most important decision of all: a two-year scholarship with the Academy.
His first year is a season he will never forget, as Argyle came away as double league winners, claiming the Merit League One and Youth Alliance League titles.
Before that season, Joe had experienced time with the Under-18s, as part of Darren Way’s squad, which he believed helped pave his way to an outstanding two years as a scholar.
He said: “When I was 16, we had Darren as coach of the 18s, and I remember I was playing with the under-16s and the 18s called me over. Minutes later I scored my first goal. From then, I played a lot from September until probably February, but because decisions were coming up, they started to prioritise more of the second years and first years.
“I did play a lot of football for them when I was 16, though, which really helped me develop and make that transition to the first year easier for me because I'd already played with the previous first years, and it was a standard I was already used to.
“That double-winning season was a good season for me personally. I was in and out of the squad because of little niggles and stuff, but I scored 26 goals that season in 40-odd games. The main thing was obviously how good a season it was for the lads. I think we lost three games out of about 50 that season. We were just known as serial winners. We had no weak links in the team, and everyone bonded together.
“Training was very competitive, but it was such a good environment to be around because we just won. Everyone pushed each other, and there wasn't any slack. When you're winning games, you're going to be confident, but it continued through everything.
“I remember even pre-match, the talks we had amongst each other were just about keeping that momentum up. We had good technical players, but we were just all so linked together, had that chemistry, and worked so hard.
“Even when we used to play Category Two teams, like Swansea and Bournemouth, we'd still beat them through our determination and hard work. It was just a great squad and environment to be a part of.”
Joe’s second year started in a similar fashion to his first, finding the back of the net at an even better rate than the year previously.
From the outset, 14 goals in nine games, five of them coming in a 5-0 win over Bristol Rovers at Millennium Fields. A first-team debut against Burnley at Turf Moor. Anything he touched turned to gold, until the worst possible thing happened.
Cheltenham away, and a tackle ends Joe’s season.
“At the time, I just felt, as a second year, I had that job to be someone that everyone looks up to,” Joe explained. “I remember coming back from my hamstring injury at the end of my first year, and over the off-season, I was doing lots to get back fit. At the start of the season, I was getting back into the groove of things, and then from the beginning of September to mid-October, I think every game I played in, I scored in.
“I remember I made my debut for the first team two weeks before my injury happened. I started training with the first team more, and I was full of confidence again. We then play Cheltenham away, and I scored in the first 10 minutes. After the break, we were still winning, and I was so confident that I was trying new and different things.
“I remember Jensen [Ireland] giving me the ball, and I go to hook it over the defender's head, a sort of little flick, and I remember I tried to flick it, and this guy just runs straight into me. My knee just shattered.
“It was one of those when you know exactly that something's bad because I went down and I didn't even want to look down because I thought my leg was broken. I remember being in the worst pain and shock I've ever been in. I was put in a brace, but then went to the hospital on the way home with my Mum and Dad.
“I wanted it to be a bone break because it would mean less time out, but after the X-rays, we realised nothing was wrong with my bones. My dad and I looked at each other, and I thought everything over the last month or so, being at the highest point of my life, is just gone.
“I instantly had so much regret and just wished I had held the ball up and done something different. You obviously think back and say what if I did this or that.
“However, that injury opened my eyes a bit more. I know it's such a cliché thing to say, but having this injury changed my whole perspective on everything. I was literally talking to my dad every day about it and what to do around Christmas last year, and then if you fast forward to now, the hard work and dedication I had to put in to lose weight, get sharp, and love the game again makes me smile.
“When you’re injured, you have tough thoughts and ideas in your head of ‘I don't want to do this again. I don't want to play football again.’ At the start, I was in a bad place, but my family helped me a lot, and everything has turned out for the best for me.”
After several months of recovery, Joe found himself back on the pitch, but his next minutes of competitive football would come for Argyle’s first team, not the Under-18s.
Hatch was offered a professional contract by the Greens, showing the belief and support in the young forward. He went on to make five appearances for Head Coach Tom Cleverley’s side, before recently heading out to Taunton Town for a loan spell.
Hatch is ready to make a name for himself in Somerset, but is overjoyed with how his season started at Home Park.
“If you told me at the start of August that I would’ve already made five appearances and started three games for the first team, then I would've laughed at you,” he said. “It’s been unreal, and I'm so grateful that the gaffer has put trust in me to start games and to come on to try and impact them.
“Nothing's done yet, though. I want to keep on pushing forward and keep on trying to get that first goal for Argyle as well, when I return from my loan spell.
“I’m full of excitement [about going to Taunton], because I've never really been with a team other than Argyle.
“I couldn’t wait to meet my new teammates and see different styles of football and how they do it. In my first game, I won a penalty, and I expressed myself well, I think. I really enjoyed it. It was definitely a good learning curve for me as well, because playing at different standards opens up different opportunities for me. They all made me feel really welcome.”
