One of the articles in Saturday's match programme is a longform interview with Argyle apprentice Joe Mwaro, who recently featured in match-day squads against Torquay United and Queens Park Rangers.
Here is an excerpt of the interview - be sure to buy the Blackpool programme for the full feature...
--
Last season, Joe Mwaro had an experience he’ll never forget in the FA Youth Cup, reaching the quarter-final of the competition, at 15 years of age, as part of Argyle’s Under-18s squad.
Just five months later, the first-year scholar was living out his dream, standing pitchside at Plainmoor, watching his number be shown to over 5,000 fans in attendance as he came on as a substitute for Argyle against Torquay United.
Now 16, Mwaro has been a regular feature in Head Coach Jamie Lowry’s side over the last 14 months and has become a reliable and crucial part of the team, despite only just starting his two-year journey as a scholar at Home Park.
Looking back on the experience, the defender was shocked but ecstatic about the opportunity to be involved with Tom Cleverley’s new-look Argyle.
“Literally, the day before Torquay was my first ever training session with the first team,” Mwaro said. “I never thought I’d be in this position last year. One thing that did run through my head was James Bradley (Under-16s Head Coach) and Jamie [Lowry] saying to me, ‘all it takes is one opportunity for you to come up and make the next step.’
“So, that session, I was just being loud and demanding, trying to be confident within the first team, and then the next day, I was asked to be on the bench at Torquay.
“I haven't really stopped thinking about it since coming on. Torquay is a club that's near me, and I had a lot of people I know watching [from the stands]. It was a crazy moment, and I’ll probably never forget it. It was really surreal.
“I went into the game with no expectations of actually coming on. I thought it might just be about putting me in the squad to help get experience in the team, but then, as the goals kept going in, I was thinking, ‘oh, it's 4-0, 5-0 - something might happen, and I might get on here,’ and then I got the call. I think it was about 10 minutes on the pitch, but that experience as a whole was so nice.
“It was quite a big jump, really, for me, but I was excited. I didn't really know what to expect in men's football because I haven't really played against men before. Seeing it from the side and the speed of the game is crazy, and if I get thrown into this, there are a lot of people here, so obviously the nerves were quite a bit more, but in a good way.”
