Source: Northern_Echo
Bridge-Wilkinson puts his frustrations behind him
A 2-1 win at Liverpool in front of almost 45,000 would be a dream debut for any footballer, surely Not for Marc Bridge-Wilkinson it wasn't.[LNB] These days he's an integral part of the Darlington team, but back in 1998 he was a fresh-faced 19-year-old who had come through the ranks at Derby and 13 years on he remembers his bow in senior football with frustration.[LNB] "My overriding memory, and I know this sounds really strange, is that I only played a couple of minutes, which was the frustrating part," says the midfield playmaker.[LNB] "When there were 20-25 minutes left the gaffer, Jim Smith, said he was going to put me on. So I warmed up, but I didn't go on for a while.[LNB] "I was waiting and it still didn't happen and in the end I only got maybe three or four minutes, touched the ball a couple of times and gave a foul away.[LNB] "I'd been buzzing to get out there, but it was over so quickly.[LNB] "I remember walking off the pitch clapping the fans, as you do, feeling gutted. I know you shouldn't think like that after making your debut in a win at Anfield, but I was absolutely gutted.[LNB] "There's not many better places to play and, looking back on it, it was pretty special.[LNB] "And as it turned out that was the only chance I got to play in the Premier League. That was it.[LNB] "I'm really grateful I had the opportunity because so many players don't have that chance. But I'm also gutted it was only for a short period of time."[LNB] Although his initial taste of senior football is tinged with regret, Bridge-Wilkinson is quick to point out that he has gone on to enjoy all his career, wherever it has taken him, with his current base being The Northern Echo Arena.[LNB] He moved from Carlisle in October, initially on loan.[LNB] He has since become a key figure in Mark Cooper's side, causing havoc for opposition teams from his position just behind the strikers.[LNB] His dead-ball delivery and impressive goal tally - ten in only 24 games - makes him the first name on Cooper's team sheet, with his latest strike coming in Tuesday's league draw at Gateshead.[LNB] It was one of his more noteworthy efforts: a 40-yard wind-assisted free-kick that bounced between the keeper's hands. Still, they all count.[LNB] He cannot expect to be so fortuitous today when Quakers aim to take a step towards Wembley in the first tie of their two-legged FA Trophy semi-final with Gateshead: part two of the trilogy.[LNB] After making his Derby bow against a Liverpool team featuring the likes of Robbie Fowler, Michael Owen and Paul Ince, battling it out in non-league was, perhaps, not quite what Bridge-Wilkinson envisaged after a career which has taken him to Port Vale, Stockport, Bradford and Carlisle.[LNB] He has, however, no regrets about not making it in the top-flight, nor does he moan about not becoming a regular in the side at Derby.[LNB] Rather than regrets, he glows with a vibrant sense of appreciation, an acknowledgment that he's earning a living from doing something that millions of others would love to do.[LNB] "It's just an extension of school life. We get to play football for a living until we enter the real world.[LNB] "At some point that is going to come to all of us unless you get to the Premier League and make ridiculous amounts of money," says Bridge-Wilkinson, who is undertaking his coaching badges as well as studying from home for a sports science degree.[LNB] "I never really progressed into playing regularly at Derby. I was on the bench ten or 15 times in league and cup games, not including friendly games, which don't count.[LNB] "It was a brilliant time and I was learning every day from a high calibre of players.[LNB] "For all the frustrations that there were from not playing, when you've got people like Georgi Kinkladze in front of you you've got no qualms.[LNB] "The likes of Kinkladze, Stefano Eranio, Wanchope, Dean Sturridge and Chris Powell were all there.[LNB] "Eranio was fantastic, Wanchope was out there on his own in terms of what he used to do sometimes, Igor Stimac was top drawer and Kinkladze was without a shadow of a doubt the best person with the ball at his feet that I have played with.[LNB] "It was one of those situations where you hope for your chance but unfortunately it didn't come so it was time to move on.[LNB] "It was just nice to be playing after I left Derby when I dropped down to League One, at Port Vale, where I spent ten or 11 years.[LNB] "I've enjoyed most of my career, but that first season at Port Vale was probably my most successful.[LNB] "We won the Football League Trophy and I scored something like 15 goals that season.[LNB] "We went on a 20-game unbeaten run too so it was probably the most successful time, but enjoyment-wise I enjoyed it as much as I've enjoyed all my career.[LNB] "I'm enjoying my time now and it's great to be playing football. It's something you dream about as a kid and to get to do that on a day-to-day basis is fantastic."[LNB] BORN in Coventry and brought up in Nuneaton, dreams of playing at Wembley were formed when an eight-year-old Bridge-Wilkinson saw his local team, the Sky Blues, lift the FA Cup after beating Tottenham in 1987.[LNB] "I watched it on the television," he remembers. "We went out at half-time to play football in the park, came back for the second half and after the game it was a great time to be a Coventry fan.[LNB] "Keith Houchen was a hero, Micky Gynn, Dave Bennett, all those boys. It was a good time. I had a season ticket when I was 14 or 15 but when I became full-time at Derby I had to knock that on the head."[LNB] Those Wembley dreams have since been realised, though not in the manner he wanted.[LNB] A year ago he was part of the Carlisle team torn apart by Southampton in last season's Football League Trophy, though he did win the competition in 2001 while with Port Vale, which makes him one of a handful of lower league players who can boast of having played at both Wembley and the Millennium Stadium.[LNB] Now the National Stadium is back on the agenda, and he said: "It would be nice to get to Wembley, it really is a phenomenal football ground.[LNB] "When you start out in your career you have certain ambitions, certain things you want to do. There's realistic ones and there's the ones that you dream of, like playing at Wembley. I've been fortunate enough to tick that one off my list.[LNB] "I played there last year for Carlisle but to go there again would be fantastic. We got battered, lost 4-1, and it was absolutely dire. Southampton are a good team, but we caused a lot of our own problems to start with and once you do that you're in trouble.[LNB] "When I played at the Millennium with Port Vale we were on a good run of form and managed to beat Brentford that day.[LNB] "It's another great stadium and a great day to look back on as we won the trophy. It's the only trophy I've won.[LNB] "You want to be remembered for what you've won and what you've achieved in football and as we speak that's the only winner's medal I've got. It's something that I want to add to."[LNB] He could to add to that solitary medal twice over in the coming weeks.[LNB] Now at the business end of the season, Darlington are battling for honours on two fronts: promotion via the play-offs and fighting for a Trophy final place.[LNB] Bridge-Wilkinson could be viewed as having taken a backward step given that not long ago he was in League One, where he has spent the bulk of his career.[LNB] Observers at the Arena might suggest he deserves to still be there.[LNB] It is only a year ago he was deemed worthy of a place in Carlisle's Wembley team, and three since being in the side that came so close to beating Leeds United in the League One play-offs.[LNB] Asked if he is too good for the Conference, he says: "I don't know about that. I'm at this level for a reason. You just have to do whatever you can, no matter what level you're at.[LNB] "Being honest, I didn't think I'd go into the Conference at this age. I thought I had a lot to give Carlisle or any other Football League club out there, but you can only go where you're wanted.[LNB] "For all the talk and speculation about people saying they're interested in you, at the end of the day my choice was sit on the bench for Carlisle or come and play some games for Darlington.[LNB] "I felt wanted here by the gaffer and the chairman. It's a great bunch of lads and a good club so that made the decision to drop into the Conference easier.[LNB] "Football is a short career and when you look back at the end of it you don't want to be saying that you sat on the bench for two years when you could have been playing. At my age I needed to be playing games."[LNB] Darlington are simply glad that those games are being played in a black and white shirt, but there's no chance of him being used for only the last three or four minutes.[LNB]
