Nathan Jones wore his heart on his sleeve as he openly discussed just how much Brighton & Hove Albion means to him in an exclusive interview with Seagulls Player.
The Welshman revisited the magic moment of last season when Leo Ulloa clinched a play-off place in the dying moments at Nottingham Forest, explaining the joy he felt as the goal went in.
He told seagulls.co.uk, "It's hard to describe, even thinking about it now gives me goosebumps.
“It was euphoric; it's what you work for, for moments like that. When you think about Craig Mackail-Smith and the work we did with him and for him to believe. I couldn't have been any more delighted if I had scored it myself.*
“It's all those things that make football and sport unbelievable, but when you do it with the club you love, when you put your whole life into it, it's not a job, it's a lifestyle; and when you see something like that, you cannot buy it, no matter how much money you spend; there's no guarantee that you'll get that kind of euphoria.*
“All credit to Forest, Burnley and Reading, every single part of that day was just phenomenal.”
Albion's first-team coach also explained the coincidence that another one of his treasured football memories was at the City Ground during his playing days.*
“At that end at Forest I had two of the best days of my life, because at Yeovil we went there and we *were 2-0 down in the semi-final of the play-offs and we ended up winning 5-2.*
“The winning goal was scored at that end by Arron Davies and I remember celebrating in that corner; we'd just got to Wembley and it was almost déjà-vu.
“I had three outstanding days with Albion: we won two leagues and a play-off final but it is quite ironic because two of the best days I've had in football were in that end.”*
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Jones's desire to see the Seagulls succeed is clear and the Welshman lifted the lid on how he is off the pitch and how the Seagulls’ ethics are still the same as when he was a player.
“I'm a simple guy really, I like simple things. I was brought up by with a good family from a Welsh mining community.*
“I like enjoying my life and I enjoy living in Brighton and living by the sea. I enjoy the city and the tranquillity of it.*
“I enjoyed playing for the club because we had a great group of players; players like Charlie Oatway, Danny Cullip, Paul Watson, Bobby Zamora, all the players that came in.*
“We had a great team spirit and every day was a joy to come in. Now to come back here and work, the club's changed totally, but it still has a lot of the good core values that we had as players - but now it's global.*
“The training ground is one of the best in the country including the Premier League, the stadium is just fantastic and I just love coming into work every day to work in that quality of environment. *
“I love the Albion and I love being here: it feels like my life's complete.”
Original article