When the transfer window opens there’s always lots of speculation about where players might end up.
Fans will talk about how a player from the north of the country will end up playing for the southernmost club in the EFL and that would be considered a realistic transfer if the two clubs play at a similar level.
However, from the footballers’ perspective, things are very different.
The Deck’s Luke Payne had a conversation with former MK Dons, Crewe and Northampton player Daniel Powell to discuss his playing career and his life after playing professionally.
The winger started his career at MK Dons after trialling for the academy at Wimbledon FC.
At the time Wimbledon had only had teams from U14 and upwards. Powell played up a year as a 13-year-old in his trial, attempting to get into a side that contained the likes of Kieran Gibbs and Alex McCarthy. Eventually, he would settle playing for the MK Dons U14’s in the club’s first year.
Making a professional debut:
After a few years, Powell got his chance to play for the MK Dons first team. Then manager Roberto Di Matteo was dealing with an injury crisis so he opted to make use of his youth players.
Powell was named on the bench for an away game against Hartlepool, replacing the likes of Jermaine Easter and Aaron Wilbraham in the match-day squad.
The winger would go on to make his debut that game, a day he remembers fondly…
“As a 17-year-old scoring on my debut, it was the start of a whirlwind career, that was a surreal moment for me.
“It came out of nothing, I was only around the first team for a couple of weeks and with the injury crisis I was just thrown in.”
First time away from home:
In 2010, Powell had a loan spell with Durham-based side Darlington.
This was his first time playing for a northern club and it quickly became apparent that the forward felt out of his comfort zone…
“I think I was there for a month. The month came to an end and I was on the phone with John Gorman asking if I could come back because more than anything it’s just the opposite side of the world.
“That’s what it felt like at the time. I was on the phone, their manager was ringing up my manager to see if he can keep me for the rest of the season, while I was on the phone to John Gorman to see if he will bring me back.”
Breaking through into the first team and fighting for promotion:
Fortunately for Powell, he broke through into the first team permanently that season so he
no longer had to worry about leaving on loan. A few seasons in League One followed,
including two failed play-off attempts.
However, come the 2014/15 season, The Dons finally earned promotion to the Championship. Powell spoke on the motivation of the promotion-winning team…
“We knew we didn’t want to be in the playoffs because every time we got the playoffs we never even got to Wembley.
“Knowing how the play-offs can go, we were so desperate to finish in the top two. That’s what got us over the line. We had a crazy run of 10 out of 11 wins or something like that.”
In the same season, the Dons became giant killers, toppling Manchester United 4-0 in the
EFL Cup. Powell made a substitute appearance that day and even now, it’s a game that lives strong in the memory…
“Still to this day, people always ask me did you play that game? It was one of those surreal moments where I think it’ll be in Manchester United’s history forever won’t it where people will say you remember they lost to MK Dons?
“And it was every chance we got, we actually deserved to win the game as well funnily enough, it’s not like they dominated the game and missed a load of chances was it?
“We were probably the better team. Winning 4-0 was ridiculous really. It’s not like they had a weakened team out either, they had a strong team.”
The emergence of Dele Alli:
MK Dons had a particularly successful squad that season, including names that would go on to find success at a much higher level. The standout among these was fellow academy
graduate Dele Alli…
“Dele had insane fitness levels. He took pre-season running to a different level. We were always grouped in terms of fitness levels when we returned for pre-season.
“There were the boys who were fit and trained in the off-season, the boys who ticker over but didn’t let themselves get out of shape and the boys who enjoyed their summer a bit too much.
“Dele was in the fit group but was really in a group of his own. In most running drills he would be lapping players.
“What made Dele stand out from other players his age was his maturity on the football pitch. He was so fearless, so tenacious and brave. He was grabbing games by the scruff of the neck at the age of 18 which is remarkable.”
Departing MK Dons:
Alli may have been a high-profile player for The Dons but Powell made a name for himself in Buckinghamshire as well.
The forward spent roughly a third of his career at MK Dons and has the third most appearances for the club, an impressive 230 games. In this time he scored 37 goals which is enough to make him the club’s fifth top goal-scorer of all time.
However, he easily could’ve departed sooner than he did…
“I nearly went to Blackpool, Bournemouth, a few of them got close.
“When they’re not happy with what you’re doing so they’re like you can go out on loan, so I agreed everything, ready to go out on loan and last minute said no, we want you to play.”
Eventually, Powell would leave The Dons during the reign of Robbie Neilson. This was a big change for the forward and was one of the hardest moments of his career…
“When I left MK Dons was a tough time for me, I was there for so long, it was my boyhood club.”
Relegation with Northampton:
“I signed for Northampton I think within a couple of days. I had it already lined up at the time so I knew where I was going.
“A couple of MK Dons fans weren’t happy about (me) going to Northampton but I wanted to stay local.”
Unfortunately, Northampton suffered relegation in Powell’s first season with the club, despite having high expectations at the time…
“They had a big budget, they had a right go and were one of the promotion favourites at the beginning of the season.
“Too much was changed too quick. I think we pretty much had a whole new squad and that went against us in the end.
“The managers at the time struggled to get the group all working together.”
Having played under a project manager for several seasons at MK Dons, Powell commented on the noticeable change in approach between the two clubs…
“At MK I had Karl (Robinson) for so many years, moved to Northampton I’ve had four managers in a couple of years.
“It was a bit of a shock to me. I wasn’t used to the change of managers so frequently, and again when the managers are so different so you’re changing styles very frequently, unsettles the team.
“It never really worked. Managers never get enough time these days do they and especially in the lower leagues, probably worse for it than the Premier League.”
The rise of Crewe:
After two seasons with Northampton, Powell decided to move slightly further North, playing under another project manager David Artell.
It was here where Powell added another promotion to his CV…
“I went into a good group of players that were already there, that had done well the year before.
“I didn’t realise how good they were, so when I signed my contract, I said to him I wanted a relegation release clause, and he was looking at me like you’ve obviously never seen us play!
“In the end, I didn’t put it in and we ended up getting promoted. They had some really really good players, like Ryan Wintle, Perry Ng and Owen Dale.”
A long commute:
Despite moving club, Powell didn’t relocate and got into an interesting routine to avoid
having to move his family…
“I had a funny little routine when I was at Crewe, I had a great little setup. I didn’t want to relocate my family so just before pre-season was starting at Crewe I bought myself a blue Vauxhall Astra.
“The day before pre-season I drove my car to Crewe and that car didn’t return home until two years later when I left Crewe. What I used to do was drive my day-to-day car from home to MK (Milton Keynes) station, and jump on the train to Crewe where my Astra was waiting at the ground which is literally a five-minute walk from the station.
“I’d hop in my Astra and drive to the training ground, do training, hop back in my Astra, park it at the ground, walk to the station, get the train from Crewe to MK where my day-to-day car was waiting and off home I went, I did that for two years.
“I used to bring my breakfast with me, sleep on the train. After a couple of weeks, you get into a nice routine of it, and then after those two years I just wanted to come back home.”
Despite the homesickness, Powell was still particularly positive about his time in Cheshire…
“It’s a great club honestly, like everyone from top to the bottom, it’s a well-run club and a lot of good people there, I really enjoyed it.”
A choice between EFL football and going home:
After a couple of seasons with Crewe, Powell came to a crossroads. Either carry on playing
at League One level further afield or drop a division or two to play closer to home…
“I’ve always had offers whenever I’ve been out of contract or moving and I’ve always
thought about my family first.
“So when I left Crewe, I had an offer to go to Morecambe which was in League One, Crewe were in League One as well but I ended up going to Barnet who were in the National League.
“I wanted to stay at home is the truth of it. Whenever I’ve picked teams, whenever I’ve gone anywhere, it’s always a thought of how can I get there and back?
“Am I gonna be at home? So there’s not many players, I’ve lived in the same house throughout my whole career, not many players have done that.”
“I could’ve maybe prolonged my career and been more selfish, but at the time it was more of a family decision, I just chose to come home.
“Football can be a very unsettling industry for families, but I’ve been lucky enough to choose my steps wisely throughout my career.”
Life after football:
After a couple of seasons with Barnet in the National League, Powell departed and started
playing for Hemel Hempstead Town.
It was then that he started considering his career post-football.
The forward has looked at several avenues and has kept himself busy with various scouting and coaching opportunities.
He is a scout for Arsenal’s academy and also does a bit of coaching there…
“I coach the 14s at the Bedfordshire FA. I also coach the Junior Premier League (JPL) rep teams (boys) and the Warriors (girls). I take teams to play academies and showcase their talent as well as holding training camps.”
Powell is starting to find his niche when it comes to coaching, and this is partially helped by his previous experiences as a player, learning from the coaches he used to play for…
“I learned a lot from my Crewe days, another good coach that was there, Alex Morris, very good coach.
“As you develop as a coach, you pinch little things off each coach that you think may be good, and then stuff that you wouldn’t even touch. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink I thought was a good coach.”
All of this experience has enabled Powell to set up a 1-2-1 football coaching business
through his Instagram @dpowell_coaching allowing him to work with all sorts of young
players.
“One session I could have a five-year-old that’s never kicked a ball before and the next I could be coaching very talented academy players, I’m really enjoying it.”
Looking ahead:
This all sets Powell up nicely for the future. He’s still discovering where he wants to go next but perhaps he could have a full-time career in coaching…
“I’d love to become a full-time coach of a team. A lot of the roles at the moment are part-time. I’d love to have my own team, my own age group and challenge tactically and play against other teams on the weekend where you’re preparing all week for a game.
“I think probably 18’s football or something like that would be my next step.”
We would like to thank Daniel for taking the time to speak to Luke and wish him the very best of luck moving forward.