By John Lyons
When Leigh Bedwell lined up for Didcot Town in the FA Cup first round against Exeter City last month, he could have been forgiven for thinking about what might have been.
Less than two years ago he was a goalkeeper on the books of his boyhood favourites, Swindon Town. Now, instead of playing for a Football League club, he´s down in the muck and nettles of Non-League – but he’s not one to mope.
The aim is to work his way back up to where he started, and he’s going to give it his best shot. And if he doesn’t make it, at least he can say he played in the Football League – even if it was only once.
That appearance came back in the Paolo Di Canio era at Swindon. It was when Bedwell was just 18 in September 2012.
Losing 2-0 early on at Preston, Di Canio was clearly unhappy with goalkeeper Wes Foderingham’s display and subbed him for Bedwell.
“It wasn’t the circumstances I would have wanted, but it had always been my dream to play for Swindon,” he said.
“My family are all fans and it meant a lot to me to make that appearance.
“We lost 4-1, but the lads and the manager said I did well. There was some pressure because it was my debut, but, at the same time, there wasn’t because it couldn’t really get any worse on the day.”
Bedwell clearly owes Di Canio for that unexpected opportunity and was a big fan of the maverick Italian.
“He’s full of energy and he’s got a huge amount of passion – that’s what he demands from everyone,” he recalled.
“His professionalism was unbelievable.
“He was probably the hardest-working manager I’ve seen and he makes the players work just as hard. Why he had success in the lower leagues is probably because people respected what he had done in his playing career.
“It didn’t work for him in the Premier League because what he’d done in his playing career wouldn’t have put him on such a pedestal, whereas we walked into training and thought ‘it’s Paolo Di Canio’ and remembered things like that stunning volley. He knew how to control players and get the best out of them.”
Loan spells at Banbury United and Worcester City followed while Bedwell remained a Swindon player, but first-team opportunities never arose again and he was released in May 2014 – not that it came as a great surprise.
“The way the season was going, I felt it was going to come unless there was a miracle,” he said. “But it was still very disappointing because I would have loved to have stayed a lot longer. The club were under new management and ownership and I was told they couldn’t afford to keep three keepers on the books. They were saving the pennies.”
With his Swindon dreams in tatters, Bedwell had trials with Walsall, Cheltenham and Aldershot, but nothing came of them.
“It’s like a cattle market,” he recalled. “At the start of pre-season a club might be interested but they’ll have plenty of options at the time.”
So Bedwell stepped down to Non-League with Southern Premier League side Banbury and got plenty of matches under his belt last term.
He was kept too busy – the Puritans got relegated. Welcome to Non-League.
“It’s a different mindset when you go from being a pro to semi-pro. As a pro, you train, have lunch, do some gym work and you’re finished.
“When you’re semi-pro, you do a full day’s work and then do your training. It’s draining on the mind and body. It’s difficult to get used to – you don’t get a minute’s rest.”
In the summer, Bedwell decided to leave Banbury and move to Didcot. It would be closer to home and, importantly, there would be a goalkeeper coach to work with.
“Banbury said they probably wouldn’t have a goalkeeping coach so I would have been travelling an hour to do outfield training, whereas Didcot had a goalkeeping coach which could help me improve my game,” he said. “Didcot’s 20 minutes down the road, my brother used to play for them and it felt right.”
And the 21-year-old is even more sure it’s been the right move after playing his part in the Railwaymen’s superb run to the FA Cup first round and a live match on BT Sport against Exeter.
Former Republic of Ireland international Clinton Morrison bagged the first goal as the Grecians triumphed 3-0, though Bedwell impressed with a couple of superb stops in particular.
“It was a fantastic achievement for a club of our size to get to the first round and every player will have those memories forever,” he said. “Not many people get to to experience that and at 21 I was very lucky.
“As a team we could have caused them more problems, but no one could fault our work-rate and desire.
“From a personal point of view, I was very happy. It can go one of two ways, but I was able to make a few saves and to get some compliments from someone like David James was very flattering.”
The taste of the big-time has whetted Bedwell’s appetite for more and he’s eager to haul himself up from English football’s eighth tier.
“The Exeter game is the reason you play Non-League and put so much effort in,” he added. “I want to climb Non-League or, even better, try to get back into professional football.
“There are more foreign players at the top which makes it more competitive all the way down.
“The longer you are out of the professional game, the more difficult it is to get back in, but it’s definitely still an ambition
