At the age of 17, Clitheroe’s new loan signing Joey Mullen is set to become the youngest player in the side when he is picked to make his debut for the club.

Having trained with AFC Fylde and made several appearances on the Coasters substitutes bench in recent months, Mullen is now ready to bring ‘youth and pace’ into the Clitheroe side as he aims to lift the Blues further up the table.

After an successful spell with Bamber Bridge earlier in the season, Mullen is now hoping to gain experience week in week out playing under Simon Garner as he spoke to the official club website;
Still a teenager, Mullen spoke with good maturity and has claimed he is excited to get going at Shawbridge;

“This is a great opportunity for me, I want to thank AFC Fylde for giving me the opportunity to come out on loan and I’m excited to hopefully get some good experience and playing time under my belt in the first team at Clitheroe.”

Mullen went on to say; “Dave Challinor (AFC Fylde manager) gave me a text and told me that Simon Garner was interested in me. I jumped at the chance and playing for Clitheroe will hopefully toughen me up for men’s football. The opportunity and experience I will get will be invaluable and I am very happy to be a Blue.”

Having played first team football with Bamber Bridge and Fylde, aswell as captaining the Coasters youth side, the central midfielder is looking forward to playing in a side with Garner himself and hopes to learn more watching his game;

“I’ve watched Simon Garner play a few times when I was at Bamber Bridge earlier in the season. He is a central midfielder like myself and he is a very good player. Cory and Ryan who have been with Clitheroe and Fylde tell me he is a great manager too and I am relishing the chance to work with him in the months to come.”

Mullen’s team mates at Fylde, Cory Bent and Ryan Charnley have been at Shawbridge this season and the midfield general hopes to follow in their footsteps;

“Cory has done very well at Clitheroe, Ryan too but I believe he is no longer there. It brings added pressure as I’ve got a lot to live up too but hopefully I can live up to their high standards that they’ve set here.”

With Clitheroe currently fighting well above expectations in 11th, youngster Mullen is hoping to lift the side even further up the table, with his assets of pace, goals and youthful exuberance;

“The team are doing well and hopefully I can help bring even better results to lift the side as high up as possible. I hope to bring youth, pace and energy to the team. I enjoy entering the box at the last minute with late runs and hopefully I can chip in with a few goals too.”

It is yet to be seen whether Mullen will be registered in time to play Burscough tomorrow. However having not played football regularly during the 2014/15 campaign, he has the bit between his teeth and is ready to play the beautiful game again;

“I’m really excited to get back playing football! I’ve been on the bench with Fylde’s first team but it will be great to get some game time with Clitheroe. I want to get tougher and I’m ready for the challenge!”