It was one of the feel good stories to come out of the 2011-12 A-League season, one of the few popular moves that interim manager Jim Magilton managed in his short time at the club after Mehmet Durakovic’s sacking.
19-year-old James ‘Jimmy’ Jeggo was handed his first start in a Melbourne Victory shirt by the Northern Irishman in November, and acquitted himself admirably as the team handed Magilton a first win in a 2-1 come-from-behind victory.
While the season ultimately ended in disappointment for Magilton, the same could not be said for Melbourne Victory’s newest star, as he announced himself with an outside the box strike against Wellington Phoenix that brought the AAMI Park crowd to its feet.
The sky seemed the limit for the young lad, a central midfielder with the dash and panache to match some of his more experienced teammates. He’d quickly become a fan favourite too, a rare spark of promise in a doom and gloom season where nothing seemed to be going right.
In came championship winning coach Ange Postecoglou with a resolve to clean out the deadwood at the club and instill an attractive brand of football to Australia’s biggest and most successful football club. Victory’s new coach came with a reputation of blooding young players too, so the future seemed bright for Jimmy Jeggo.
But while the club’s fortunes improved dramatically with Postecoglou’s signing, the same could not be said of the young midfielder. For while Victory fell just short of a Grand Final appearance and finished third, Jeggo’s swashbuckling appearances in the previous year proved a false dawn. He played just 310 minutes of competitive football in the 2012-13 season, less than half the time he’d accumulated in his breakout debut season.
It was not ideal, and the midfielder knew it even while he toiled to impress his coach on the training fields and sporadic appearances on the bench.
“Obviously, I didn’t play as much as I would have hoped to last year,” he says. “But being at this club, you’re always going to have a good squad so you have to work hard to fight for your spot. I’ve got to just keep working hard and doing what the boss asks of me. We’ve got very specific structure and roles and it’s just about playing those structures and that’s what will get you in the team.”
A Victory product through and through having come through the youth ranks, Jeggo admits that his position within the team is a strange one despite his age and limited game time.
“I’ve been around this club for a good three or four years now, but there’s been lots of new faces at this year as well. In terms of time at the club, I’ve been here a lot longer than [most of the others] but I’m still one of the younger boys.”
Postecoglou has been hard at work this preseason, bringing in some stellar names including midfield options Mitch Nichols, James Troisi and Rashid Mahazi. With Gui Finkler returning from injury too, Jeggo knows that competition for places is stiff and another anonymous season could spell the end of his time at the club he loves.
“It’s a [make or break season] to a degree, I’m out of contract at the end of the year so it’s up for me to put my best foot forward,” he admits. “But like I said, being at a club like Victory, you have to expect that you’ll be playing with some of the best players in the league this year and if you want to do well at clubs like that, you’ll have to prove that you’re good enough to be playing with those players. That’s what my aim is. I know if I break into the squad, I’ll be doing something right.”
The contract situation is a worrying one, but the 21-year-old is determined to play through and prove that he deserves a new deal at the end of the year.
“I think whatever your contract situation is, you’ll always look to put your best foot forward and give 110% and play as well as you can,” Jeggo says. “It’s something that is in the back of your mind, but when you go out and play and you go out and train, every day at training you aim to put your best foot forward.”
Whatever the case, a determined Jimmy Jeggo is looking forward to the season and all it might bring. First up is the Melbourne Derby tonight and as a fan as well as a player, the youngster knows how much it means to Melbourne Victory supporters.
“It’s a massive thing. You can see from the hype going into the game this weekend what a big club it is. Melbourne Victory is the biggest club in Australia and it’s a privilege playing for them. Any chance you get to step out on the pitch is just that – a privilege.”