Jason Mycoe hopes to enjoy a long spell with Harrogate Railway
With being on the verge of settling into a career as a teacher, Jason Mycoe hopes he has finally found his football ‘home’ at Harrogate Railway.
By his own admission, he has had a nomadic period during his short Non League career since leaving Leeds United at 18.
After a stable few seasons with Leeds Carnegie in the NCEL Division One, Jason has played for teams across Yorkshire such as Ossett Town, Staveley Miners Welfare, Wakefield FC, Tadcaster Albion and Barton Town Old Boys – all in a short space of time.
He joined Harrogate in the summer and was even made the captain of the team – a honour that he admits was a “shock” and a “big achievement” for a new member of the squad.
Now 24, he intends to remain at Station View and he told Non League Yorkshire: “Unless I got told to leave, this is where I want to be.
“If it meant I finished this season injury-free and stayed at the same club, it would be massive for me.
“That would hopefully lead to two or three positive seasons from there. I love it here, it’s brilliant.
“I was thinking about where to go in pre-season. I know Dave was keen at Barton where I have been before, but on the back of playing at Wakefield, I thought I could still play in the Evo Stik.
“I know (Nathan Cartman) Carts from Leeds and he told me about the atmosphere and how professional it is.
“I contacted Billy and I went down pre-season and decided with the group of lads here that it was where I wanted to commit.”
Money does not motivate Jason. It is well known that Harrogate have one of the lowest budgets in the Evo Stik Division One North.
He said: “Some could criticise me for going round thinking where ‘I could I get £50 or £70’.
“It isn’t about that because I have been unsettled for three or four years looking that way.
“I’ve just pitched myself at where I think I am capable of playing.”
Jason Mycoe in action for Harrogate Railway. Photo: Caught Light Photography
Harrogate Railway captain Jason Mycoe celebrates Nathan Cartman’s recent goal in the FA Cup tie at Colwyn Bay. Photo: Caught Light Photography
Striking a pose: Harrogate Railway captain Jason Mycoe. Photo: Caught Light Photography
Another reason why he has struggled to stay with clubs is because of injuries.
He had made his way through the Leeds United youth system, but a bad injury hit at the wrong time.
He dislocated both knees and needed corrective surgery.
“It has been a rocky road since I left Leeds,” he says.
“I have had a few bad injuries which knocked my confidence massively.
“At the back end of playing for Leeds I knew could have progressed until I got a bad injury at the end of the season which took me out of the following season.
“Trying to get a professional contract while you are injured at 18 and coming back at Christmas is a no-no.
“I was doing really up to when I was 15 or 16 because others caught me up.
“I was probably physically ahead of quite a few, but others developed late on and overtook me.
“The injuries came at a bad time.”
Towards the end of his time with the Whites, he knew a professional contact at 18 would not be forthcoming.
When Leeds Met University approached him and offered him the chance of continuing to study and play, Jason took them up on the offer.
He got his degree in Sports Performance and also played for the University team in the NCEL.
He was in the team that would have denied Brighouse Town their first promotion in 2010 – had three points not been deducted for fielding a player without international clearance.
Then when Carnegie withdrew their NCEL team in 2011, Jason found himself on the move.
“I went to Barton and Dave put me in a right back and I had a run of nine or ten games,” he says.
“I then dislocated my knee again at Scarborough so I have been riddled with knee injuries.
“I had another operation which wrote off the end of that season.
“I then took a chance going to Ossett Albion instead of going back to Barton.
“The start of that season was a real up and down season because I wasn’t getting a fair crack so I went to Staveley.
“I played a little bit at Staveley and there was problems at the club so three or four of us went to Tadcaster.”
His time at Taddy came to an end at the start of last season. A bizarre red card for denying a goal-scoring opportunity 30 seconds after coming on as substitute and “without touching the ball” was his final act in a Taddy shirt.
A brief move to Ossett Town followed before spending the final six months of last season at Wakefield.
He just hopes he can enjoy a long spell with Railway.
Jason is also doing his PGCE with Leeds Met or its new name Leeds Beckett University and in under 12 months’ time, he should be a fully-qualified primary school teacher.
For the last two years he has been a teaching assistant at Whitley and Eggborough Primary School in Selby.
Even Jason admits that his football career “has been a roller-coaster”.