The following article was originally published in the printed programme for the Mousehole v Malvern match on 24th August 2024. To purchase back issues of Mousehole matchday programmes, visit our club shop.
It’s lunchtime on a Tuesday afternoon in August and Mousehole goalkeeper Ollie Chenoweth and I are sheltering from the rain in a bus stop just off the A30, behind the retail park at Fraddon. It’s the start of a now-familiar journey that won’t see Ollie rejoin his family in their holiday caravan near Mawgan Porth until twelve hours later.
This is the glamour of the game for a non-league goalie – swapping beach time with his girls for standing between the posts, shouting at the ten men in front of him on the outskirts of Bristol on a drizzly Tuesday night. But Ollie loves it.
“Yeah, it’s this football club. It’s the people that are involved, it’s the players, it’s the people off the pitch, the staff, and not just the playing staff, but, you know, people behind the scenes at the club. It’s a special place”
It’s now the fourth season in a row when the first thing manager Jake Ash puts on his team lineup is “Ollie in goal”. For a player who’s been in in and around the game now for almost twenty years, Mousehole offers something different.
“It’s like no other club that I’ve been at, and because of that it’s been such an enjoyable experience that which I wish I had come three or four years earlier, if the opportunity had been there – and particularly at a time when I I was ready to take a break from football. So, when that phone call came from Jake four years ago. Yeah, it came at a good time”.
The 32-year-old spent the bulk of his career at Plymouth Argyle, (who he joined as a youth player in 2005) and Truro City. He’s also had spells at Bideford, Frome, Liskeard, Launceston and Bodmin. But it all began on the family farm near Dobwalls.
“My dad would build wooden goals that would gradually get bigger and bigger as we got older, to the point where we outgrew the garden. At that point I took over a field on the farm had a full-size goal, had a little garden tractor cut to the grass, a roller behind. To us, from a small village in Cornwall, it sort of looked like Wembley. So we had plenty of space to go and play and do whatever we wanted to do, whether it was football or ride our bikes or spend time on the farm. Yeah, it was a really fun time”.
At age 10, Ollie joined Dobwalls and spent a couple of years playing in the Cornwall League on Sunday mornings. He then joined AFC Venterdon who played in the Plymouth League despite being based just outside Callington. There he was part of a squad that went on a two-year winning streak picking up league and cup titles. And from there he was picked up by Argyle. Ollie chuckles when I ask him if he was always destined to be a goalie.
“I don’t really know. I spent a couple of years playing elsewhere – centre mid, left mid, left back. But it was just a bit of fun. I had times where I didn’t want to be a goalkeeper. I think everyone’s had that, because it’s not an easy position to play. But ultimately it was the only, it was the only position I was any good at. So if I was going to do anything, it was going to be a goal.”
The 6’1” keeper sees himself as a calm and assuring presence in the team. He’s not loud off the pitch but likes to think of himself as a fairly vocal presence on it, leading by example. A calming presence, someone who is reliable and dependable.
“I hope that people sort of look at me to think that they can trust me. They can rely on me during games, but off the pitch as well. “
Ollie fits in well with the Mousehole style of play, ball at the feet. He looks across to top-scorer Hayden Turner who’s just joined us in the bus stop for affirmation. He smiles. “Yes, definitely”.
Growing up, Ollie’s hero was Peter Schmeichel.
“He just unbelievable. Everything he did, just his presence in the goal, some of the saves he used to make were incredible. And he’s the first goalkeeper I really remember as well. That Manchester United team of 99 and what they achieved. Yeah, that’s my first real memory, I guess, of watching football, so he was a big part of that.”
Now at Mousehole, Ollie finds himself in the role of father-figure and mentor to reserve goalkeeper Lewis Moyle.
“He’s a top goalkeeper. Everything he does technically is spot on. He trains well, his attitude is unbelievable. You know, the fact he’s at he’s at every game, he’s at every training session, never misses a session, that speaks volumes about him as a person, as a kid, but his technical ability is unbelievable. I have no doubt he will go on and do big things. Hopefully he can look up to me, and if I can help him along the way as well, then yeah, I’m pleased to do that.”
Also looking up to Ollie are his two daughters who come along with his wife Emily to a lot of Mousehole home fixtures, and a fair few away matches too. They’re a crucial part of what makes him tick.
“I think they love it more than I do sometimes. As they get older, they might start to want to do other things, but every week they want to come. You know, when we ask them to come, there’s no hesitation. And Emily’s a massive support as well. Because it’s such a time commitment, and when you’ve got a young family, if they weren’t fully invested, then it wouldn’t be easy to give up that time. But because they’re there, because they come almost every week it helps me. Helps me just enjoy the day without feeling guilty in any way. Plus, the club looks after them as well.”
Ollie and I have at last resolved the issue of getting his goal keeping better coverage in our media output. This season I’ve finally got around to buying a second go-pro camera to catch his saves rather than just the goal action at the other end of the pitch. This echoes his sense that in football, the goalie can often be the overlooked member of the squad. I ask him if keepers get the recognition they deserve?
“Honestly no. Naturally other positions take the glory and people remember the mistakes that goalie makes.But they won’t remember the minor details. Not just the saves, but taking the pressure off, taking crosses, you know, when you’re under the cosh. Building attacks from the back. However, it always amazes me how many messages I get in the evening after games from the lads talking about certain moments that go unnoticed but changed games which is always nice to hear.”
So what of the future? Ollie’s not sure when he’ll hang up his boots and what comes next. But he’s looking forward to one day coming and watching the game with his family without the pressure of being between the sticks.
And will the legacy continue? Perhaps it’s already being created, in that same farm field where Ollie started playing all those years ago.
“My daughter has seen me and she’s seen the challenges that I’ve had as well, coming every week. But we do play football together. She doesn’t play for a club, but we play at home. And she wants to play in goal. Doesn’t want to play anywhere else. She stands there. She’s got a goalie gloves. So, yeah, she wants to do it. I’m not gonna stop her.”
