Tevahn Tyrell & David Jones Sign With Ilkeston
Bermudians David Jones and Tevahn Tyrell have both signed with Ilkeston FC in England for the 2016/17 season.
In announcing the signings the club said, “Tyrell arrived from Bermuda in July 2015 and took his place in the Ilkeston FC Academy.
“His performances and goals in the Under 21, Central Conference and College league sides impressed enough for him to make his Ilkeston FC first team debut when he came on as a substitute in the away defeat at Buxton.
“Four days later he made his home debut against Rushall Olympic, again as a substitute and repaid the faith in him by scoring a superb individual goal as Ilkeston ran out 4-1 winners.”
“Nineteen year old Bermudan striker David Jones has joined his fellow countryman Tevahn Tyrell in signing for Ilkeston FC for the 2016/17 season.
“David arrived in England four years ago and joined Ilkeston FC during the 2015/16 pre season after having spells at Mansfield Town and Newcastle Town.
“Like Tyrell, Jones worked his way through the academy teams and into the first team squad when he made his debut as a 79th minute substitute in the Derbyshire Senior Cup tie at home to Long Eaton United.
“He made his full debut in the home game against Halesowen Town, where he took the place of Daniel Udoh after his move to Crewe Alexandra. Jones scored his first goal for Ilkeston in the Integro Doodson League Cup tie against Scarborough Athletic.”
After signing, Tevahn Tyrell said: “Signing a pro contract is a big accomplishment in my life and I have to thank everybody who’s ever helped me on my way towards this.
“My friends and family back in Bermuda see this as the first step of me becoming the another Nahki Wells or Shaun Goater and I’m just trying to do my best because the sky’s the limit.”
“I’m really thankful to the club for having faith in me and see that I can move forward to become a better player. I just need to put my head down and work hard, being a pro footballer is what I’ve been dreaming of and this is the first step in the right direction.”
On scoring his first goal for Ilkeston FC: “That has given me a lot of confidence, it showed me that I can play and score at this level. I felt comfortable and treated it as just any other game.”
David Jones said, “I knew Jahquil Hill when we were both at Mansfield Town, so I’d heard about the links that Ikeston FC had with Bermuda and when I was looking as to what my next move would be, Ilkeston seemed a good place to be.”
“I knew Tevahn from back home and then Paul Douglas came over as well, I knew this was the right place for me and I fitted right in.
“It feels like a family here, usually when you go to a new club you’re the only Bermudian there and it can sometimes be hard to get integrated with the team, but here it was so easy. I’ve been working so hard since I came to England and to finally get that chance felt so good.”
He went on to talk about scoring his first goal for the club, saying: “That really eased the pressure I put on myself, I kept thinking that I need to score, I need to score and I was kind of getting stressed about it, thinking that I have to prove myself to the manager and the fans, so when I got the goal at Scarborough, it was a big relief.”
“I’m going back to Bermuda for the summer and it’s nice to be able to relax on the beach, knowing that I have next season sorted out.
“I can’t relax too much though, myself and Tevahn have to be back in training after a couple of weeks, we have an Under 20’s World Cup Qualifying group to play, hopefully we’ll make the squad for that.”
Congratulations you bies’