Jack Nolan growing up fast with Walsall

That may be, some part, down to his unrelenting commitment to football at an early age.

After spending his formative years at Portsmouth, starting at seven years old, the winger made the decision to move to Reading aged just 14 – and with it, he moved away from home and started at a new school – an experience he is grateful for now as he embarks on a career with Walsall.

“It was a quite a big change and we only had two weeks’ notice,” he said. “I moved out of home, so I had the hard bit then – living with a family that I didn’t really know.

“I just got told they wanted to move me up to the school and part of that would be me moving away from home.

“There was no way I could have travelled from Southampton every day to make the training times, so I got put with a really nice family.

“I stayed with them for the whole time I was with Reading, the whole four-and-a-half years and I’m still really close with them now.

“It was a bit daunting at first, going into someone else’s home, but after a couple of years or so I made myself at home and they were really good for me.

“I was so young when I went there and they were so good to me and looked after me – I can’t fault them for what they did for me.”

That experience, seems to have put him in good stead.

After joining the Saddlers in January for an undisclosed fee, he made an impact off the bench in his first appearance – in the 2-1 win over Crawley – and has made a total of four appearances since.

“When the opportunity came to come here it was a no-brainer, I’d done the hard bit already,” he said. “The only bit that was difficult for me was living on my own, cooking for myself and looking after myself, which is something I’ve not had to do before.

“That was a bit of a challenge but it’s making me grow up a bit to be honest.

“I’ve had to grow up.

“In the environment footballers are in nowadays, you’re in the public eye no matter what level you’re at.

“You have to come to terms quickly with maybe not playing week in, week out.

“You might have to be patient and wait for your chance and that’s where I’m at, at the moment. You’re thrown into it and you have to grow up quick to give yourself the best possible chance, you can’t throw your toys out of the pram if nothing goes your way.

“If you can keep a level head and grow up, you get respected more as a player and as a person.”

It has now been two months since Nolan moved to the Black Country.

Manager Darrell Clarke regularly talks about how important the ‘environment’ is at a club as he aims to gel together a relatively young squad.

Nolan is a living embodiment of that attitude that is being instilled within the football club.

Despite having to talk over the phone due to the coronavirus outbreak, his confidence and maturity is impressive at such a young age and he firmly believes that the decision to come to Walsall was the right one.

“I’m really enjoying it, it’s a good club to be at,” he added.

“It was the right time for me to come here, to push on in my career and learn what senior football is all about.

“I was only in the under-23s at Reading and coming to Walsall has given me what men’s football is like.

“Playing in front of crowds week in, week out, which is something I’m not used to.

“It’s been a good experience all round.

“I’m a young lad coming in trying to show what I can do and being confident – holding nothing back.

“You take each day as it comes and take it as an opportunity to impress and when you get the chance you hope to take it.”