Jon Flatt: The Wolves fan who played for the club now developing next generation of goalkeepers

But, not for the first or last time, the lifelong Wolves fan bounced back, and is now thriving as a coach within the club’s Academy set-up. Paul Berry found out more.

The goalkeeper’s union. An unshakeable alliance which is rarely broken. And one which usually stands the test of time.

Particularly, over the last decade or two at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Jon Flatt was given his first chance to grace the hallowed turf at Molineux thanks to an invitation to Matt Murray’s testimonial. He still speaks to Murray and Carl Ikeme even now.

And, when Harry Burgoyne found himself without a club for the first time in over a decade at the start of the season, it was his old Wolves colleague Flatt – now Under-21s goalkeeping coach – and Scott Bevan, first team assistant goalkeeper coach and head of academy goalkeeping, who invited him back to Compton.

Burgoyne was able to train with the Academy, have access to the state-of-the-art gym, go through strength and conditioning testing to ensure he stayed fit and ready and, maybe most importantly, stay mentally and physically sharp.

And all of this, almost a decade after Burgoyne and Flatt found themselves battling for the first team shirt at Molineux.

A battle which perhaps most observers thought that the older and more experienced Flatt would win, but instead, it was Burgoyne who was given the nod.

Wolves against Fulham. December 10th, 2016.

Flatt takes up the story.

“I had started the season expecting to go out on loan, but when Walter Zenga came in as boss, he wanted to have a third keeper who travelled with the squad to away games and went through pre-match training with the other two keepers, home and away.

“It was the approach that a lot of teams tend to take across Europe.

“Paul Lambert then came in and I was still doing that role, but if either Kemes (Carl Ikeme) or Lonners (Andy Lonergan) had an injury or niggle, then I’d be on the bench.

“There was a time when Kemes was out and then Lonners went down right at the end of training on a Friday before the Fulham game.

“I carried on training and doing a few bits and pieces to make sure I was ready, and then went home, in the back of my mind, thinking I might be playing.

“Then I remember Kemes calling me in the evening, also telling me that he thought I might be playing, so you can imagine what was going through my head.

“Then we get to the ground next morning and Paul pulled both Harry and myself into a room and told us that Harry would be playing.

“First and foremost, I should say me and ‘H’ have always got on really well, we’re still great mates, and he had been playing really well for the 21s at the time and deserved to play.

“I had a bit more experience, and because of that number three role, I hadn’t been playing, and I just remember thinking, ‘oh my God’.

“That was probably the one moment when…I mean…I’d worked my whole football life from eight years old to try and get to that moment, but it felt like it had been snatched away.

“But obviously, then I had to get myself ready and make sure I supported ‘H’ in everything that he did that day.

“And then, after the game, when it all started to sink in, I just went home, had a good cry to myself for five minutes or so, and then thought, ‘right, it is what it is’. Time to put it behind me.

“It was probably the hardest individual moment I had to go through in my career, but yeah, that’s football, isn’t it?

“I just had to make sure I bounced back, not for the first or last time in my career, but I had to make sure I came through it and learned from it, as we all have to!”

Learning for Flatt started at a very young age as part of a football-loving family living in Sedgley.

With elder siblings, brother Dan and sister Laura, he was the one regularly stuck in goal for them to whack balls at him. Yet very quickly, he realised he enjoyed it.

Flatt’s Dad would take Dan to the football and so younger brother Jon would naturally want to join them. From there, the love of Wolves, and of going to Molineux, grew and blossomed.

After a couple of years playing mini-soccer, Flatt was spotted by one of Wolves’ renowned scouts Bob Bennett, was invited to train at Aldersley and, from the age of eight onwards, progressed through the Academy.

He was able to learn his trade during an era when Wolves were spoiled with so many fantastic goalkeepers emerging through the ranks. Matt Murray, Wayne Hennessey and Carl Ikeme all spent different amounts of time within the youth ranks before progressing to the first team with considerable success.

Then goalkeeping coach Pat Mountain would also ensure there was plenty of contact time between those senior glovemen and the young pretenders, offering a palpable sign of the pathway in place and inspiring those withing to follow in their footsteps.

“There was that 10 to 15 year spell which was pretty much purely goalkeepers who had come through the Academy,” says Flatt.

“For someone like me coming through, it was brilliant.

“I had a season ticket with my Dad and brother right up until I was able to get tickets from the Academy, and from starting off watching Michael Oakes, it was then Matt, Wayne and Carl.

“Then, as I got older, and started coming into the building as a scholar and a pro, getting to work with those guys was fantastic.

“Given the level they had played at, and how they were as people, as a young kid just being around those standards and trying to emulate them was a perfect grounding.

“I still speak to Matty and Kemes about what’s happening now with training and players but also what life used to be like – the memories always come flooding back!”

There are various of those memories among the good and bad which Flatt recalls from his formative years.

Arriving at Compton on a Monday morning to be told by Mountain and Steve Weaver that he was playing in the reserves in the evening. As a 16-year-old.

That testimonial, coming on for Murray in front of a decent crowd at Molineux. “A really special moment.”

Then, in successive pre-seasons under Kenny Jackett in France and Ireland, Flatt was enjoyed first team minutes in a couple of friendly matches. More invaluable experience.

Perhaps the biggest learning curve however, were the loan spells which are always designed to give young players more ‘real life’ experience when points, and positions, are at stake.

Flatt had several temporary stays to boost his development, including at a very different Wrexham, then in the National League, which included an FA Cup Third Round tie in front of almost 20,000 against Premier League Stoke at the Britannia Stadium.

Joining Cheltenham Town, also then in the National League, at the end of the following season, he faced the pressure of the final ten games which clinched the Robins’ promotion and return to the Football League.

At Barrow, also in the National League, Flatt chalked up nearly 30 appearances, prior to a second stint at Cheltenham which, whilst not as successful as the first, included League Two action and an EFL Cup tie against West Ham, Declan Rice and all.

He completed the set by making a handful of appearances for Scunthorpe in the 2018/19 campaign, before later dropping into non-league with Rushall Olympic.

“I still remember my first game for Wrexham away at Altrincham when we were 2-0 up at half time, had two players sent off shortly afterwards, and ending up losing 3-2 with nine men,” Flatt recalls.

“And that Stoke game? We should have won to be honest.

“We were a goal up with about ten minutes left and ended up losing 3-1, but if VAR had been around, I definitely think at least one of their goals was offside.

“I remember making a decent save from Peter Crouch, and it was a brilliant experience, the same as when stepping in as an emergency loan and playing the last ten games of the season to help Cheltenham get promoted.

“Another former Wolves lad Jordan Cranston was there, and it was great to share the experience with him, ten years ago now!

“Going back to Cheltenham a second time didn’t quite work out the same - the less said about that the better - but that can happen with loans, and I still had the experience of playing against another Premier League team in West Ham in front of the Sky cameras.

“I say to the keepers I work with now, if you get the chance to go out on loan, then take it.

“Playing for the academy at Under-18 or Under-21 levels is great, but there is nothing like getting that early experience at senior level, where points and results really mean something, and putting yourself under that added pressure.”

Part of Flatt’s role now as Wolves Under-21s goalkeeping coach is to keep track on the progress of those players out on loan – and there are a fair few!

Eighteen-year-old Josh Gracey, who has been on the bench for the first team fixtures against Sunderland and Brighton, has spent a successful year with AFC Telford, whilst last weekend, Arthur Nasta kept goal for the victorious Hornchurch side which secured a play-off win against Torquay to be promoted to the National League.

Lewis Benjamin, whom Flatt has watched keep goal for Wales Under-21s, enjoyed his National League debut this season whilst Jimmy Storer, who finished last season playing in a play-off final for Chester in front of almost 10,000, has just completed a season with Greenock Morton where he was named Young Player of the Year.

And that’s even without mentioning Alfie Brooks, who has also been on the bench for the first team away at Leeds.

There is plenty to keep him occupied, but, working closely with Bevan, Flatt is loving every minute of his coaching career.

It’s a step he took perhaps earlier than most, initially with Aston Villa just before he turned 26, but a decision he is delighted to have taken.

“Even after I had left Wolves, they were great in allowing me to come back in and do some coaching as I started my badges, along with coaching at Neil Cutler’s goalkeeping school, who later worked at Wolves and I’ve got a good relationship with.

“I had gone to play for Rushall, just before COVID, with the idea of being able to play non-league alongside developing the coaching, and then I got a call from Aston Villa.

“I still remember it now – September in 2020 just before my birthday – that Mark Naylor, Head of Academy Goalkeeping at Aston Villa, called me to say they had got a job coming up with the Under 9s-16s.

“He had heard I was coaching, and I decided to apply, and ended up being successful and taking that decision to go into coaching full-time.

“It was probably a bit early in terms of retiring from playing, and so was a massive decision, but I had my fiancée Chloe and two young children Myla and Freddy to support, and couldn’t just be selfish.

“They have been there all the way through both the playing and the coaching, the good times and the bad, and I think getting into coaching early has turned out to be one of the best decisions I have ever made.

“I had two years at Villa, which I absolutely loved, working with Mark and another guy called Mikey Pearce, who were not just colleagues but have become friends for life.

“I learned so much off them, and that then led to me coming back to Wolves, and what has been almost four years now, working with Scott and aiming to deliver what he asks of me on a day-to-day basis.

“I would like to think we have certainly got the goalkeeping situation into a really healthy place, with so many good keepers doing well both within the Academy and out on loan.

“We have both worked really hard, along with fellow coaches George McMahon and Jack Sheward, and for me, coming into the training ground every day, it really doesn’t feel like work, it just feels like still coming into football.

“I have to say, I am enjoying coaching probably more than I actually enjoyed playing,

“Working every day with Scott and the other staff, and then going out to watch our keepers on loan whether it’s in front of 500 or 10,000, I love it, and it has given me some of my best memories in football.”

One of those was also supporting Bevan and the first team goalkeepers in two Premier League fixtures this season, against Chelsea when James Collins took the team following Vitor Pereira’s departure, and then for Rob Edwards’ first game prior to the arrival of Danny Alcock.

That opportunity may well have offered food for thought for life in the future but, at 31, Flatt knows there is plenty of time to progress as he continues to make his mark and develop as a coach.

His relatively young age for a coach can also help in terms of empathy when working with – and passing on experiences to – his young charges, but it also means he can still pull on the gloves to play, at least in charity games!

Having finished with Rushall Olympic, he did come out of ‘retirement’ to play in the FA Cup tie and cup final for Stourbridge, and a couple of weeks ago, took part in a charity game organised by Wolves fan Robbie Meakin at AFC Wolverhampton City.

Karl Henry and Zeli Ismail were also involved, along with Flatt’s former Academy colleague and still best mate Dominic Dell, who actually scored past him twice!

“It was nice to put the gloves on again and see so many familiar faces, speaking to Karl and Zeli about the old days, and being back on the same pitch as Dom,” says Flatt.

“We signed for Wolves at the same time, aged seven or eight, and have grown up together and become best mates so that was a really nice moment.

“I did make a save when he went through one-on-one but then within ten minutes he had scored a brace, and has been giving me a bit of stick ever since.

“Most importantly, it’s always good to give back and give some of your time to support a really good cause.”

That ‘giving back’ certainly extended to Flatt being part of welcoming Burgoyne back to Compton ahead of his former team-mate then taking on the goalkeeping coach job with Shrewsbury Town, a gesture which Burgoyne described as ‘amazing’.

“Wolves did the same thing for me when I was out of contract and came back in to do some coaching work when Scott Fry was goalkeeping coach,” Flatt says.

“Football can be difficult sometimes when you haven’t got a club, but have a family to support, and the phone isn’t ringing - no one is queuing up to give you a chance.

“As a club, I think we will always help people when we can, and especially so as a goalkeeping department.

“I remember chatting to ‘H’ because he was going through exactly what I was, and now he has got into coaching as well which is great – it’s come full circle for both of us.

“And that’s the thing for me, because football is the hardest game to stay in, whether you are a player, manager, staff member, it is tough.

“So, if anybody asks me now what I am proud of most, I would say it’s being able to bounce back from those tough moments, of thinking what’s coming next, and to still be involved and now doing a job which I really love.”

A lifelong Wolves fan making a positive impact with young professionals following the exact same pathway he had followed many years ago. The goalkeepers’ union is alive and well!