Nathan Stone on bringing up 100 goals for Harleston Town and whether this season will be his last
Harleston Town’s 100-goal man Nathan Stone says his time at the club has helped him to rediscover his love for football.
The striker who turns 39 in May reached the three figure milestone with a hat-trick in Saturday’s 6-0 demolition of bottom side Whitton United at Wilderness Lane.
The former Leiston, Lowestoft Town, Needham Market and Gorleston front man joined Harleston in the summer of 2017, then under boss Adam Gusterson in the Fosters Solicitors Anglian Combination Premier Division.
The next six years have included three promotions, cup successes, a demotion and two disrupted seasons due to the pandemic, while Stone’s goals have been a constant as the club now find themselves in the top four in their debut in the Thurlow Nunn League Premier Division.
“I fell out of love with football,” Stone said. “All the travelling and playing at a higher standard, I was just drained, mentally drained, and I just wasn’t really fussed about playing. I was quite close to calling it a day, to be honest.
“Gussy, who was the manager at the time and Olly Willis messaged me and said ‘we were very close last year in the Anglian Com Prem and I think you’ll be the missing piece to get us there.’
“If I’m going to enjoy it, then winning games of football is going to help, so I just thought ‘why not?’
“I definitely made the right choice. I love it. To be honest, I think it’s more to do with the club and the people who are at the club that just make it how it is.
“There’s a tight bond between the players, coaching staff, supporters, chairman, his wife, it’s a quirky little club, I’ll call it that.
“When you look at it on paper people will look from the outside and say they’re a bit of an up-and-down club for a couple of years, but there’s literally not one bad season in there.
“We’ve done really well in the leagues. We got demoted due to regulations and stuff and we still finished second and we won a cup that season.
“The goals are nice, but winning stuff is much more important. I wouldn’t be able to score the goals I score without all the players around me, especially at my age. They make it more achievable for myself.”
On Saturday, goals from Joe Manning and Sam Borrer and Stone’s first of the afternoon handed Harleston a 3-0 lead at the break.
Stone moved on to 99 goals with a penalty straight after the restart, before substitute Ryan Crisp made it 5-0 on the hour.
And the hat-trick and landmark 100th goal followed soon after for Stone, who brought up the century in style with a Panenka from the spot.
“They kept telling me I was on 97 before the game started, but I’d been on 97 for a few games,” he said.
“I was just trying to forget about it, but when I’d already scored two and I had a penalty I thought I might as well do it in style.
“The little Panenka penalty down the middle off the underside of the crossbar and in. You can’t really make that stuff up!”
Harleston (4th) entertain Norwich United tomorrow (3pm) before visiting eighth-placed Sheringham on Tuesday (7.45pm).
It has been an impressive first campaign in the Thurlow Nunn League's top flight for Danny Crow's side who up until a few months ago were challenging Thetford Town at the top of the table.
"It's all going to be about learning for the club as a whole and for the new management," Stone said.
"Some of the players have played that level and some haven't. Obviously I knew what the sort of standard was going to be like, but for me on a personal note it's just a test to see if I could do it one more time.
"I think the club as a whole can be proud of what they've achieved this year. I know the results haven't been great the last two months, but the start we had was great. I think it just bodes well for next year."
Stone's treble on Saturday took the striker on to 20 goals in all competitions for this season, a tally which is top of the scoring charts at Wilderness Lane, but could this term be his last?
"I've been saying it jokingly for the last five or six years that this is going to be my last year," he said.
"Last year I actually said, it must have been in April time, that I just can't do it any more and then I changed my mind in the summer.
"I honestly don't know! It's so hard as some games you play and I feel absolutely fine.
"I've not got a physical job but I'm on my feet the whole time doing 12 hour shifts.
"Sometimes I just can't move and then other days I feel fine, so I don't know.
"Apart from the Covid break there's been no gap really. Luckily I've never really had any bad injuries. I've had the odd muscle strain and hamstrings, but other than that I've never missed anything long term.
"I'll probably miss more games through suspensions more than anything else to be honest!"
Looking back at his century of goals in Harleston colours, Stone picks out a strike in the Boxing Day draw with Mulbarton Wanderers as one of his best, despite by his own admission struggling to work out how he executed the volley!
"The volley against Mulbarton was one of the best ones," he said.
"I think that's a nice one considering I've probably got the worst technique at the club by a long way!
"How I caught that I don't know. I think I just shut my eyes and hoped for the best, to be honest.
"But I just personally want to thank the club as a whole for giving me my love back for football.
"I think the older you get, and especially when you get to my age, when you know it's coming to an end you appreciate the game and the love for the game just that little bit more.
"I think you forget sometimes when you get to a certain level and sometimes you get paid and sometimes you don't and it becomes like a job, a second job, semi-professional if you want to call it that.
"But you forget why you started playing football when you were young. It's because you enjoyed it and you loved it.
"That's one thing that I would tell any youngster now is if you're not enjoying your football then just go elsewhere and find somewhere where you can enjoy it. That's the most important thing."