Will Glennon | St Ives Town

A central defender with double figures for goals in a season? Shortly not? Well yes! because only 17 of the 659 outfield players who have played in this years Southern League Premier Central have scored more goals than Will Glennon of St Ives Town throughout the 2024/25 campaign.

📷 St Ives Town

The 22 year old, who is the league's highest scoring defender this season, featured 10 times for Stamford at the start of the campaign. Glennon joined St Ives in October, and has gone on to make 28 appearances, scoring nine goals. The equivalent to 0.32 per game compared to his 0.10 average at Stamford. The defender would have been in the top 15 based on games per goal ratio, if only his stats for St Ives were taken into account.

Glennon is one of 13 players to have scored a hattrick this league season, and the only none attacking player. The other 11 being James Clifton of Bedford Town, Lewis Ison of Stratford Town, Jamar Loza formerly of Leiston, Connor Stanley of Banbury United, Brady Hickey of Barwell, Jack Duffy of Stamford AFC, Jack Roberts formerly of Spalding United, Kieren Donnelly of Halesowen Town, Harvey Sayer of Lowestoft Town, Freddie Robinson of Harborough Town, Leon Lobjoit of Bedford Town and Matt Stenson of AFC Telford United.

Glennon boasts another terrific achievement, as he is the only defensjve player in the league to be part of the 17 players who have scored in three successive games or more. I spoke with the defender to catch his thoughts on his terrific season, his side's eye catching win at Harborough Town last weekend, as well as the club's relegation battle.

"10 goals this season has been a fantastic achievement, especially for a defender like myself. Even though I have played a few times in midfield. It is no doubt my best season so far, especially as I am now playing at step 3. I was at step 4 and 5 but never managed to get this many in the back of the net, so it is fantastic to do it at this level.

"As a defender who is scoring goals, I feel like it has given me that extra attribute and edge to my game, rather than if I was just defending well. I score most of my goals from the second phases of set pieces, for example when the ball ball drops dead and is put back into the box. It allows me to pounce on the situation and it is something we work on in training. It has been effective for me this season, and then the penalties I have scored as well have been a bonus.

"It was a massive win for the team last Saturday, against a side just outside the play-offs. We have now done the double over them this year, and to achieve that by scoring in the last minute at the weekend was amazing. We seem to have a habit of playing better against sides near the top because we want it more and know we have to work harder to get a result. The win was one of the best feelings I have had this season, apart from my hattrick against Hitchin.

"We are a young group here, so the chance to beat one of the best and more difficult sides to play always makes us step up our own level. I do not think our mindset against the teams lower down in the table is great, as we feel the pressure a bit more to get a result. This league is tight, anyone can beat anyone, no matter where you are in the standings, and we have shown that with our wins at Harborough and Kettering just for a few examples.

"The game against Kettering, they could have gone top, and it was at Latimer Park that day where I scored two for a late victory. In terms of an individual perspective that was my best moment at St Ives. I got a lot of stick in the game, so to stop them from going first, and to score two goals and turn the game from 2-1 to 3-2, it was an unbelievable feeling."

I also spoke to Glennon about St Ives' boss Ricky Marheineke, and goalscoring teenager George Munday. "The gaffer Ricky is a top bloke, and definitely one of the best managers I have worked under. He is very honest, and gets the best out of his players in situations like the one we find ourselves in right now. He improves players, and I think we have seen that over recent years of players performing under him and moving on to bigger and better things.

"The experience he has is massive for us players, and definitely gives us that extra bit of confidence going into the last three cup finals of the league season. The gaffer keeps everyone on their toes and makes sure they work their socks off, and no doubt he will ask for the same over the next 10 days. George on the other hand has been brilliant for a player at a new club considering his age. He is mature, and is to be admired for other young forwards in the Leicestershire area who want to make the step up to first team football.

"I just hope me and him, the highest scorers at the club, can knock in a few more to keep the club up. My message to our fans is that me and the boys will leave everything out on that pitch to make sure we get the results needed. I just want them to stick with us. We are working hard in training at the moment. The aim behind the scenes is to make sure we are in the correct mindset and are allowing ourselves the best opportunities to get the points needed to keep us at step 3 for another year. The fans deserve it for their support throughout a difficult nine months."