Being a goalkeeper is arguably one of the toughest positions on the pitch, and Joe McDonnell is still going strong 12-years from when his senior career began.

The 30-year-old has played for nine different clubs, made over 250 appearances, and, away from the football, became the father of his daughter just eight months ago.

“Life is good at the moment. There’s nothing going on in my life that’s majorly bad, so I’m grateful for that.

“I’ve got my daughter now, and that’s taking up a lot of my time. It’s different once you become a dad. It’s a lot more time-consuming and more effort, but I love it, and it’s so worth it.”

McDonnell has worked under the reign of four different managers during his time at Eastleigh, including the current boss and former goalkeeper himself, Kelvin Davis, who joined the club in February.

“I’ve loved working under Kelvin. It’s definitely a different style than what I’ve been used to in recent years, but I have really enjoyed taking on more responsibility where we are trying to play out from the back more and trying to keep the ball more. It’s been really enjoyable, and I think the lads have taken to him well too, and everyone is happy at the moment.

“The fact that he’s a former goalkeeper hasn’t made too much of a difference, to be honest. He probably knows how I’m feeling in certain situations, so he probably understands it a bit more.

“He has just been a manager and hasn’t tried to be a goalkeeping coach. Vince Bartram has been left to do his thing, and Kelvin has been brilliant with me.”

With goalkeeping being almost like a different sport itself, it begs the question as to how much a new manager and their style actually impacts how the goalkeeper plays as opposed to outfield players.

“I would say that it affects the outfield players more than me, if I’m honest. Especially now, as we look to try and implement a different style of football, that will impact the other players more than the goalkeepers.

“I think the fact that football is changing in the way that it is has meant that it has affected me more than it would’ve in previous years, but I still think it affects the outfield players more.”

A goalkeeper’s relationship with their goalkeeping coach is so important. This is unsurprising given that they spend most of their training time together and share such honest pieces of advice and criticism between them.

“The relationship between myself and Vince is great. We have a great GK union between myself, Vince, Tommy [Scott], and the EDS goalkeepers who help us out during training sessions.

“We enjoy our training time; we have a good laugh, but also we are good at taking things seriously when we need to.”

It’s often talked about how important it is to have a good number two goalkeeper in the ranks, and with Tommy Scott filling that position, McDonnell believes he is ‘great’ with him for playing that role.

“It’s probably one of the toughest positions to play in a club. I had to fill that position for countless years when I was at AFC Wimbledon. It’s not easy when you just want to play football, but you have to keep yourself motivated and stay ready to try push the number one as much as you can.

“Tommy has been great with me for doing just that. He’s never been envious of my position in a toxic, negative way. He’s a really good lad and does well in training. As I mentioned earlier, we have a good union between us all, and I enjoy Tommy’s company.”

After a positive start to the season like Eastleigh have had, the mood in the dressing room will almost certainly be good; however, remaining grounded is something that plenty of players across the world speak regularly about.

“After the start to the season that we’ve had, it’s no surprise that there’s a positive mood amongst the team at the moment. I believe that pre-season asked the right questions of us, and now that the League has started, we are able to answer the questions that come with that.

“It’s important that we try not to get too high or too low throughout the course of the season. It’s about enjoying the wins when they do come, but by the same token, don’t go around thinking you’re the best team in the world when you win a game. It’s important to stay humble and focus on the next challenge.”

Eastleigh has proven to be home for Joe McDonnell, who has spent the longest amount of time here than he has at any other club and sits on 193 appearances for the club, the longest-serving player that’s still at the club.

“It’s mad, really! I’ve seen a massive overhaul of players during my time, which is probably quite common at this level, but it is mad to think that this is my fifth season here.

“It’s great to have the responsibility that I didn’t have at previous clubs where I wasn’t playing as much as I am now. I’m still enjoying it, and it’s still a good group of lads, as it always is at Eastleigh.

“This is a club that I think is really good to play for. We’ve had good leaders come in like Jake Taylor and good personalities, so it’s not like I have to show them ‘The Eastleigh Way’; they just pick it up themselves.”

Ambition is a really key part of being a professional footballer. It’s where the drive and determination stem from having something to aspire to achieve. We asked Joe what he sees as his ambition for the season.

“Our aim is to challenge for promotion or at least getting into the play-offs. We’ve had a good start to the season, but we can’t get too carried away with it. We still know what our aims are, but we can’t get too ahead of ourselves.

“We have shown in the opening five games what we do have, and I think if we carry on playing the way we have done, I believe that we’ll end up somewhere near where we want to be.”