Billy Chadwick programme article
Posted : 30th October 2021
Summer signing Billy Chadwick – who joined on loan from Hull City in July – spoke to ‘Look at Linfield’ this week for the first time. The English striker joined Linfield as part of a double loan swoop along with winger Ahmed Salam, who Billy believes can make an impact during his time at Windsor Park.
“Everyone here has been brilliant and I am enjoying it. The gaffer is brilliant. He is a great man for me to have as my manager, given what he achieved in his playing days in the same position as me. I spoke to Grant McCann when the possibility of the move came up and everything he said about Linfield was spot on, in terms of the good people here, the size of the club and the expectations and everything else around it.
“Coming over here with Ahmed certainly has helped me settle in a lot easier. I was absolutely buzzing for Ahmed when he scored his first Linfield goal against Dundela in the Shield last week. We all train very hard, that includes Ahmed and he deserved that. There is a lot more to come from him and from all of us.”
Chadwick - who came through Hull City’s Youth Academy from the age of 11 and has had senior football experience at Gainsborough Trinity and Halifax Town – states that Linfield fans haven’t yet seen him at his best and that’s something he’s working hard to change.
“I think I have got more to give, in terms of performances, but I think that comes with playing more. I always train as hard as I can to try and earn more minutes on the pitch and show the gaffer and the fans here what I can do.
“Obviously the plan is for me to hopefully develop as a player and I feel that I am developing as a player every day. I train hard every day to the best I can, to try and put myself in the frame for the team selection on a Saturday. 3PM on a Saturday is when it counts and you want to be making an impact on the pitch, although there’s no doubt we have great attacking options here and competition is strong and healthy.
“I went on loan in the Conference League in England last year and that got me used to playing against physical players, so I feel like I am adapting well to the Irish League thanks to that. It’s the same everywhere you go; some teams like to try and play, whilst others can be more direct. I feel that we are on a good run at the moment and have been adapting to the different challenges quite well.”
Chadwick has scored two goals so far, against Ballyclare Comrades and Fola Esch in the UEFA Conference League, and he’s very complimentary about the environment at Linfield FC, in terms of the supporters and the mentality throughout the club.
“The fans have been brilliant with me. When we play away from home, I think they usually outnumber most home crowds, so they support us very well. They are different class and that was evident again with the noise they made on Monday night in Larne.
“One thing I really enjoy about Linfield is the strong winning mentality we have here. We remain unbeaten and, although we have had a number of draws, I think that’s very positive after nine matches in a tough and competitive league. We are hungry to carry on that momentum and hopefully, we can keep our foot on the gas and see how far that takes us.”
After Jordan Stewart’s late headed equaliser to salvage a point away to Larne on Monday night, Linfield come into today’s game against Dungannon Swifts unbeaten, with five wins and four draws from their nine games this season, and Chadwick believes there’s still room for improvement.
“Even though we are winning games, we feel that we can still be better and the gaffer is telling us that all the time. We just have to reach our maximum and show that week in, week out. That’s what we mean by high standards at Linfield and we all must thrive off that.
“We played Dungannon in our final pre-season friendly the week before the season started and although it was a friendly, they looked sharp and they beat us that day, so we know this will be another tough game but with it being at Windsor Park, we need to come out with a strong performance and hopefully, we can build on a solid point at Larne with all three points against Dungannon.”
All the best to Billy and his teammates for today’s tough game against Dungannon Swifts at Windsor Park