Interview | Joe Mac Joins The 300 Club

Joe McNerney became part of an exclusive club on Saturday 7th January when he passed 300 Woking appearances, following an impressive 2-1 away win over play-off rivals Dagenham & Redbridge.

The 33-year-old, who re-joined his boyhood club in Summer 2021 after leaving Crawley Town, expressed his delight at reaching such an impressive milestone.

“It’s fantastic, obviously it’s where I started out all those years ago and luckily I was able to come back and play for Woking again, so to reach that milestone is fantastic but I want to keep going and add some more to that,” said McNerney.

Since re-joining the club, the defender has seen the club go from strength to strength both on and off the pitch, with memories being made to compete with his hugely successful first spell.

“Notts County away was a good one, that was a real strong win, and then there’s been quite a few this season, we’ve been really good this season”, said McNerney. “The away wins and probably the ones that don’t look that good on paper, Boreham Wood away and Bromley away, clean sheets, obviously being a defender, that’s quite important so there’s been a few nice ones this year but Notts County away was quite a nice feeling last year.”

Most of Woking’s success since November has been down to the partnership between McNerney and Scott Cuthbert, with the veteran defenders performing admirably together following injury to Luke Wilkinson, and McNerney thinks the two are a great match for each other.

“There’s just a good understanding there, we are older compared to some centre halves in this league, but I think we’ve got quite a good understanding. [We’re] both natural defenders and learned the game a little bit and maybe have an appreciation for each other’s game, where he might be covering or where I might be covering and luckily it comes over quite well.

“I think a lot of it comes down to the way we play as a team though, the style of play that the rest of the team take into the game over the 90 minutes does help us as a back four, so it’s not just me and Scott, it’s a team thing, it does help when all 11 are defending the way they do.”

McNerney made his debut for the Cards almost 14 years ago, and since then, players and managers have come and gone frequently, but there are still some familiar faces around that Joe has fond memories of.

“The stadium’s the same, a lot of the same people are here, Malckie [Malcolm Jobling] is still here, he’s one of my earliest memories of being here as a youth team player, the times when I came up and trained with the first team or played in one of the reserve games with some of the first team players, Malckie was always there and helping me out and talking me through things, so it’s nice that he’s still around.

“The place still feels the same to me, it obviously hasn’t had much renovation, I suppose it would be nice to get it renovated a little bit but it feels like home, I’ve been here for so long. I remember running up and down the big main stand here when I was in the youth team at the age of 16/17 probably, that’s probably my earliest memories.”

With the Cards sitting fourth in the table, McNerney is hoping that a landmark season for himself can become a landmark season for the club in finally securing Football League status.

“I think I’ve said that before, that would be my dream to come back and get into the league with Woking,” said McNerney.

“It’s a massive club and it’s never been in the league which seems strange, so many teams you come up against week in week out in this league have been up in the league and have gone lower and come back up and we’ve never quite managed to make that step up so it would be fantastic, that was part of the selling point coming back here when I came back a year and a half ago so that’s the aim. It’s a long way off, it’s such a tough league to get out of, the way the playoffs are set up, but who knows, we’ve given ourselves a good chance.”

Finally, the man nicknamed ‘Beast’ by Woking fans would love to add to the 301 appearances made so far.

“It’s impossible to say how many appearances I’m going to reach, I’d love to retire here, it would be fantastic if I’m still up to the standard. It was a tricky year last year for myself and the team as a whole really, I don’t think we met the expectations but it’s definitely improved this year and I’d like to stay for as long as possible.

“300 is a massive achievement, I’m very proud of that but I don’t see why I can’t carry on and get some more, but that’s out my hands. It would be nice to carry on and see where I can get to.”