DESPITE only spending one year at Eastleigh, Joe Tomlinson will take with him fantastic memories of the club – but one not so fantastic sticks out too. “For my initiation I sang ‘Ridin Solo’ by Jason Derulo, it was an absolute shambles. I won’t be doing that again.”

The 21-year-old defender joked from inside his team hotel room as he reflected on a dream move to Championship side Peterborough, following a rampant Spitfires spell that harboured 12 goals and 14 clean sheets.

The youngster won the club’s young player of the season and supporters player of the season, sparking interest in the enigmatic and versatile full-back high up in the Football League.

Customary in football, Tomlinson will now face the prospect of serenading his new teammates at the first overnight stay as the former Hungerford captain moves up again after one successful season.

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Speaking to the Daily Echo, he quipped: “I need to find a song that I’m going to sing here, it will be pretty soon so I’m going to need to find one pretty quick I think – but I’ve done enough of them.”

Tomlinson made his Spitfires debut back in October, after becoming the club’s first signing of the 2020-21 season in June, during the 5-1 drubbing over previous play-off-contestants Barnet.

Just prior to the season’s opener, the youngster picked up an injury in a pre-season friendly against Eastbourne Borough and – whilst already trying to impress a new set of staff and teammates – could have been ruled out.

“I was back training two days before, that’s it, I wasn’t sure if I’d be starting but then when the gaffer (Ben Strevens) read out the team it gave me a lot of confidence.

Daily Echo: Joe Tomlinson was reliable from the spot with a 100% conversion rate (Picture: Tom Mulholland)Joe Tomlinson was reliable from the spot with a 100% conversion rate (Picture: Tom Mulholland)

“I’ll always be thankful for the faith he showed in me and that was a big moment for me, to come in and for him to still pick me was brilliant.

“When I signed the gaffer told me that promotion was what he wants, and I said to him ‘I want to make history with the club.’ It was such a shame and I was devastated that we missed out on play-offs in the last game of the season.

“Again, promotion was definitely my aim for this season but I’ve got the move here so unfortunately won’t be able to make history with Eastleigh.

“I apologised to the gaffer and I apologise to the fans that I wasn’t able to deliver that because that was the main goal, but I’m sure they’ll be up there again and I’ll be following very closely.”

Tomlinson first arrived at the Silverlake with frosted blonde, long hair, and the confidence that he could take the Spitfires further – just as they could take he.

He had joined with Premier League academy pedigree after time with Brighton and the grit of having already been blooded with a successful senior National League South year at Hungerford – despite the team finishing bottom of the curtailed season.

At 20-years-old, he’d already captained the Crusaders and provided goals and assists from full-back – but the Covid pandemic stopping non-league football meant Eastleigh didn’t really get as much of a look at the player as they’d have liked.

Tomlinson added: “My story of how I joined Eastleigh is it was Kenny’s wife’s cousin who came to a Hungerford game and mentioned to Kenny my name, and it all happened from that.

“I’ll be forever grateful to Kenny and his family for the chance they gave me to play at such a fantastic club.

“(Andy) Cooky helped me so much throughout the season, I had a few knocks here and there but he managed to speed up my recovery a lot and Roscoe (Flitney) I got on very well with.

“I don’t know what to say about Jase (Bristow), he was absolutely brilliant for me, always believed in me, always showed me the support, I can’t thank him enough. And then even further up with Kenny and Tom, all the media guys, all supported me so much.

“It was also the best changing room I’ve ever been in and they’ve all been messaging me to wish me luck and I’ve been letting them know how it’s going and all that stuff.

Daily Echo: Scoring the last-gasp winner in front of fans against Boreham Wood was Joe's "special moment"Scoring the last-gasp winner in front of fans against Boreham Wood was Joe's "special moment"

“Greener helped me so much but I could go through the whole team and I had a good relationship with everyone, Housey was my roomie, even the new guys coming in this year.”

The Daily Echo understands that the Spitfires received a relatively substantial fee as well as a small sell-on clause for which the club could see considerable remuneration down the line, if his development continues on its upwards trajectory.

Perhaps not often spoken about or considered by footballers is the money banded around for their services, something of a taboo topic.

However, Tomlinson is pleased that his individual success can help put the club in better stead going forward.

He revealed: “For sure, I hope they spend it wisely but if it leads to promotion then that would be brilliant.

“Obviously, I’d have loved to have been involved in that but if that’s my way of helping the team then I’ll take it.”

For now though, Tomlinson will be looking ahead with his new employers, the Posh.

The youngster featured in a friendly against his hometown side Swindon Town and drew praise from under-23s manager Matthew Etherington for his performance, application and ‘aggression off the ball.’

The full-back also saw a free-kick nearly curl into the post, but he admits that he might not be able to command all the set-pieces at his new side – despite his eight penalty goals scored bizarrely with his weak foot for Eastleigh.

“I think Jack Marriot and Jonson Clarke-Harris will have something to say about that this season, but the gaffer and all the players know that if they need me to take one I’ll take one.

“But obviously it’s everyone’s dream (to sign), it’s a fantastic club and I can’t wait to get started and get as many games as possible under my belt this season, but I’ve still got dreams of playing higher – this is another stage in my development but I’ve just to keep improving as a player and see where it takes me.”

For Joe Tomlinson, the aim is clear. He insisted: “I want to be in the Premier League, obviously I have dreams that I want to be playing at the top of the Prem, playing in the Champions League.

“But any of the top teams in the Prem is my plan, my dream, however long it takes me is however long it takes me but I believe I’ll get there, we’ll see how long it takes.”

Tomlinson gives the Daily Echo a message on Spitfires support:

"It was such a shame for me to not see as much of them as I'd have liked, I love having fans around. I play better with them and I feel like I buzz off of them. Obviously the world we live in I didn’t get to but I believe everything happens for a reason and that moment against Boreham Wood, where I was able to score the last minute penalty, that was definitely my special moment for the season. Even throughout the season when they weren’t in the stadiums they still supported me on social media and I felt like I had a good relationship with them. I wish them all the best."