Middlesbrough captain Jonny Howson reflects on his career

A wide-ranging chat in the sunshine overlooking the training pitches at Rockliffe Park has turned into something of a career retrospective. We’ve discussed the early days at Leeds United, the boyhood team he always dreamed of representing, and the Premier League days at Norwich City. There’s the ups and downs of his five years with Middlesbrough, a spell punctuated by highs, lows and pretty much everything in between. Eventually, though, the discussion turns towards the future.

Having celebrated his 34th birthday last month, Howson accepts the clock is ticking on his playing days. So, when he does eventually hang up his boots, what does he want to be remembered for? And how will he measure the success or failure of his performances on the pitch, and in particular, his time as a Teessider?

“I think there’s lots of different ways to judge a career,” said Howson, always one of the most reflective and thoughtful of footballing interviewees. “Every individual will have their own outlook or view on that. Some will want to do it for money, some will want to do it for medals, some will want to do it for their family or their sense of self-pride.

“There’s lots of different reasons and motivations. People are different, but with regard to myself, I think the main driving force is that I’ve always just wanted to do the best I possibly can, and if I can look myself in the mirror and genuinely know I’ve done that, that’s good enough for me.

“Yes, I want to be successful, and ultimately success in football means winning something. But there’s lots of different measures within that, it’s not just about medals, and if you’re talking about having a successful career, then I think it’s much wider than that.

“You want to be remembered. One day, it’s all going to end, and you want people to be able to look at your career and say, ‘He achieved the absolute best that he could’. I’ve got three kids, and a big thing for me is that I want to be able to show them things, or have other people tell them things about the things I did.

“I want to make memories – both for myself and for them. You can do that in different ways, but when I eventually do look back on my career, I want to have lots to talk about, whether that’s moments, nights, games, seasons, whatever. I want to have things I can look back on and remember – and that’s probably how I judge my career. Up to this day, I’ve got a few of those things. But I still want to create a few more.”

That is why Howson has taken up Boro’s offer of a new 12-month deal, taking him to the end of next season, and why he will continue to wear the captain’s armband as Chris Wilder’s key lieutenant next term.

The passion still burns as brightly as it did when he first stepped onto the Elland Road turf to make his senior debut for Leeds United in a Carling Cup win over Barnet back in 2006. A lot has happened in the subsequent decade-and-a-half, but the fundamentals of Howson’s career remain the same. Commitment, discipline, professionalism, pride. Being the best you can be whenever you pull on your boots, whether that’s in a play-off final in front of 80,000 people at Wembley or during a training session with Boro’s new recruits.

In many ways, Howson is a throwback to bygone days when players remained loyal to a small number of clubs and were not entranced by the trappings of fame and fortune. He has always been one of the easiest players to relate to given his humility and down-to-earth nature, hence why he remains such a popular figure amongst coaches, team-mates and fans. If you could pick what you wanted your ideal Middlesbrough player to look and act like, you would probably come up with Jonny Howson.

“If people look at Middlesbrough in the last few years and think of me, then my initial reaction is that that’s nice,” he said, even though any sense of personal adulation still seems to sit awkwardly, even after all these years. “I guess it shows you’ve made a bit of a mark.

“It’s not like I’ve set out wanting to push myself forward in a certain way, because I don’t really like being talked about. But it is nice that people think of you like that because you want to be remembered. I want my kids to look up and be proud of their dad.

“As you get older, you appreciate that recognition a bit more. In footballing terms, I am getting older and towards the back end, even though in life in general, I’m still pretty young.

“My two eldest are starting to understand it a bit more now. Sometimes, I can be walking through town, whether that’s in Leeds or here around Middlesbrough, and people stop you. The kids will say, ‘Oh, who’s that?’ And I have to say, ‘I don’t know’. But it’s nice. My kids mean everything to me, and if they can be proud of that, then what more do I want? If I can be remembered as a part of Middlesbrough’s history, that’s great. There’s no denying that.”

But what about being part of Middlesbrough’s present? Howson’s performances last season, particularly when he outplayed Tottenham’s internationals in the FA Cup, suggest he still has plenty to offer, but is he really convinced he can still play every match of a gruelling Championship season? And how would he react if his powers were beginning to wane?

“If I didn’t think I could still do it, then I probably wouldn’t,” he said. “Although knowing the type of character I am, a bit of me would kick in to say, ‘Well, just work a bit harder then’, and I’d probably need someone I respected and trusted to pull me to one side and say, ‘Jon, look, you just can’t do it anymore’.

“I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about what it would be like to be in that position, and how I’ll react if I maybe have to stop. It might be the case where I need someone close to me to spell it out. I don’t know. As a footballer, you’ve probably spent your life fighting through tough times, so I think it’ll be hard to accept you can’t win that fight anymore.

“Hopefully, I’m not there yet. I like to think I did okay last season, so hopefully that shows I can still offer something to the team.”

Having accepted there will eventually be a day when he has to accept defeat, Howson admits he has begun to have thoughts about what might come next. For now, though, his sole focus is on playing, and trying to create some more of those treasured footballing memories over the course of the next 12 months.

“I’ve had thoughts about what might come next, but I’m not 100 per cent sure about what that might be,” he explained. “I enjoy the game, so I think I would want to stay in football. Scouting quite interests me, or maybe even the coaching or managing side. But, for now, that’s at the back of my mind.

“My main objective and focus is on playing for as long as possible. Certainly, while I am playing week in, week out, I don’t want to look too far ahead. I want to keep my focus on what I’m doing now.

“That might change further down the line, and I’m not daft, so if I’m not playing week in, week out anymore, maybe that will be the time when I start thinking about other things. Maybe I will start dipping my toe into other aspects of the game, with an eye on the future.

“But for now, I still believe I can go and do a full season. I want to give everything I possibly can and focus as much as I possibly can on that.”