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Jak Hickman thinks it could be fate that he ended up at Bolton Wanderers - a club trying to navigate their way out of the doldrums after he has endured his own dark times.
When the promising wing back left Coventry it was under a cloud, after a drunken rant he made about the club while on holiday was caught on video and went viral.
Twenty at the time, he had emerged through the club's youth system and had progressed to the Under 23s, but the incident was the end of his road with the Sky Blues.
He feels he has been given a footballing lifeline by Bolton, and he is determined not to throw it away.
"Making my Football League debut, for anybody it's a massive deal. It's a massive club," said Hickman, who after impressing on his full debut in the Papa John's Trophy tie with Crewe started Wanderers' League Two game at Colchester.
He has not featured since scoring in the 3-2 Papa John's win over Newcastle United Under 21s. But if there is one thing that his own personal history has taught him, it is to keep going.
Hickman became a social pariah at Coventry after the video and he admits it took him a long time to get over that, both professionally and personally.
"I wasn't prepared for the tens of thousands of people giving me stick online and I struggled, especially for the first couple of months," he said.
"I didn't know how to get away from it and it was following me everywhere.
"I struggled to deal with it. I locked myself in my room for a few weeks, and cried probably numerous times and thought everything I had worked so hard for has just gone."
Speaking to The Content podcast on a topic about being released from football clubs, Hickman added: "I've only got myself to blame for that situation because it's me that put myself in that situation," he said.
"I was a young lads and a lot less wise than I am now."
Looking back, he believes the incident did him a favour in the long-term.
"It happened and it obviously wasn't great, but it did make me wake up and smell the coffee," he said "I've become a lot more mentally strong and I've taken the lessons from it into my further life, which has helped me a lot.
"You learn to be more resilient."
Those qualities came to the fore last season when, having fallen back in love with football again while with local non-league side Bromsgrove Sporting, he first suffered a ruptured quad and was sidelined, then when he returned to fitness the coronavirus pandemic prompted lockdown.
Hickman used the time to work on his fitness and body conditioning in the hope that a club had seen enough in him beforehand to take a chance.
He is grateful that Bolton Wanderers did, and that neither the club, nor the fans have held his past against him.
"When I got the phonecall to come in and train I knew the club had been in the Premier League, and it's massive club," he said.
"The stadium is top stuff. It's a Prem stadium at the end of the day.
"We started back here earlier than most clubs and I had prepared for it really well and I was in good shape, so I just said to myself 'I'm going to make sure they can't say no. I'm going to do everything I can when I go in to earn something.
"The club speaks for itself.
"The fans have been class with me, they've been top drawer with me and I have respect and love for them.
"It's obviously been a shame they haven't been able to come into the stadium and it's a shame for the players as well because I would have loved to have been playing in front of 15,000 every week. There's nothing better than that as a footballer. And just the engagement as well with that. They might think I'm a good player, they might not, but I would have liked to have shown my personality and they don't get to see that side of me.
"On social media they are very vocal in what they say and rightly so, it's a massive club and they deserve to have their say.
"Obviously the club wants to get promoted. It's too big a club to stay in League Two.
"I don't know what happened in previous years but this is the lowest ranking so at the end of the day the club can only go up, so it's up to the people involved here to make that happen."
He added: "They've been through tough times as well so we have a middle ground between us which might help to be fair.
"At the end of the day football fans are passionate and it's their life. As much as football is my life football is their life as well.
"This is their club.
"They've been here a lot longer than me and they will be here a lot longer than any of the players.
"I just hope for their sake that the club can push on and I would love to push on with the club."
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When the promising wing back left Coventry it was under a cloud, after a drunken rant he made about the club while on holiday was caught on video and went viral.
Twenty at the time, he had emerged through the club's youth system and had progressed to the Under 23s, but the incident was the end of his road with the Sky Blues.
He feels he has been given a footballing lifeline by Bolton, and he is determined not to throw it away.
"Making my Football League debut, for anybody it's a massive deal. It's a massive club," said Hickman, who after impressing on his full debut in the Papa John's Trophy tie with Crewe started Wanderers' League Two game at Colchester.
He has not featured since scoring in the 3-2 Papa John's win over Newcastle United Under 21s. But if there is one thing that his own personal history has taught him, it is to keep going.
Hickman became a social pariah at Coventry after the video and he admits it took him a long time to get over that, both professionally and personally.
"I wasn't prepared for the tens of thousands of people giving me stick online and I struggled, especially for the first couple of months," he said.
"I didn't know how to get away from it and it was following me everywhere.
"I struggled to deal with it. I locked myself in my room for a few weeks, and cried probably numerous times and thought everything I had worked so hard for has just gone."
Speaking to The Content podcast on a topic about being released from football clubs, Hickman added: "I've only got myself to blame for that situation because it's me that put myself in that situation," he said.
"I was a young lads and a lot less wise than I am now."
Looking back, he believes the incident did him a favour in the long-term.
"It happened and it obviously wasn't great, but it did make me wake up and smell the coffee," he said "I've become a lot more mentally strong and I've taken the lessons from it into my further life, which has helped me a lot.
"You learn to be more resilient."
Those qualities came to the fore last season when, having fallen back in love with football again while with local non-league side Bromsgrove Sporting, he first suffered a ruptured quad and was sidelined, then when he returned to fitness the coronavirus pandemic prompted lockdown.
Hickman used the time to work on his fitness and body conditioning in the hope that a club had seen enough in him beforehand to take a chance.
He is grateful that Bolton Wanderers did, and that neither the club, nor the fans have held his past against him.
"When I got the phonecall to come in and train I knew the club had been in the Premier League, and it's massive club," he said.
"The stadium is top stuff. It's a Prem stadium at the end of the day.
"We started back here earlier than most clubs and I had prepared for it really well and I was in good shape, so I just said to myself 'I'm going to make sure they can't say no. I'm going to do everything I can when I go in to earn something.
"The club speaks for itself.
"The fans have been class with me, they've been top drawer with me and I have respect and love for them.
"It's obviously been a shame they haven't been able to come into the stadium and it's a shame for the players as well because I would have loved to have been playing in front of 15,000 every week. There's nothing better than that as a footballer. And just the engagement as well with that. They might think I'm a good player, they might not, but I would have liked to have shown my personality and they don't get to see that side of me.
"On social media they are very vocal in what they say and rightly so, it's a massive club and they deserve to have their say.
"Obviously the club wants to get promoted. It's too big a club to stay in League Two.
"I don't know what happened in previous years but this is the lowest ranking so at the end of the day the club can only go up, so it's up to the people involved here to make that happen."
He added: "They've been through tough times as well so we have a middle ground between us which might help to be fair.
"At the end of the day football fans are passionate and it's their life. As much as football is my life football is their life as well.
"This is their club.
"They've been here a lot longer than me and they will be here a lot longer than any of the players.
"I just hope for their sake that the club can push on and I would love to push on with the club."
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