“Oooh-aaaah Wagenaar, that’s something I’ll never forget”
The sound of Yeovil Town supporters chanting his name is a memory which still lives with former Glovers’ goalkeeper Josh Wagenaar more than a decade after leaving Huish Park.
The Canadian played 28 times in the 2008–09 season which began under Russell Slade and ended under the stewardship of Terry Skiverton and his assistant Nathan Jones.
The spell at Huish Park was actually the most games Wagenaar, now 36 and living in the United States, played in a career which spanned eight years and saw him capped for his
country.
He told the Gloverscast: “The fans were great, I will always remember them singing ‘Ooooh-ahhhhh Wagenaar!”, that will live long in my memory. To have my chanted by football fans was a dream come true.
“I still have all my jerseys. As far as playing goes in professional teams, I made some of my closest friends whilst I was there.
“Nathan Jones, Terry Skiverton, Andy Welsh, just great guys and always had time for me. I have nothing but good things to say about Yeovil.”
Wagenaar did also recall some slightly less kind chants from Leeds United supporters after he conceded four in a midweek defeat at Elland Road in March 2009.
He chuckles: “I still remember the Leeds fans behind me singing “3-0 and your keeper’s shite!” – so that felt good!”
But, the gloveman does have positive memories of his performances including pulling of great saves in the 1-0 win at Southend United and the draw at Millwall around Christmas 2008.
Loanee Asmir Begovic, who arrived from Portsmouth as a 19-year-old in the summer of 2008, kept Wagenaar out of the side for much of the first two months of that season.
Josh recalls he had been first choice ahead of Begovic for Canada at youth level, including in the CONCACAF Men’s Pre-Olympic Tournament in 2008 where their country finished third.
Begovic was born in Bosnia before his family moved to Edmonton, Canada when he was 10 years old and played for his adopted country at youth level before choosing to play for the country of his birth at senior level.
Asked about his memories of the now-Everton goalkeeper, who has commanded more than £15m in transfer fees, Wagenaar told the Gloverscast: “It was awesome to have Asmir there at Yeovil , we ate lunch a bunch at the Pizza Hut downtown together, get the nice salad bar there.
“His girlfriend at the time, who is now his wife, would come up and visit him from Portsmouth and it was fun to reminisce about Canada and what we missed about our home and native land.
“I don’t know where Asmir would consider to be his home country, but I think a lot of his growing up was in Canada even though he decided not to play for us.”
He adds: “Asmir was always a good goalkeeper, he always had good fundamentals but you just never know that people that get the opportunity and take it.
“He was a good pro, he was committed, so it was surprising but I was not thinking he was going to be a Premier League goalkeeper in the future.”
