Jack Hinshelwood’s season ended with a flourish. There were the three goals in as many games as Brighton qualified for Europe and a distinct feeling there were more where they came from.
Hinshelwood, having first broken into the team at full back and played deep in midfield, has thrived as a high-energy No 10 in Fabian Hurzeler’s side, forcing errors from those trying to pass their way out of defence and latching onto crosses to threaten the goal.
Thomas Tuchel liked what he saw and selected the 21-year-old in England‘s 55-man longlist for the World Cup. Wealthy Premier League rivals monitored his accelerated progress, too.
Summer speculation about interest from Arsenal sparked flattering online comparisons to David Platt, the former England captain with a reputation for scoring goals from midfield.
‘If I’m going to play in this higher position, I want to start scoring a few more goals,’ Hinshelwood tells Daily Mail Sport. ‘I scored four last season but could have had 15 so I’m working hard to turn good positioning into more goals and assists. I want to score 10-plus if we’re going to play 50-60 games.
‘There’s a lot to play for this season. We’re in the Conference League, which is a massive target for us. We really want to do well in Europe. We’ll be better prepared than two years ago. We want to go as far as we can, like in every competition.’
Hinshelwood discusses his ambitions under the critical gaze of his father Adam, a former Brighton player now manager of Worthing in the National League, and his great-uncle Martin, who has served Brighton in several coaching roles including as manager and director of football, and still scouts for the club.
Jack Hinshelwood, his father Adam (right) and great-uncle Martin (left) have all served Brighton with distinction as either a player or coach
The trio met Daily Mail Sport at Brighton Museum and Art Gallery, for the opening of a permanent exhibition tracing the history of the club
A talented and versatile player, Jack is entering his fourth season with the Brighton first team and has been touted for an England call-up
For all his confidence, Jack qualifies everything with regular promises not to look ‘too far ahead’ and to ‘focus on Brighton’ and let the rest take care of itself. His family background guards naturally against the dangers of getting carried away.
‘He’ll get told off by the rest of us if he does,’ teases Martin but his expert eye tells him his great-nephew has the attributes required to turn this excellent start into an elite career.
‘You’re in a learning curve and it’s a massive bonus if you’re able to play in different areas of the pitch with the ability and the will to play there, because I know some players will go, “What you playing me there for? I don’t want to play there. I want to play in that position”.’
Martin expects Jack will eventually settle into central midfield. ‘His awareness is his big asset,’ says the 73-year-old. ‘He knows where he is on the pitch and where others are. He sees things and does things early. He’s just an intelligent footballer, probably more intelligent than any of the rest of us who have played.’
Three generations of the Hinshelwood family are together at Brighton Museum and Art Gallery for the opening of a permanent exhibition tracing the history of the club, and especially its revival since the closure of the Goldstone Ground amid fears of liquidation in 1997, from exile in Gillingham to success in the Premier League.
‘The journey has been incredible,’ says Jack, whose introduction came as an infant at the Withdean athletics complex where Brighton played home games after returning to the city in 1999. His father was in the team.
Likewise, Adam’s early recollections include splashing around with his cousins in the huge communal baths inside the Goldstone dressing rooms when Martin worked on the staff. And later as ball boy at the Withdean as the team started its climb back to the top.
Martin, Adam and Jack have been witnesses to Brighton’s ‘incredible’ journey from near extinction to European football
Jack is honoured alongside fellow Brighton fan favourites in the exhibition covering that revival
Brighton’s former Withdean ground was a distinctive venue for football, with an athletics track around the pitch
‘There was a buzz when the team came back to play in Brighton and Hove,’ says Adam, 42. ‘And there were back-to-back promotions and before you knew it the Withdean was a Championship ground hosting some big teams.
‘It was layered differently to normal grounds. The players’ lounge was a nursery by day and there was a pub literally inside the ground. Now they’re building a pub inside the Amex so it’ll bring some history back.’
The Hinshelwoods are woven into the club’s fabric.
Adam, who is the son of Crystal Palace legend Paul, was thrust into the Brighton first team at the age of 18, making his debut on the opening day of the 2002-03 campaign when his uncle Martin was manager.
He was voted man of the match in a win at Burnley and then dropped for the next game. There was a call-up by England Under 21s but no cap before his progress was halted by a serious knee injury and he retired by the age of 26.
‘My career was similar to Martin’s,’ says Adam. ‘Dad would always tell me how good Martin was as a central midfielder who could do everything, score goals, create goals and stop goals.
‘His career was cut short and he got into coaching and management, and I’ve been fortunate to do the same. We’ve been on the same path. That’s why I’ve told Jack to do his coaching badges. He’s working towards his UEFA B licence.’
‘He’s just an intelligent footballer,’ says Martin of Jack. ‘Probably more intelligent than any of the rest of us who has played’
Jack’s dad Adam played over 100 games for Brighton between 2002 and 2009
Martin and Paul were sons of Wally Hinshelwood who played for seven clubs, most notably Reading and Bristol City in the 1950s.
They both graduated from the youth ranks at Crystal Palace in an exciting era when Malcolm Allison and Terry Venables were in charge at Selhurst Park.
Martin’s professional playing career was curtailed by injury at the age of 24. Paul went on to make 319 appearances over 10 years at Palace, mostly as a right back despite starting out as a striker.
‘Paul had that attitude,’ recalls Martin. ‘He was a striker who scored lots of goals and when they put him at right back he wasn’t too keen, but he worked hard and ended up playing for England Under-21s.’
One of his two Under-21 caps came at the Goldstone, where his every touch was booed by a partisan Brighton crowd on a night when local hero Peter Ward scored three in a 6-0 win against Norway.
‘There’s no magic to it,’ says Martin, as he attempts to explain the dynasty with a story about his father’s matter-of-fact reaction to his release by Fulham at the age of 15.
‘I came all the way home from Putney on my own. Train, bus, in through the front door and he went: “Are they taking you as an apprentice, then?” I said, “No”. And he said: “You’re probably not good enough”. Then you think: “Well, I’ll show you”.
‘My parents helped us in every way but always left a bit there to say, “Go on, you need to do more”. That’s how it’s got to be or you can have a problem. I had that as a kid and Adam had that with his dad as well.
‘They’d always find something in the game and go, “Hey, remember that?”. You might have had a blinder, but they’d forget all the good things and remind you about that one thing. It’s just to keep your feet on the ground and keep you wanting to improve and be a better person and player.’
Having played for rivals Crystal Palace, Martin stepped in as Brighton’s caretaker manager on several occasions in the 2000s
‘None of us are comfortable with what we’ve got,’ says Jack. ‘Like Dad in his coaching, he’s doing really well but we all want more. It never stops’
As coaches with family in football, Martin and Adam find themselves doing the same thing.
‘My youngest son is 11 and he probably gets it a lot easier than Jack did,’ says Adam. ‘When I started, I had my uncle coaching at Brighton and he’d shout to me: “Hinsh, are you all right?” and I’d say, “Yeah” and he’d say, “Liven up then”. That would get to me every time.’
Jack has no complaints about the extra scrutiny. ‘None of us are comfortable with what we’ve got,’ he says. ‘Like Dad in his coaching, he’s doing really well but we all want more. It never stops.
‘And probably that means we don’t enjoy it sometimes as we should, but we always just want more.’
Brighton’s new season starts tonight with a Conference League play-off tie against Tromso in Norway, before they host Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday. Expect more from young Hinshelwood.
