PURE SWANSEA: ‘It takes the pressure off medicine’: Jacob Lund, the trainee doctor Pure can’t do without

Jacob Lund spends his days on a medical placement in Llandeilo, about an hour’s drive away. His evenings belong to Pure Swansea.

He is studying Graduate Entry Medicine at Swansea University, and says football is what gets him through. “It’s almost like a stress relief for me. I enjoy it. It takes the pressure off medicine slightly on a long day,” he said.

His manager puts it more simply. “He does the things in football that players hate doing but managers love seeing,” said Jack Midwinter.

From Exeter to Swansea: how a university match brought Lund to Pure

Lund is from Nottingham, and did his first degree at the University of Exeter, where he played university football.

That brought him to Swansea to play Swansea University, the club that became Pure. John Beale was manager at the time, with Midwinter his assistant.

“When I finished my degree at Exeter, I got into Graduate Entry Medicine at Swansea. I gave John a message,” he said. “I started training and I’ve been at Swansea University ever since, and then obviously with Pure.”

‘A big part of my social life is football’

“It is a lot. Some days are busy and others aren’t,” he said of fitting it all in. Training is in the evenings and games are on Saturdays, so football rarely clashes with medicine.

“I still feel like I can do what I want to do. There is overlap between football and my social life. I’d say a big part of my social life is football,” he said.

“It’s not just about playing football on the pitch, we’ve all mixed off the pitch. A large part of my social life is going out with the boys after a game on Saturday.”

Picked for Wales, then blocked by UEFA

Lund was called up for Wales’ regions side in the UEFA Regions’ Cup, along with Pure team-mates Casey Coughlin, Mason Kelly and Dan Ingram. The manager had come to watch a game in which Coughlin scored a hat-trick.

“I initially got picked. I think the Welsh FA thought I was eligible and then when they submitted the team, UEFA blocked it, I think, because I haven’t played in Wales for long enough,” he said.

Players need two years in Wales to qualify, he said, “and I was just under, basically, which was frustrating.”

“I would have loved to have gone, especially with Casey and Mason and Dan going. It would have been a great opportunity. But there’s always next year.”

Does he feel a bit Welsh now? “Yeah, a little bit. Jack spoke about Swansea boys sticking together. Every time he says it now, I almost feel like I’m a Swansea boy,” he said. “I’m definitely getting that and understanding more accents as the year goes on.”

‘Super underappreciated’: Mason Kelly and Midwinter on Lund

Team-mate Mason Kelly picked Lund out last week as one of those players who “don’t get recognised”.

“Obviously it feels good. I think everyone loves to get recognition. I’m no different, especially coming from your teammates,” Lund said. “I read the article. It felt good. But I think the most important thing is the team and the team winning.”

Midwinter backs Kelly up. “It’s no coincidence that Jacob’s players’ player of the year at this club two years in a row,” he said.

“He’s brilliant, he comes with no ego, he comes with nothing, he just comes to play football and enjoy himself. He’s here as a student; his lifetime goal is to be a doctor and to study medicine and do that.”

Midwinter would rather the rest of the league didn’t notice. “From conversations I’m having around the league, he’s starting to get the recognition outside of the club, but I hope it stays with him and nobody knows who he is,” he said. “Super underappreciated by those outside the club but definitely not by those within it.”

Winning the ball back, with Jordan Lloyd-Evans alongside

Lund keeps his own job description short. “I’m mainly midfield. I’m going to go and win the ball back, basically give the ball to the players who are going to go score, and this season that’s been quite easy for us.”

He has chipped in himself, opening the scoring in the 4-0 win over Pontardawe Town in September.

He misses his midfield partner Jordan Lloyd-Evans, who has been out for the past few weeks. “He’s been my midfield partner for the past year and a half. I love playing with him,” he said.

He credits captain Jordan Hughes with “getting the boys together”, and is close to Dan Ingram, another university student. “To be fair, I would have a conversation with anyone on the team. It’s all very close, and that’s kind of credit to the atmosphere and togetherness that Jack’s built, really.”

‘No reason why we can’t’: Lund on promotion

Pure are still unbeaten in the Novira Cymru South, and Lund believes they have already faced the toughest sides. “You never know, you’ve got to think so. It’s been a good start, but Jack mentioned a meeting we’ve had recently, it’s about taking it a step at a time,” he said.

“Aberystwyth away was a real test, they were a very good team. They’ll be up there at the end of the season. To grind out a draw up there was a really good result.”

“We played Pontypridd, played Caerau in fourth, played Baglan in fifth. So, I think we’ve played the hardest teams in the league.”

“There’s no reason why not, but it’s about not getting ahead of ourselves and taking it a game at a time or a month at a time, making sure we’re at our standards, which probably did slip at [Afan] Lido.”

Pure host Treowen Stars at Swansea Bay Sports Park on Saturday, 24 October (2.30pm kick-off), and Midwinter has previewed the game.