WITH ten different clubs under his belt from a lengthy career, John-Joe O’Toole is what you might call a journeyman.
And Wimbledon’s dedicated defender still clocks up hundreds of miles to pursue his dreams and to pay the bills.
Fans’ favourite O’Toole commutes for six hours a day to training and back home to Northampton where he lives with his wife and three kids — one of whom is autistic.
The 180-mile daily round trip to the League Two club is a world away from the lifestyles enjoyed by the Prem stars of Newcastle, who host them in Tuesday’s rescheduled Carabao Cup third-round tie — with a home game against Chelsea in the last 16 at stake.
O’Toole, 36, said: “It’s about 2 and a half to three hours there and the same back, three or four times a week.
“Last year I was doing it most days. It’s a lot of time on the road.
“We have to be in for 9.30am and if you’re late you get fined. I’ve picked up a few, unfortunately, but at least it goes into the pot for the Christmas do.
“Normally I give myself three hours so I leave at 6.30am. If I don’t give myself three hours it is going to be tight.
“I just make a coffee and leave. If I have time I might have a bit of toast but normally I don’t because I am bloody shattered!
“So, normally, I just get up and leave. It’s £50 to be late to meet before training and another £30 if you are late for training.
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“I stay over the nights before games and stuff but we don’t have much help back home. My missus has a couple of health problems, my daughter is autistic, so it’s quite hard juggling it all.
“I have a five-year-old, three-year-old and an 11-month-old. If I’m going home on a Friday it can be 3 and a half hours. I don’t even want to think how much I spend on petrol.
“On the way home I might stop at the services for a quick kip. But I have to set a 15-minute alarm, or else I’d be there for hours.
“My daughter has just started school. She is a year later because we couldn’t get her a place.
“She is non-verbal. All of this makes it really difficult to simply up and move.”
Dramatic flooding at Wimbledon’s Plough Lane ground last week caused the original third-round clash with Newcastle to be postponed and then switched to St James’ Park — meaning another long trip for O’Toole.
He said: “One of the lads put a pic of the pitch on our WhatsApp and I thought he was joking.
“It’s not what we were expecting but most of the lads are quite happy because it means they get to play at a great ground like St James’ Park.
“I have played there before, with Northampton. We lost but it was a great experience. We’ve done well at Plough Lane this season so maybe this weakens our chances of going through.
“But we have already beaten Premier League opposition in Ipswich, so who knows?”
The Plough Lane flooding has put Dons’ 100 per cent league home record on hold and O’Toole – whose previous clubs also include Watford, Colchester, Bristol Rovers and Sheffield United – said: “We have been doing so well at home.
“But as a group we have to be determined that it will not disrupt our progress.”
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