Xavier Benjamin went from boy to man during nearly a decade at Fulham – and now hopes he can mature on the pitch with Dunfermline.
The Cardiff City defender joined the Pars on loan on transfer deadline day last Thursday, just 15 minutes before the signing cut-off.
Only a few hours later, he was leaving his house shortly before 4 am to catch an early morning flight from Bristol to Edinburgh to start the next chapter in his career.
The 20-year-old then went straight to training with his new team-mates in Dunfermline later that morning and on Saturday made an instant debut for the Fifers.
It was a difficult first taste of Scottish football for Benjamin, who was part of a defence ripped apart ruthlessly by Morton in a 5-0 hammering.
But the centre-half, who was Cardiff’s academy player of the year last season, remains determined to ensure his move north is a success.
He said: “It came about late on Thursday. I went into training at Cardiff and I didn’t know anything about this move.
“My [academy] gaffer Darren Purse told me about it and I just wanted to go because I need the experience in the next level of my career.
“I left my house at 3:45 in the morning, got the plane from Bristol to Edinburgh and then it was straight to training.
“It was crazy – packing, travelling. Cardiff is a long, long way away but I’m grateful to be here, grateful for the opportunity. I just need to go and show what I can do.”
‘I really grew up there’
Benjamin joined Fulham at the age of nine and stayed there until departing to join Cardiff almost two years ago.
He will always look back at a formative stage in his life, never mind his career, with fondness.
He added: “Fulham, that’s where I changed from a boy into a man. I was there from when I was nine until I was eighteen.
“I really grew up there, into a man, and I grew in what was really a family to me – the coaching staff and the players.
“I’ll always have love for them and what they have done, how I developed as a player.
“Last season, I went back just to see a few faces, which shows how much love I have for them.
“Fulham was a great club for me all the way through from nines to (under-)18s. They helped me get where I am today.
“I trained once with the first-team at Fulham and the intensity was crazy, sky high.”
It may have been a whirlwind move, but Benjamin says he quickly did some ‘research’ into Scottish football and Dunfermline before heading north.
Having Cardiff colleague Malachi Fagan-Walcott already at East End Park was also a comfort.
‘I’m very passionate’
But the centre-half insists the opportunity to build his top-team experience and enhance his career was the major attraction.
He explained: “It is a big thing for me in my career. I am 20 years old, I played last season when I was 19 in the under-21s and I feel that I can push on now.
“I’d love to get better each year and I hope the Scottish Championship brings a lot of joy, wins and happiness to develop my game.
“One thing about me is that I’m very passionate, if I care about something I am very passionate and put my all into it. I like to lead by example.
“I always try to get that one per cent better each day; each game, each training session, every time I’m on the field.”
