'On the up and up' - Former Fulham and Derby County defender praises Three Bridges after brief spell

The former Millwall and Cardiff City defender left the Broadfield Stadium in the summer after failing to meet terms on a new deal and he has been part of a PFA camp for free agents – along with former Reds Harry McKirdy and Jojo Wollacott – while he looks for a club.

But while at the camp he got a call from Three Bridges asking if he wanted to play a couple of games. He did but FA rules meant if he played past Transfer Deadline Day, he would not be able to sign for a League Two club until January.

Malone would have loved to play more for the Isthmian Premier club, but did not want to miss out on getting signed by an EFL club. But the 35-year-old loved the experience and was full of praise for the club.

In an interview with BBC Sussex’s Robin Grey, he said how the move to Bridges came about. “I was on the PFA camp for four weeks and the owner [Paul Faili] reached out from Three Bridges and Jamie [Crellin], the manager, just rang me and said, ‘look, do you want to play some games?’ And I was like, ‘yeah, of course I will. I just sorted the little details out and yeah, I'll do it’.

“I went down there on a Thursday and started on the Saturday. I think it worked out well because the PFA, there was no games for a couple of weeks. So rather than just training Monday to Wednesday and then going home again, can't beat playing football, can you? I mean, you can train all you want, you can train on your own, you can train in this environment with the pros, but getting out playing games is what we all want to do.”

Malone played three games for Bridges against Aveley, Dulwich Hamlet, who he scored the equaliser against, and Carshalton, before he had to stop.

"Sadly that's come to an end,” he said. “I had to be deregistered before the transfer window closed, which would then allow me to go to a League Two club. Otherwise I'd have to wait till January.”

But he loved his time at Bridges and was impressed with the club. He told Robin Grey: “I'd not watched the game at the level, didn't know anything about the level. I knew bits about the club because I live 15 minutes away and obviously with it being so close to Crawley, I do know quite a bit about the club.

“But in terms of inside the club, didn't have a clue. In terms of the level that they played at, I didn't have a clue. But do you know what struck me? The first training session, it was so organised. Jamie and Joe [Kay] do it so well. There was patterns of play, which I didn't think they'd do .There's a way of playing, playing out the back, keeping the ball.

“It's a really, really well-run club. You can see why they had success last year. They got promoted last year, they won the Sussex Senior Cup last year, they did the double.

“I think personally, the club's on the up and up.”

So what is next for Malone? “I want to play in League Two,” he said. “I think I showed, especially slotting back into centre half, especially at the back end of last season, I think I played, what, 9.90 minutes after a relatively bad injury. So, yes, League Two for me, I think, is where I can still play and play well at. Obviously, that's not down to me. Someone in League Two is going to have to want to sign me. It's not like I can go, ‘look, I want to play for you. Let's go’. It doesn't work like that. So, hence the reason, half the reason why I went to Three Bridges is to say, look, I'm here. I can still do it.

“I can play. I'm not done yet.”

You can listen to BBC Sussex’s full interview at https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0p8g0dh.