Brighton & Hove Albion prospect Jack Hinshelwood has become a bit of a celebrity in York.
The historic city nearly 300 miles away in the north of England is better known as Britain’s home of chocolate and the most haunted city in Europe than for its football club.
Hinshelwood’s dad, Adam, is trying to change that by putting fifth-tier York City back on the map while his 19-year-old son aims to establish himself under Brighton’s new head coach Fabian Hurzeler.
Hinshelwood broke through last season. The versatile midfielder, used at right-back due to injuries, scored three goals in 12 Premier League appearances and started two matches in the Europa League under Roberto De Zerbi before a stress fracture of the foot cut short his impact in February for the rest of the campaign.
That led to Hinshelwood personally supporting the ultimately successful pursuit by his father — a Brighton defender for seven years in the early 2000s — to steer York clear of relegation from the fifth-tier National League.
“He’s turned into a bit of a Brighton and York fan,” Hinshelwood senior says. “He came up regularly on his crutches to watch games. He saw his dad getting absolute pelters and not go hiding, taking the criticism and trying to work even harder to come through it.
“That will hopefully help him to know it’s not going to be just success. There is no secret really to success. If you look at all the top players they do the extras, work hard.
“When he came to watch, more York fans asked for his photo than mine. When I come to Brighton games now, it’s a case of, ‘You’re Jack’s dad, aren’t you?’. It used to be the ex-player, now it’s Jack’s dad, but I wouldn’t want it any other way. I am delighted for him. I just want him to keep on pushing on now.
“Like any 19-year-old, he secretly likes the attention, but he never lets you know and he has a family who would be on his case if he got too big-headed.”
Jack is the fourth member of the Hinshelwood family to play in the top flight of English football. His great-grandfather Wally, who died six years ago, was at Chelsea and Fulham in the 1950s. His late grandfather, Paul, and great-uncle Martin played for Crystal Palace in the old top-tier First Division in the 1970s.
Dad Adam, 40, played in the Championship for Brighton and was on the verge of representing England at under-21 level until injuries curtailed his career. A sixth member of the clan, Jack’s uncle Danny, played in the Football League for Brighton, Torquay United and Portsmouth in the late 1990s.
Hinshelwood Snr playing for Brighton in 2008 (Stu Forster/Getty Images)
Jack made his Premier League debut as a late substitute in a 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa in the last game of the 2022-23 season when he had just turned 18. He made a brutal first start against the same opponents at Villa Park in a 6-1 defeat four months later, another reminder along with the injury of the pitfalls that accompany success.
Adam said: “I know this is going to sound really harsh, but in some ways, it has shown him the reality of football. It’s not all just a straight line. You have bumps in the road. He learnt that in his debut game as a starter, losing 6-1 at Aston Villa. It was such a high, then such a low at the same time to be part of a team given an absolute hiding.
“He had to bide his time, wait for an opportunity again. Then he was on a bit of a high, playing well, putting in some good performances and then you get a crash in the road again with an injury.
“If anything, it should give him the motivation now to really kick on. He has had a taste of what it is like to be playing week in and week out in the Europa League and the Premier League. He has got to work his socks off now to try to make sure he gets that again.”
.@JackHinsh’s SUPERB opener against Spurs is our @MonsterEnergy Moment of the Match! 💥 pic.twitter.com/CFFn3Q8aJZ
— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) December 29, 2023
While Jack can lean on his father’s experiences, Adam is trying to get tips off his son helpful to his training and tactical methods at York. “I’ve been to watch Brighton training a few times,” he said. “Jack probably gets bored of me asking what they have done in training. I try to push him into giving me more detail.
“I try to focus myself on more 11-v-11 and tactical stuff through the week. You’ve got to balance that with giving the lads a bit of fun as well, but a lot of tactical work and preparation goes into the game now from when I played. There was stuff like that going on when I was playing, but it’s a lot more day-to-day now, working on the opponents and the tactics of the game.”
The plush surroundings Jack enjoys with his Brighton team-mates at the club’s training complex in Lancing are far removed from his dad’s managerial pathway.
Adam ran a domestic cleaning business with his wife before uprooting in February from the family home in Worthing, where he was part-time manager of the local sixth-tier club in National League South, to take on the full-time challenge of restoring York to Football League status on a contract until June 2027.
York were an established EFL club until they were relegated to the Conference (now National League) in 2004 but have since spent just three seasons in the top four tiers. The club were in danger of relegation until Hinshelwood Snr guided them to safety. His assistant is Gary Elphick, older brother of former Aston Villa, Bournemouth and Brighton defender Tommy, who is Andoni Iraola’s assistant at Bournemouth.
Six weeks is a long time in football…#YCFC 🔴🔵 pic.twitter.com/OFvHh0Yuzh
— York City FC (@YorkCityFC) April 21, 2024
“I was working full-time (at Worthing), doing most of the youth teams,” Adam said. “The work was evening-based, me and my wife used to do cleaning in the mornings. It was weird when I called Gary to tell him we had the go-ahead for it all to happen (at York). He was under a sink — he was a plumber — and I was cleaning, holding a hoover. Neither of us misses that. We’ve had to work hard for the opportunity. We want to give it our all.
“We don’t want to compete at the wrong end of the league. The ambition of the owners and the fans is to compete at the top end. We want to get the club back into the Football League, competing and moving up the leagues.”
His wife, three daughters aged 12 to 17 and Jack’s younger brother have recently moved up to York to be reunited with Adam. As Jack continues his recovery from injury, there will be fewer opportunities next season for the father and son combination to be involved in each other’s careers.
Adam said: “It worked quite well when Brighton were playing in the Europa League, Thursday-Sunday (in the Premier League). I got to go to watch him in loads of games. That will be different next season, but Newcastle is not too far away. Hopefully, that game falls on a Sunday, so that we get to watch him and he can come to our home up north and spend a bit of time with us.
“The toughest thing was when he made his (full) debut at Villa. Worthing had a game. I watched the first half and felt distraught for him, then I had to go and give a team talk to the boys and try to motivate them. It was a bit of a surreal situation to be in, but I am sure we will get used to it and it will become the norm.”
(Top photo: Hinshelwood is an emerging talent at Brighton. Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
