Having left Plymouth Argyle in the summer, Lionel Ainsworth was ready for a new challenge. Dropping down two divisions, he signed for fellow National League South side Weymouth in August and was immediately struck by how high the quality was at this level.

“It was all new to me before I went down to Weymouth,” he says. “Obviously playing and getting used to the League, I could see - it's actually a really good League. A lot of people would see it and be like, 'Ah, I'd never play down there' but it's a real good League.”

After playing at Champion Hill for Weymouth - and scoring a memorable, outside-of-the-boot screamer in the process - Ainsworth was impressed by what he saw and felt a move to Dulwich might make sense, given he had been commuting from London to the South Coast.

“I scored a tap-in!”, he laughs. “We've gone out there and literally within the first 10 minutes, I thought - 'Wow. This lot are good. This is going to be a hell of a game'. And then we ended up drawing. I don't think either team deserved to lose to be honest with you but I could see the potential there is massive from Dulwich, I thought that this is a decent side.”

A conversation with Junior Kadi and Junior James after the game put the wheels in motion, and before long Ainsworth was a Dulwich player. “A phone call got put in by a friend and the next thing I knew, I was liaising with the gaffer and we've managed to sort something out, so I'm happy,” he says.

In a 15-year career of over 350 senior appearances and more than 50 goals, Ainsworth brings a wealth of experience to Champion Hill. Looking back at it he says, “It started a while back. I know I'm only 32 but I was 17 when I made my debut for Derby. I went on a few loans, playing in the League. I played in the Conference for a month. And then it got to a point when I was down there in the Leagues for seven years, in the Championship, League One, League Two.”

Ainsworth singles out Shrewsbury Town as one of the clubs where he played his best football. Playing under manager Graham Turner, he helped them to promotion and a League Cup run that took them all the way to the Emirates. However, while the team fired on all cylinders, it was also a difficult time for Ainsworth personally.

“I lost my cousin. My cousin passed away and it was a hard time. So mentally I was going through the worst time of my life. To everyone else in the world, they probably didn't have a clue, cos you can hide things.”

Performing for Shrewsbury was a way of releasing those emotions. “That season just started so well. I remember we played Charlton [in the League Cup] and we were 3-0 down on Tuesday night and we go and win 4-3. And from that time there we played Charlton, we played Swansea, we beat them. We played Derby, we beat them. Next minute, you're playing against Arsenal.”

“We went and got promoted that year. The team that we had, a lot of good players in there,” he says. “Nicky Wroe, Jermaine Grandison, Ben Smith, Chris Neal, Ian Sharps. Some really good players that wanted to win, so it was really, really enjoyable.”

A few seasons on, Ainsworth got the opportunity to play North of the border and joined Motherwell on loan - a move which would become permanent. He has nothing but good things to say about his time in Scotland and was happy to call it ‘home’ for four years.

“I hold Scotland close to my heart,” he says. “My baby girl was born up there and my fiancee Laura really enjoyed living up there, working there and meeting new people, and the football, it was quality. It was good, good quality. The standard was really good but as a whole, the people were amazing and I just loved the place.”

Helping Motherwell to a 2nd place finish in his first season there and qualifying for the Europa League in the process, Ainsworth ended up making over 100 appearances for the club. Perhaps his most notable games for them came in a 6-1 aggregate win over Rangers in the relegation play-off.

“It was crazy," Ainsworth recalls. “We should never have been in that position, trying to stay up. It was the Playoff game for Rangers to come up, or us to go down. We were in that situation and we had a good team.”

“The first game was away at Rangers and you walk out and I'm trying to talk to someone as close as we are now and they can't hear you. You can't hear a thing! It was the first time I'd played at Ibrox, cos they weren't in the League.”

“We only had 900 fans in the corner and for them to have 49,000, it was like - ‘come on, let's get it going’. We just played with a freedom and the next minute, go and score. One nil up, two nil up and then we were three nil up and we thought, 'Wow, what's happening here?'. I remember having an interview after and they're saying 'Lionel, Man of the Match', this and that, 'Do you think the next game's going to be hard?'.

“You have to respect Rangers, 100% but at 3-1 I'm thinking, we could just defend all game and be all right in the second leg...but we didn't. We went and scored another three, and I scored in that one! We went and beat them 6-1 on aggregate. The power that they had, it was our determination and grit, and the ability that we had that took us through, that ultimately kept the club up.”

Obviously the result was a cause for celebration, but ultimately a relegation play-off is not the sort of game a player wants to find themselves in. There are parallels between the situation he was in then and what he sees at Dulwich now - a team with a lot of quality and potential, but one that is also much nearer to the relegation zone than the playoff places.

Ainsworth however is fully confident that things will change - and soon. “It’s not gone our way recently. Every team’s going to have blips. Ours has gone on a little bit longer but we know as a team, mentally, what we've got to do to get out of it. We've got the team, the staff, the ground, the fans and everything to push on and that's our aim. That's what we want to do.”

He is already starting to build a connection with the other players around him and this will lead to results. “For me, an assist is a goal - no matter who scores it. I'm not a selfish player, I want to provide for my strikers. We've got Millsy here, we've got Ade here and I tell them - as soon as I get the ball, get in that box cos that's where it's going. I believe in myself and I think they've seen it.”

“I put one in for Millsy the other week and they can see that I want to provide for them. If I'm providing for them, I'm doing my job. If I can score, it's a bonus and it's a bonus for everybody involved.”

Clicking with his teammates is a good start and Ainsworth wants to build a long-term relationship with Dulwich Hamlet. “My first thought was being at this club for a long time. Not just for this season, I'm looking way beyond that and if I can start every game and perform and play to the best of my ability and earn something again for next year, brilliant.

“I'm doing my coaching badges. I'm on my B License, it just needs signing off - which is always a good thing to have. I sort of know the League a little bit now, but as for now, I want to be playing every week and contributing more and more every week.”

Lionel and the boys are in action this Saturday December 7th at 3pm against Dartford - get your tickets here.

Photo: Max Magloire, Brixton Buzz