The Irish Spirit- Jayson Molumby 'He's in your Head.'

‘I get knocked down, but I get up again,

You’ll never gonna keep me down’

The lyrics to ‘Tubthumping’, suits perfectly the career of ‘the badge on the shirt thumping’ Irishman.

A man of perpetual desire to not only win, but to make every last second of his matches count.

To make every last ounce of his talent, rise to the top, never to stay latent or dormant.

As Jayson’s career may have?

Faced with the real possibility of retirement, just outside his formative, teenage years.

In life, when anything is so close to being taken away, you simply value it more?

And to any challenge, Molumby will never retreat.

Backing down is never an option, playing to the max, resonates in fans.

Deeply.

You become one of us.

Jayson Patrick Molumby was born on 6th August 1999, in the small, scenic south east Irish town of Cappoquin, a beautiful location, banked by the Blackwater River and sheltered by the nearby Knockmealdown Mountains.

Cappoquin, being part of the county of Waterford, is not traditionally known for its football culture being heavily connected to the Irish sports of Hurling and also Gaelic Football, but Jayson bucked that trend, joining the local Railway Athletic team. 

Indeed, Molumby described football as,

“The third sport there..”

Molumby's style of play, sounded even then, just as we see week on week fifteen years later, perpetual motion and desire, and Jayson quickly rose through the local ranks, competing several years above his age group.

This simply set in stone the desire never to buckle, regardless of the prestige, or in his case, the age of the opposition.

Railway Athletic play in blue and white stripes, as do the only two clubs Molumby’s ever signed long term contracts for, the two Albion’s, Brighton and The Baggies, another element of early, local fate.

Jayson left Railway Athletic for their rival team in Waterford, of all names, Villa FC, [playing in Celtic’s hoops, not claret and blue] but thankfully aged 15, Molumby returned to Railway Athletic for the final year of his club playing days in Ireland.

At this stage, Jayson was recognized by Ireland, thriving at both Under 15 and Under 16 level, where he was named the FAI International Player of the Year.

The following season, it wasn’t the opposition as much as a rival Irish team mate who Jayson wanted to shine above.

A lad actually born in Kingston upon Thames, but with grandparents from Cork.

His name?

Declan Rice.

As Molumby recalls, 

“I was nominated Player of the Year at U17 level and Declan won and also at U19, but Declan cleaned up, and then he left...

I wasn’t really happy when he decided to move…”

The comment was largely tongue in cheek, as Rice and Molumby were not only team mates, but also room mates during this spell, playing age level football for Ireland, and have remained close friends to this day.

It must have been quite something on Sept 7 2024, when Molumby and Rice faced each other in Dublin for a Nations League game? 

Despite a ‘warm reaction’ from the Irish locale to their ex talismanic teen, Rice scored after 11 Minutes and Molumby received his second yellow card in the two matches against England.

To be honest, to no one’s great surprise.

As such a promising teen, many clubs wanted to sign Jayson, but his eventual choice of Brighton was based on Irish connections at the club, with the boss being former Ireland World Cup legend, Chris Hughton, as well as the Head of the Brighton Academy also being Irish.

Simply put, Jayson believed Brighton to be his best overall option, 

“They were homely and welcoming, also with their location and plans for me.

I felt it was a good idea”.

The irony was, Jayson had trials at several clubs at the time, including, Celtic, Aston Villa and of all teams, West Brom.

Prior to joining The Seagulls, Jayson, like many youngsters with a career in football on the horizon, saw education as something to be endured, rather than enjoyed.

Molumby's positive attitude would only be reserved for the football pitch, as school was a place where Jayson felt disengaged to put it kindly..

Maybe it was the sporting focus at the school that discouraged him, but more than likely other reasons?

 “It was a very GAA oriented school, and I didn’t even want to play GAA for my school [hurling].”

“School was never for me, I was suspended as I was acting the bollocks”.

Like many teens, with eyes on a lucrative future, a head turning move to a life of professional football was all that mattered. 

The transition from Ireland to England for Molumby, would however not be easy.

‘Small town’ Cappoquin and the eclectic but much larger Brighton are very different places, and away from family and friends, the 16 Year old Molumby was understandably fraught with homesickness.

One redeeming factor at Brighton was the proliferation of fellow Irish lads, also on the same apprenticeship path, such as Thomas Byrne, Aaron Connolly and Jayson’s close friend, Dessie Hutchison, who after being released by Brighton gave up football and is now a professional hurling player, captain of Waterford for this coming season.

The mixture of teenage football, plus competing in the 2016/17 Sussex Senior Challenge Cup, for the Under 23 team gave the chance to match up against adult players and like all challenges, this was one Molumby relished.

By the start of the 2017/18 season, Brighton boss Chris Hughton was convinced Molumby was ‘ready’ and selected Jayson to make his first team debut in the Carabao Cup v Barnet on August 22nd 2017.

Hughton, like many managers, saw the early rounds of the Carabao Cup as an opportunity to blood and test out his younger players, and Jayson was one of eleven changes for this tie.

When you look at that team, it was a huge range of nationalities, but the mass majority didn’t make the grade at Brighton.

Fellow midfielder, Anthony Knockaert had the most long term impact, as well as a team mate, who didn’t help the ‘Albion Alliance’ between The Hove and The Baggies, Jay Rodriguez’s future nemesis, only a year later, Gaeton Bong.

Molumby stood out a mile, helping set up the only goal of the game in a 1-0 win, and earned the plaudits of the likes of Chris Hughton who stated,

‘I was really delighted with him’.

The second game in the cup run was against Bournemouth, and Jayson played all of the 120 Minutes in a 1-0 defeat, but again impressed Hughton.

It seemed inevitable that Molumby would make his Premier League debut imminently, in this initial season at the highest level for Brighton, since their relegation from Division 1 back in 1983, but disaster struck, putting question marks on Jayson’s career, just as it was getting started.

In Jayson’s opinion, it was a normal training session,

“I went into a tackle, and my knee semi dislocated out of socket. 

I had a chance to let the body heal itself, but it didn’t work out”

The scenario was, Brighton had two options for Jayson’s recovery; complete rest to let the body recover naturally or an invasive operation that would have resulted in an extended period out of the game for Molumby.

Seven months of rest seemed the most prudent option, and after passing several fitness tests, it was thought the recovery was satisfactory enough for Molumby to start full training again.

Three sessions in, the same knee failed again, Jayson’s kneecap was so loose resulting in a full dislocation occurring.

The only way to fix this career threatening issue was reconstructive surgery, involving a hamstring ligament being harvested and inserted into Jayson’s knee,

“I literally had no ligament holding my knee in place at all. I had to get a hamstring ligament inserted to keep the knee locked in”.

By all accounts, the operation and recovery is much more tricky than a normal ACL injury, and to this day, Molumby has a slight bulge to his right knee.

For such a young, homesick, teenager, it was a challenging 15 month period of injury, rest, operation and rehabilitation. 

On reflection, it was a period in Jayson’s life that he wasn’t particularly proud of.

Partying replaced playing football, and there was certainly a time when Jayson was going off the rails.

“My head was gone, and I was just enjoying myself too much”.

The nadir in this partying period, came during some pranking about with a fellow injured teammate in the Brighton physio's room, and an accidental larking about impact, that led to the recovering Molumby’s knee to swell even more.

As is often the case, in such a vital need for a change in attitude, it took an older, highly respected teammate to make the difference.

For Jayson it was fellow Irishman and future Irish international team mate, Shane Duffy to set the example.

As Jayson is 5ft 9’ and Duffy is 6ft 4’.

It’s probably a good idea Molumby listened…

“Duffy had a word with me about how I was acting. 

Probably a kick up the arse and then an arm around the shoulder.

It was what I needed.

He was very good to me”.

The Duffy influence became more than enough, the fight for the right to play football became far more important than the fight for the right to party in the Molumby mindset.

As a consequence of acting on Duffy’s advice, in Feb 2019, ‘a recovered in more ways than one’, Molumby, made his first Brighton appearance for 15 months v Man City’s Academy team, and did so well, was named on the bench, the following day for the first team, v Derby County.

Just four months later, the circle had been turned completely for Molumby, being named Ireland’s U21 Skipper.

The role of captaincy and leadership suited Molumby and that summer, Ireland came 4th in the famous Toulon Tournament, with Jayson being named the 4th best player in the competition, the winner being Brazil’s Douglas Luiz.

Not bad company to keep for the boy, who so recently, liked to party, party.

At 20 years old, it was determined by Brighton that Molumby needed an extended playing experience to develop his career, and so it was a season with Millwall in The Championship.

Lions long term legend, Neil Harris signed Jayson, who was very excited about the prospect at playing regular first team football, at The New Den,

“I’m 20 and I need games. The fans are passionate and 'me' being Irish, I’m very passionate as well”.

Jayson’s Millwall debut, ironically was at The Hawthorns in the EFL Cup, a game best perhaps remembered by us for taking the lead through our striking debutant Charlie Austin, but Millwall stormed back to win 2-1.

Austin wasn’t the only debutant with Molumby that day, after an hour, Slaven Bilic brought on two other new players, the exotic talents of Filip Krovinovic and a chap called Matheus Pereira. 

I believe Pereira did quite well for us...?!

Harris was soon to leave Millwall, and was replaced by Gary Rowett who rated Molumby very highly and attempted to sign him full time, but Brighton had other long term plans.

The 19/20 season saw Molumby start 36 League games for Millwall, and to anyone who's ever seen Molumby’s style of play, wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest that he received nine yellow cards.

Towards the end of that season with The Lions, Brighton Technical Director and ex Baggie, Dan Ashworth, saw Jayson as part of the Seagulls long term future, signing him to a three and a half year contract, in March 2020, in Ashwroth’s words,

“I’m sure Jayson will be certain to make a big impact when he comes back to the club”.

Reality was, another ex Baggie, Brighton boss, Graham Potter didn’t perhaps share Ashworth’s over optimistic view?

On Molumby’s return to the Amex, the first five months saw very fleeting first team appearances, mainly in the EFL Cup, and an actual first team debut v Aston Villa, but it was very perfunctory, entering the pitch on the 95th Minute.

This was to be Jayson’s one and only league appearance for Brighton.

By January 2021, it was decided, Molumby needed more match day experience, this time the destination was Preston under a similarly abrasive character, coach, Alex Neil, and as an outcome, rebuffed what was a record transfer bid by Rowett’s Millwall to sign Molumby full time.

For Molumby, it was the career pattern of again the counsel and pull of Irish counterparts being the key factor to decision making for his future. 

In what Jayson called a, “No brainer decision”, the influence of teammates such as Alan Browne and Sean Maguire being key to his move to Deepdale.

Starting games and impressing the Preston faithful, would only lend itself to selection for Molumby’s beloved Ireland.

No doubt seeing Jayson play with characteristic gusto and enthusiasm for the Baggies, he’s not exactly the easiest of characters to settle for a life on the bench, as he readily admits.

And merely collecting a salary.

Job dissatisfaction..

Molumby at the time, saw the period of trying to break into the Brighton side, 

“As maybe a bit of a risk, to break into the first team, and it just didn’t happen”.

For Molumby, playing football is where the heart is, and the Preston loan experience led to a fifteen game, short term sojourn, and a return to the Amex.

When you look at Brighton’s central midfield options at the start of the 2020/21 season, you can clearly see four roadblocks that Molumby was never likely to get past.

Alexis McAllister.

Moses Caicedo.

Yves Bissouma.

Pascal Gross.

Not only teammates, but in Molumby’s world, immovable objects who would ultimately net Brighton just under 200 Million Pounds.

Four years later, Brighton are currently 7th in the Premier League.

A remarkably well run, forward thinking club.

We could learn a lot from the ‘other’ Albion?

For Molumby, the literal ‘loan ranger’, if he was ever to play regular first team football, he had to move again, but this time it was a loan move with an option to buy. 

There would be no more Irish rover returns…

Yet again, Molumby's move followed the similar pattern, of enticement by a suitor, sealed by the persuasion of Irish friends.

For Jason to seal the move to join The Baggies, it was thanks, in part, to his long term friend, Dara O’Shea.

O’Shea and Molumby actually came over to the Albion as fifteen year olds for a trial, and of course, career wise end up signing for different ‘Albions’.

As Molumby reflected, 

"We go way back, Dara’s a good lad and a good friend. 

He told me I had to sign!!”

From the nadir of the Bilic, Allardyce, Premier League, relegation season, WBA’s midfield needed a severe overhaul for their first season back in The Championship, losing the talents of previous loanees, Okay Yokuslu, Conor Gallagher and Ashley Maitland-Niles, as well as selling Sam Field to QPR.

The Baggies under new boss Ishmael Valerian had recruited fellow Barnsley skipper, Alex Mowatt, and the season had started well, WBA were on a five game win and six game unbeaten streak, under the new boss and his trademark ‘press’.

But in late August, things began to go wrong for Ismael.

Indeed, two days before Molumby signed, we decided in our wisdom to take on the talents of Jordan Hugill on a loan transfer…

August 27th, 2021, Molumby signed for WBA, his reasoning partly down to being, 

 “a good club, and the Irish lads I asked, [mainly O’Shea and Callum Robinson], spoke very highly of the place..”

For Valerien Ishmael, he was thrilled at his new signing, 

“He is young, but has the perfect profile, our new profile, to be an Albion player.”

The ‘Ishmael press’, fresh from his successful Oakwell days, was paying initially very good dividends at The Albion, and how would an industrious, wrecking ball of a central midfielder not be an asset to this key area of the Albion squad?

And in hindsight, was Ishmael wrong?

The best part of three seasons, [due to Mowatt’s loan move to Boro], 227 appearances between them and almost four years later, Mowatt and Molumby are still the strongest and preferred central midfield pair at West Brom to this day.

Molumby’s first season at The Albion could not really be called a roaring success, as Ishmael’s early form was a mirage, perhaps matching the impact Molumby made, starting just seventeen games, with fourteen off the bench, as Albion lurched from the Ishmealian to the Steve Bruce reign.

For a club without too many options for expenditure, ‘the loan to buy for 900K’ for Molumby, seemed to some supporters to be an unnecessary expense at the time, and when Steve Bruce activated the Brighton transfer clause, it was absolutely not met with universal support by the Baggies faithful.

Bruce’s rationale, Molumby was young and improving,

 “He’s 22, already played 75 games in The Championship, and is pushing his way into the starting XI”.

For Molumby, whether it was that sense of acceptance of a long term home, rather than the continued uncertainty of life as a loanee, something felt right.

Most importantly the vision of a regular place in the team, and a home.

“You’ll be in the team for some games and out of the team for others.

 I just want to get a regular rhythm of games going.

I want to kick on and make sure I’m a regular player’.

In the 2022/23 season, the piece of business by Bruce to sign Molumby on a three and a half year contract, doubted by many, became somewhat of a watershed signing. 

Whether it was the peace of mind being settled at a club, who conversely went through the unsettling time of its lowest league position for over twenty years, in the final days of the Steve Bruce reign, to be eventually taken over by Carlos Corbran, Jayson rewarded the club’s long term faith in him with 46 games of energized consistency.

Molumby, justifiably won the WBA Supporters 2022/23 Player of the Year Award.

The Baggies midfield was devoid that season of the talents of Alex Mowatt, out on loan with Middlesbrough, but whether it was the balance created with the defensive midfield nous provided by Okay Yokuslu, or simply the confidence a player gets from a regular run of games, [suggested by Jayson], after signing his new WBA contract, Molumby’s form was a revelation to many. 

At the time, on the international front, Molumby was on the same number of caps, as his idol, Roy Keane, who suggested at the time, a measuring bar for someone to be truly comfortable with that level of football.

15 caps.

At the time, many of those early international appearances had been played in empty stadiums due to COVID restrictions, and with the relaxed mindset of finding a long term home at The Hawthorns, Jayson saw his future dreams of playing at a packed Aviva Stadium, hugely motivational.

“Personally, I didn’t feel like I played for ‘me’ country with no fans. 

Since I was a kid, my only goal was to play for my country”.

Just under two years later, Molumby now has 29 Ireland caps, his main obstacle, his career occupational hazard, yellow card accumulation.

After being voted Player of the Year at WBA, the following season, realistically, could only go one way.

The return of Alex Mowatt from his loan spell gave Corberan three quality options in the central area, with Okay Yokuslu also vying for a place, the choice, more often than not involving Molumby being on the bench.

To compound issues, a foot injury during the stirring 1-0 win v Leeds Utd on December 27th 2023, a rarish start for Molumby, and a game he impressed in, prior to injury and substitution, spelt the beginning of the end of Jayson’s season.

The following game, away to Swansea saw an array of painkillers in Molumby’s stricken foot, but it became a forlorn effort, and Jayson was replaced by that Baggies curate's egg of a player, the ‘lesser spotted’ Pipa.

Corberan had previously described Molumby’s very strong pain thresholds and previously playing with painkillers, 

“Some people with adversity, they give up. Molumby was never going to do that”.

For once, Molumby succumbed to pain.

The prognosis?

The end of his season and a serious foot operation,

“Not involving ligaments but a different part of the foot”, was Corberan’s vague explanation.

Many players state the mental difficulty of dealing with injuries, taken away from the environment they feel comfortable and love the most, and Molumby emotions of helplessness and sorrow, dealing with recovery are more extreme than most,

“I can’t put into words how difficult being injured was. 

It was a really poor time in my life”

Molumby mentioned the adrenaline buzz of the crowd, being the match day environment he missed so much, so it was somewhat ironic that in a match with no supporters, Jayson had his infamous head to head, v Real Mallorca and their fellow agent provocateur, Samu Costa.

The pre-season game was advertised to be played behind ‘closed doors’, but live footage of the game could easily be obtained, and so what might have been a private fixture, became a very public confrontation for Baggies fans and later the world to witness, of one event in particular.

A competitive game, but zero anticipation of what was to happen next, erupted after two niggly, late challenges, caught Molumby on his right foot, the second by Costa, who on seeing a sprawling Molumby on the ground, was hardly diffused by Costa sauntering towards his victim?

Who knows what the Irish/Spanish discourse was, but the usual, head jousting and posturing, led to Molumby being pushed, unleashing a right hook, Barry McGuigan would have been proud of,  a head lock and an eventual melee between both teams.

Molumby is a combustible firework, always having a short fuse, as a ratio of 130 league starts and 34 yellow cards in his Baggies career would suggest.

Whether the intensity of feeling from recovering from long term injury and the perceived mitigating reflection of being soon to be back on the physio’s table after a challenge like that, we’ll never know?

Molumby’s reasoning of the Mallorca incident was, 

“It’s something I’m not proud of, but I’m only human as well”

The Molumby red mist will never be far away, it’s part and parcel of the combative, confrontational nature of the character Jayson is on the football field.

At times, you wonder about players playing with their heart on the sleeve?

With Molumby, his heart is not on the sleeve, but on the complete shirt.

Molumby freely admits, previous managers have tried to ‘calm him down’, but sees this outcome of increased passivity leads to a dip in his performance level and impact on the game.

Simply put, Molumby is who he is.

Warts and yellow cards and all.

The punishment for Molumby’s indiscretion was creative, in that it didn’t have a negative effect on the Baggie’s 2024/25 League campaign, but more so in Jayson’s pocket. 

Molumby was fined 16K and banned for five future pre-season friendly matches.

Or maybe not so friendly matches with Molumby around...

Two weeks after Molumby v Costa 1, Jayson was selected for The Baggies opening 3-1 win v QPR and ecstatic to get back to The Hawthorns against the team he was previously injured against, Leeds Utd, a week later.

“To have that adrenaline rush back.!! To be out with the boys in that atmosphere is amazing”, 

Molumby described being ‘home’ again, at a packed Hawthorns, back in central midfield with, Alex Mowatt.

From a self confessed and understandable, [considering such a long road back from injury], slowish start to this season, Molumby has gradually and clearly shown signs of his previous Player of the Year form.

The peak performance, one that will last long in the hearts and memories of the Baggies faithful, came in our real hour of need.

The second post Corberan game, three days after meekly surrendering to a woeful Derby County team.

The portents were not good.

Sheffield United were in irresistible form, and the visiting Albion team, Molumby with Ousmane Diakite nervously starting the game as his central midfield partner, saw The Blades score an inevitable, opening goal.

The writing looked on the wall for another abject Baggies defeat.

The situation and indeed the team needed a lift and urgently.

Molumby led from the front, taking the game to The Blades, as a seemingly affront to his personality.

In a display for the ages, Jayson dragged WBA back in the game single handedly and a deserved point, a vital statement of intent and a vital momentum swing for the club.

For me, due to the timing, level of commitment, bloody mindedness and athleticism, it was one of the most impressive individual performances by a Baggie for a long time.

It may also have triggered an urgency to sign Jayson to a new, long term contract and significantly, just a week later, The Albion ecstatically announced that Molumby had just signed a new three and a half year contract taking him to 2028.

Molumby saw his ambition and motivation as,  

“To kick on and to play in the Premier League with The Albion”.

With Molumby still being only 25 years old, it was a very prudent move and a classic sign of the club aiming to maintain it’s drive for a younger squad of players who will only get better through experience and age.

The news of the signing was met with almost universal support from The Baggies fan base, who clearly identify with a player who never gives less than his all to the cause.

There are many uncertainties in life, but one guarantee is Molumby will put a shift in, week in, week out, energy personified.

To fans, that means a lot and has endeared him to so many of us.

Yes, there will be smoother, more technically elegant players, but there’s always a place in the team for a character like Molumby, who beyond his playing days is already looking at taking coaching courses with the PFA to prepare for his post playing career.

For money?

For trophies?

For acclaim?

No.

The motivation is to be a coach, 

“To help younger players who are going through what I went through..”

In other words empathy..

And that, I feel, is the key to Molumby’s groundswell of support and undying loyalty from large swathes of the Baggies faithful,

Jayson is a blank canvas.

What you see is what you get, and that is fine.

After all,

“He’s not only in your head”.

 He’s in our head,

 And more importantly, 

 Our hearts as well..