Nick Tsaroulla joined Notts County in the summer of 2024 from Crawley Town
Escaping death and resurrecting his career has given Notts County's Nick Tsaroulla reasons to treasure every moment as a footballer.
And playing in front of a sell-out crowd of 17,000 at Meadow Lane on Friday in the second leg of the Magpies' League Two play-off semi-final against East Midlands rivals Chesterfield is one of those moments he intends to "soak up".
The car crash that nearly cost the 27-year-old his life,externalwhen he was a teenager on the books at Tottenham in 2017 has given the winger a deep appreciation of what Notts are playing for. the role he has in trying to get the club back to League One after an 11-year absence.
"It's a short career, a short life," he told BBC Sport.
"Life can be taken away in any second, football can be taken away in any second, which it was for me -. then you realise how much you miss it and you just want to enjoy every second of it.
"That's exactly what we're going to do. That's the spirit we embody as a team. That's what we did in the first leg. we're going to go out and do that again in the second leg.
"Notts is such a big club and it's such a lovely moment to play - you have to cherish it.
"One day, in 30 or 40 years' time, hopefully, I can look back with my kids. grandkids later on and tell them stories about the experience that I got to live through, playing in a play-off game like this against Chesterfield in a derby."
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Tsaroulla knows he is lucky to talk about growing old. have a career to reflect on after the head-on collision he was involved in Winchmore Hill, north London when driving to Spurs training.
He survived the crash but endured months of pain that kept him out of the game for a year. threatened to end his career before it ever really got going.
Spurs released him in 2018. he found his way back into the game with Brentford's B team before going on to thrive at Crawley Town – a side he helped toa famous FA Cup win over Leeds Unitedwith a stunning first senior goal in January 2021 before going on to play a part in their League Two promotion play-off success in 2024.
When Tsaroulla appeared in front of the BBC's cameras pitchside to speak after scoring against Leeds, he wasovercome with emotion,external.
He readily admits that reflecting on what he went through nearly nine years ago. how it has shaped him as a footballer "hits a nerve" as he steadies himself with a promise "not to cry again on TV".
Tsaroulla plays with plenty of energy on the wing. talks passionately about giving everything to Notts' promotion cause, having missed last year's play-off campaign after having to undergo surgery to remove his appendix.
But all the while, he talks of football's importance -. the enormity of Notts' home tie with Chesterfield, having won the opening leg 1-0 - with sobering perspective.
"When you have the opportunity to play football like this, everyone hypes it up like it's the end of the world,. it's not," he said.
"We will play like our lives depend on it but at the end of the day, they don't. That does relieve the pressure."
The early career trauma that Tsaroulla went through. how he is preparing for the match is something that Notts head coach Martin Paterson says all players in the Magpies dressing room can draw on.
"His story is really important. There's 23-26 players, if not more, in there. they've all got their own individual stories about why they're here, why they want to achieve something. It's really important and we do harness that and we do speak about it," Paterson said.
"It's all a balance of emotion, passion and then control and the tactical side of it. So all my players' stories and pasts are really important.
"All of us can just chip in together and focus on the future."
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