Brandon Ormonde-Ottewill says he wanted “men’s football” after leaving Arsenal as a teenager.

The left-back came through Arsenal’s academy system but failed to make a single first-team appearance for the club.

He was released as a 19-year-old, but rather than end up in another Premier League club’s youth team, he dropped down into the lower leagues to get first-team football.

Ormonde-Ottewill joined Swindon Town, a move he describes as the best thing he could have done after leaving Arsenal.

“I left Arsenal when I was 19 and first-team football was the next main thing for me,” he told Planet Football. “First-team football was important to me, I didn’t want to go and play Under-23s, I wanted to play men’s football, get that experience.”

The biggest difference Ormonde-Ottewill experienced was playing under several managers. Arsene Wenger was all he knew at Arsenal, but at Swindon, he ended up playing under four different coaches.

He believes it’s all part and parcel of the professional game, and that the experience has been helpful rather than disruptive. “Arsenal was more settled, you’re used to having the same coach for the whole season, but going into first-team football, anything can happen,” he said.

“You can come in the next day and there’s a new guy taking over and that’s just how football is. I got used to the changes and you take it in your stride and adapt to it.”

Ormonde-Ottewill now plays for Helmond Sport in the Dutch second division. The 21-year-old has had a difficult start to life in the Netherlands due to an ankle injury. He made his first appearance for his new club back in August, when he came off the bench against Volendam.

However, he hasn’t made a single appearance since then. Ormonde-Ottewill spent three years at Arsenal as a professional player, and managed one appearance for the England u19s.