Fierce forward with a heart of gold has been England’s in-form striker since moving to Bristol Rovers. What took him so long?Bristol Rovers, or indeed any League One club, are scarcely mentioned in the same breath as Premier League or Champions League winners but sandwiched between Sergio Agüero and Sadio Mané in the nation’s goalscoring charts, Jonson Clarke-Harris is in good company. Only Agüero, Teemu Pukki and James Collins of Luton have more league goals than the 19 he has registered this calendar year. Since joining Rovers on deadline day in January from Coventry, where he started his career as a 15-year-old, no player in the country’s top four tiers has scored more league goals.Ten years ago Clarke-Harris, raised by his mother in Kirby Frith on the outskirts of Leicester, was a rugged centre-back playing for Beaumont Town and Judgemeadow. But Coventry, six months after overlooking his credentials as a defender, were quick to pounce midway through a six-week trial when, playing up front, Clarke-Harris lit up an under-17s match at Derby. After the game, the then Coventry academy manager, Gregor Rioch, who now holds the same post at Wigan, was giving Clarke-Harris a lift to the train station when the striker received a call from Leicester inquiring regarding his availability. Related: Barnsley sack manager Daniel Stendel Continue readingreadfullarticle
