Non-league to Premier League: Jamie Vardy won’t be the last to make the leap

22 January 2017 10:00
Andre Gray, Dwight Gayle and Scott Hogan are recent examples of players finding a way to the top after initial failure and there are many more hidden gems to be found outside the league“I got made redundant by Bentley on the Tuesday, which was crazy because I didn’t know what I was going to do,” said Arsenal’s new signing Cohen Bramall earlier this month. “My agent Lee Payne rings me on the Wednesday saying you’ve got a trial at Arsenal. I was like: ‘What?’ I was gobsmacked.”Last week, the 20-year-old former sprinter made his first appearance in an Arsenal shirt since his shock £40,000 move from Northern Premier League Premier Division side Hednesford Town, playing 83 minutes in a 3-1 victory over Southampton in the under-23 league. Following in the footsteps of England internationals Malcolm Macdonald, John Barnes, Ian Wright, Jamie Vardy and many others, Bramall’s journey to one of the biggest clubs in the land via 200-mile trips to training on the back of his father’s motorbike, rejection by local side Crewe and an audacious rabona assist that was featured on Soccer AM, is the stuff of schoolboy dreams. Related: Brentford turn down £12.5m from West Ham United for striker Scott Hogan Related: Paul Scholes: Why I prefer non-league football to the Premier League now Continue readingreadfullarticle

Source: TheGuardian