Thanks Eric.. for giving us Harry Kane!
Football-mad grandad inspired England captain
HARRY Kane’s footballer grandad will be looking down from heaven with “great pride” as he leads England’s bid for World Cup glory, his great aunt says.
Eric Hogg, who Harry has credited as the man he got his talent from, knew the Three Lions captain would go on to greatness, but died before he burst onto the scene.
Eric’s sister Bette Bovington, 77, said: “He’s up there now doing cartwheels at what that boy’s doing. He would be so, so proud.”
Eric reached semi-pro level back in the 1960s and would be thrilled his grandson is leading the race for the Russia 2018 Golden Boot as the top scorer with five goals. Family members say they can see Eric in the way Harry moves, and if he bags a goal in Tuesday’s last 16 clash with Colombia in Moscow, Bette will be looking for one special thing.
She said: “When Harry scores a goal he sometimes puts his hands up and looks to the sky – and I like to think that’s going to his grandad, my Eric.”
Eric was the youngest of eight siblings including five footballobsessed brothers.
But it was the eldest brother who got the family into the game, by setting up a youth team in Islington, North London, during the Second World War – and his name was Harry.
“We think that’s where the name came from,” said Bette. “Harry started them all off on the ball, they all played for Blundell Rovers. That’s where the journey began.”
But she says it was Eric who – along with Harry’s supportive parents Kim and Pat – played an important role in the development of Tottenham Hotspur’s star striker. “He knew Harry would play for one of the big clubs, but he hoped it would end up being Arsenal,” joked Bette, who comes from a family of keen Arsenal fans – usually the sworn enemy of Harry’s club Spurs. Eric, who died of lung cancer around 15 years ago, played in midfield for Brentwood and Warley in Essex among other clubs. Bette said: “He’d have been giving Harry so much encouragement, that would have been his influence now. Eric got so much satisfaction with how much of a keen player Harry was, and used to go and watch him.
“It’s such a shame Eric never got the joy of seeing what Harry’s become. He saw the talent, if he was alive now he’d be saying ‘I knew he was going to be big – I told you’.”
While Eric predicted greatness for Harry, Bette said it was her niece Kim and Harry’s dad Pat who most helped him achieve his dreams.
“You’d be at the house and this little boy would come in, with all his knees dirty, Kim would have the kit straight in the wash. If Harry should
When Harry scores he puts his hands up and looks to the sky... I like to think that’s to my Eric BETTE BOVINGTON ENGLAND STAR’S GREAT AUNT ON HIS GOAL CELEBRATION
thank anyone it should be his mum and his dad. He could not have better parents. I told Kim last time I saw her – ‘your dad would be so proud’.”
Bette said Harry’s feet have been kept on the ground by his family, including older brother Charlie, who has also supported him “amazingly”.
Harry previously said he thinks his sporting genes came from his mum’s side of the family. “Dad probably won’t like me saying that, but I think my grandad Eric on my Mum’s side was quite a good footballer, and played at a decent level,” he recalled.
Bette said when Harry was born, Eric went to hospital to visit his new grandson. He was told his name, and replied: “He’s either going to be a gangster or a brilliant footballer.”