HOW OLI SOCKS IT TO THEM Blades hero got his education in non-League...then filled his boots
Wolves are ‘blueprint’ for United
HE IS the Premier League’s most unlikely goalscoring hero, a gangly 6ft 3in frame with socks rolled halfway to his ankles and shinguards made for toddlers.
But Oli McBurnie has rapidly become a cult hero following his £20million July arrival at Sheffield United from second-tier Swansea City.
The 23-year-old has even been afforded his own song by Blades fans still revelling in his late equaliser against Manchester United in the 3-3 thriller last Sunday.
All a far cry from being sent on loan to non-League Chester in 2015 to battle the teak-hard, no-nonsense centre-halves of the National League.
It was sink-or-swim time for the then-teenage striker who had been unable to break into Phil Parkinson’s Bradford City side.
McBurnie said: “If it wasn’t for my spells at Chester FC who knows what would have happened?
“Until Chester came in for me things weren’t going great at Bradford.”
His first loan was cut short following an injury crisis at his parent club, but once that was over he was sent back to the Cheshire outfit to continue his development under their experienced boss Steve Burr.
By then McBurnie had crafted a unique look – not one for the fashion pages.
“The kit was so old that the elastic had gone in the socks and so you were always having to bend down and pull them up,” he said.
“I got tired of doing that so
I decided to roll down the socks, and to abide by the ruling that you had to have shin pads, I bought the smallest I could find. They were really made for toddlers.
“There is a psychological reason for continuing to wear them like this because I scored my first ever professional goal playing for Chester with the socks rolled down.”
Burr, now Fleetwood Town’s chief scout, recalled: “Oli was a very scrawny, thin lad. Believe it or not he has filled out a lot since he was at Chester. He soon got in among the goals.
“At the time there were clubs watching him, including Swansea who later signed him. I used to have a go at him for not pulling his socks up.
“I kept saying: ‘Oli if you are looking to move on you’d better pull your socks up and look the part’. I think his shin pads were about three inches long.
“His dad used to come regularly to watch him. It’s nice to see how well he is doing at Sheffield United.
“He was a smashing kid to work with. He still keeps in touch. He reminded me of [ former Hull, Bolton and Wales star] Sam Ricketts. I took Sam on loan from Oxford United when I was at Nuneaton.
“It’s a message to young lads who think it’s a downward step to play in non-League sides. Playing regularly, they improve.
“We didn’t have to ask Oli twice, he just wanted to play.” Within months of returning to Bradford from Chester, McBurnie was off to join Swansea, though he then took further loans at Newport County, Barnsley and Bristol
Rovers.
He put the miles in his boots but never did pull those socks up.
minutes,
targets
MATT DOHERTY reckons Wolves’ heroics last season after promotion created “a blueprint” for Sheffield United to emulate.
Wanderers stormed to seventh in the Premier League last term and reached the FA Cup semifinals using wing-backs after winning the Championship in 2017-18. This season it is promoted Sheffield
United who are taking the top flight by surprise.
Ahead of their clash at Molineux today, rampaging wing-back Doherty (above) claimed Wolves have been the inspiration for Blades.
“I guess they saw a blueprint and saw that it worked. They didn’t change just because they came up to the Premier League and it’s working for them,” he said. “Look at where they are in the league. Nobody’s really figured them out this season and it’s up to us to try and be one of the teams which does.”
The clubs met in League One as recently as 2014 and Doherty feels the success of both progressing up the leagues shows there is plenty of talent outside the top flight which just needs a chance to flourish. He added: “We met them in
League One and now we’re coming up against each other in the Premier League. It just goes to show the form they’ve shown in the last two years.
“Fair play to the Blades, they have done unbelievably and don’t look out of place in the Premier League.”