SOCK IT TO EM OLI
He’s got toddlers shin pads, a cult hero song... and goals
HE’S the most unlikely Premier League goalscoring hero – a gangly, 6ft 3in frame with socks rolled down to his ankles protected by shin pads made for toddlers.
But Oli Mcburnie has rapidly become a cult hero after his surprise £20million move to Sheffield United from Swansea City.
The 23-year-old has even been given his own song by Blades fans who were revelling in his late equaliser against Manchester United in last Sunday’s thrilling 3-3 draw.
Unique
It’s all a far cry from being sent on loan to non-league Chester FC and battling against the no-nonsense centre-backs of the National
League.
It was sink-orswim time for the striker who had been unable to break into
Phil Parkinson’s (right) Bradford City side.
He admitted: “If it wasn’t for my spells at Chester, who knows what would have happened? Until Chester came in for me, things weren’t going great at Bradford City.”
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 club to continue his development under boss Steve Burr. By then he had manufactured his own unique look.
“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,” explained Mcburnie.
“I quickly got tired of doing that, so I decided to roll down the socks, although to abide by the ruling that you had to have shin pads. I bought the smallest
I could find to stick down my socks. They were really made for toddlers! There was also 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: “I really went to watch another lad in the Bradford City reserve side, but Oli took my eye and I wondered whether they would let him out on loan.
“Phil said yes and his agent Martin Filson, who I’d played against in the non-league, was on the phone telling me that Oli would love to come to Chester to get some first-team experience.
“He was a very scrawny, thin lad – he has filled out a lot since his Chester days.
“He soon got in among the goals. At the time there were clubs watching him, including Swansea City, who later signed him.
“I used to have a go at him for not pulling his socks up – and he still plays like that now.
Smashing
“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!
“He was a smashing kid to work with and still keeps in touch. That’s nice because he has obviously not forgotten that we did help him along the way.
“It’s also nice to see how well he is doing now with the Blades.”
WOLVES v SHEFF UTD