OUR SEARCH FOR A STAR
Jamie Vardy went from non-League to title winner. Today we introduce eight hopefuls who are dreaming of following in his footsteps
THEY don’t turn up to games with a Louis Vuitton washbag under their arm and their ice baths tend to be taken in wheelie bins. These are the unsung heroes outside the Premier League and Football League. Sportsmail has teamed up with Marathonbet, fast becoming the champions of non-League football, to follow the journeys of eight potential stars. Some are juggling jobs with football, some have played with Paul Pogba and Jamie Vardy (below), and all are still dreaming of the big time… BRIGHTON’S youngest- ever goalscorer at 16, Robinson is now with Billericay, who have made headlines due to their enthusiastic owner- manager Glenn Tamplin.
The striker became Billericay’s record signing in the summer for £24,000 dropping down a division, having scored 25 goals last season for Hemel Hempstead.
He has scored in the Championship, League One, League Two and even played at Wembley.
After realising sitting behind a desk wasn’t for him, he returned to full-time football. Robinson is a qualified personal trainer. BEFORE being sidelined by a groin injury in August, Ainge had scored more league goals than anyone else in England’s top six tiers in 2017. He had 31, while Harry Kane had 21. Ainge was signed as a defender by Harrogate, but due to a shortage of strikers was asked to fill in. In his first game there he got four goals. A former England C centre back, who has stopped working to focus on football, Ainge is desperate to get back to beating Kane and Co. AFTER 10 years in Manchester City’s academy, Coulson missed out on a professional deal.
Needing a new club, he spent New Year’s Eve 2014 in his garage, ‘sweating’ while his family had a party. ‘Everyone was in my house, celebrating,’ he explains. ‘I went into the garage and did an hour on the bike. I didn’t have anything to celebrate.’
The sportswriting graduate sent his c.v. to dozens of clubs before turning out for Radstock Town, who gave him £5 for petrol. Stints at Oxford City, Eastleigh, Barnet, and now Ebbsfleet have followed. THE busiest footballer in nonLeague. A student at University of Surrey, studying Aerospace Engineering, he is building a racing car for a student project.
Has been labelled ‘the hottest prospect outside the League’ by Dorking manager Marc White.
The north east-born youngster has had some injury heartache, suffering a cruciate injury aged 16 on the last day of a title-winning season with Wallsend Boys Club which kept him out for two years.
There was a scholarship with Burnley on the cards which made it all the more upsetting.
GEttING changed in his car, treating himself to the occasional chippy, going straight to training after work — Armson is a classic non-League story.
the midfielder, who last year scored an fA Cup hat- trick against Gillingham, has had chances to go full-time. he opted to stay part-time, setting up his own business — Positive Impact — which sees him work with children with behavioural issues.
for Armson, it is the stress of running his company that keeps him awake at night — not the fact he may have missed a chance. AGED 16 and playing against a Manchester United team including Paul Pogba, Alabi scored twice for stoke Under 18s in a 2-2 draw watched by sir Alex ferguson.
It was a whirlwind week that got Alabi into football. on the Wednesday, he scored a 15-minute hat-trick for his school. the referee was a Millwall coach and he was invited to train with them on the friday, before scoring twice on the saturday. on the Monday, he was offered a deal! he eventually signed for stoke and after a journey around the leagues is now on loan at Dover. LIoNEL MEssI scored 50 times in 2016. Rowe scored 55. the former Manchester United trainee is a goal machine.
A former team-mate of Vardy’s, Rowe has always been a record breaker. As a schoolkid, he scored 100-plus a year. that led to him being snapped up by United, but after being released at 16, he fell out of love with football and did a joinery apprenticeship. Rowe spent his saturdays playing with pals before going full-time. Now at fylde, and having scored at least 31 goals in his last three seasons, he wants a football League debut. fRoM stacking supermarket shelves to becoming one of the National League’s top scorers.
Whitely was earning minimum wage working in his local shop before going on to become Dagenham & Redbridge’s main threat in front of goal.
Whitely’s route into professional football was through sunday League rather than any academy, so signing for Dagenham in 2016 was something of a shock to the system.
he is now up to speed at Victoria Road and wants a chance in the football League as his next step.
Marathonbet’s #NonLeagueChallenge is a nationwide competition to find the best goal celebration in non-League football, with the winners awarded £20,000 and a friendly against a team of Legends.