THE RISE OF KANE
FROM LEYTON ORIENT AND MILLWALL TO THE BRINK OF EUROS GLORY
THE story of Harry Kane and England begins in the unlikely surroundings of the old clubhouse of now defunct Leyton Wingate FC. It was here, just across the road from his family home in Walthamstow, north east London, where he would join parents and brother Charlie — with their faces painted and three lions on their shirts — to savour Euro 96 on the big screen as a nation partied to the sound of ‘Football’s Coming Home’.
Harry was not even three years old but the Kanes were devoted England fans and that tournament, and that team featuring Paul Gascoigne, Teddy Sheringham and Alan Shearer, captivated a nation and inspired a generation.
Twenty-five years later at Wembley Stadium, with Frank Skinner, David Baddiel and Gazza in the crowd, Kane pulled on his England shirt once again and did what he now does, scoring the winner against Denmark.
High in the stands, his brother and his parents Pat and Kim were struck numb as their phones lit up with a hail of messages from family and friends watching in north east London and Essex, with their faces painted and their England shirts on, just as they had done 25 years earlier.
The echoes were surreal but, this time, Kane was the captain of England and about to lead the country into the biggest game since the World Cup final in 1966.
Across the capital at Leyton Orient, they were rejoicing, too. ‘We actually had this guy on loan,’ was the astonished reaction from Brisbane Road, as they tweeted a photograph of England celebrating Kane’s goal.
Russell Slade watched on TV, recalling the ‘skinny 17-year-old’ he signed on loan from Spurs when he was Orient boss, handing Kane his debut in senior football on a mud-heap at Rochdale in League One.
‘You couldn’t see his lovely white boots for the mud,’ said Slade. ‘But that’s his attitude. He came to Leyton Orient because he was invested in his own development. He wanted to move forward in terms of his understanding and knowledge.
‘He was very dedicated. He stayed behind after training and practised his free-kicks. He is a classic example of a player who has maximised everything he has got and made sacrifices to get where he wants to be.’
For all his success, Kane has not forgotten Orient and now sponsors their shirts.
‘That’s a fantastic gesture and shows the kind of person he is,’ said Slade. ‘When I see him scoring goals for England it takes me back ten years and because of his demeanour and his manner as a person you want him to achieve the very best he can.’
Perhaps the great appeal of Kane’s success is that it has not come easily. He scored goals at every level through the youth ranks and was known to be a wonderful passer of the ball, but no one hailed him a teenage sensation and cleared him a path to first-team football.
Released by Arsenal at nine, he returned to local football, playing on Saturdays for Gladstone Rovers and Sundays for Ridgeway Rovers.
Scout Mark O’Toole, who now works for the Republic of Ireland, told Tottenham to take him on but they declined until Kane scored a hat-trick against them while on a trial with Watford.
Thanks to O’Toole’s perseverance, he joined them at 11. He now has 221 goals for Spurs. Only Jimmy Greaves has more with 266, a record that once seemed untouchable but it is within Kane’s range if he stays another year at the club.
Harry Redknapp gave Kane his Tottenham debut in a Europa League qualifier against Hearts in August 2011. Five-up from the first leg, Redknapp wanted to blood some promising youngsters.
Kane won a penalty, took it himself and saw it saved by Hearts keeper Jamie MacDonald in a goalless draw. He had to wait until Shamrock Rovers away, later in the group stage, for his first Spurs goal.
Redknapp encouraged Kane to go out on loan. After Orient, there was a spell with Millwall in the Championship, where he won over a tough crowd at the Den with his courage and work ethic.
‘I’m a big believer in loans,’ said Redknapp. ‘It’s real football. Go and play where it means something to win and lose. Harry is from the old school. He’s proper: worked hard, trained with a good attitude, not a big head.
‘He’s a fantastic person and deserves all he gets.’
Kane went on loan to Norwich in the Premier League when Andre Villas-Boas replaced Redknapp, but he broke a metatarsal bone and barely played. Tottenham moved him in mid-season to Leicester as they fought for promotion from the Championship under Nigel Pearson. Again, his impact was negligible and his development was in danger of stalling.
Eventually, Tim Sherwood gave him a run in the team and he scored three goals in three Premier League games.
In the following season, under Mauricio Pochettino, he scored 31 goals for Spurs. He also scored within seconds of his England debut as a substitute against Lithuania.
He has barely stopped scoring since. He has matured, rarely shying from responsibility on the pitch or off it. Now he stands on the verge of leading his nation to Euro 2020 glory.