ACE ADE WAS TREBLE TOPS WITH REBELS
NEIL BAKER reckons Elijah Adebayo is the perfect example of how hard work and determination can help a young player fulfil their footballing dreams.
Baker – along with his former Slough Town co-boss Jon Underwood – handed Adebayo his senior debut as a raw, freshfaced 19-year-old on a loan spell from Fulham in 2016.
Memorably, Adebayo scored a hat-trick that day, in an FA Trophy victory over Bognor Regis Town and went onto score six games in 11 games in a productive two-month spell.
Now, fast forward seven years, the bustling front man is playing in the topflight of English football and on Tuesday night became the first Luton Town player to score a Premier League hat-trick in a 4-0 thumping of Brighton & Hove Albion.
Naturally, Baker looks on at that achievement with an element of pride.
“We had two strikers who were injured so we took him in for a month, initially,” said Baker, now on the coaching staff at boyhood club Farnborough.
“He was actually a centre half at the time but Fulham had recently converted him to a centre forward. He’d hardly even played in their
21s up front.
“We had Bognor Regis first game, in the FA Trophy, and he scored a hat-trick on his debut. We all looked at each other in amazement one of his goals was a fabulous finish. We were absolutely delighted.
“Elijah was a great lad, did everything properly and worked very hard in his time with us. that gives you an opportunity in football. A lot of lads at his age would have probably turned their nose up at the opportunity of going to Slough, who were Step 3 at the time, but he absolutely didn’t. He didn’t miss a session, didn’t miss a game and he’s reaped his rewards.
“At 19, you’re so far away from the Premier League, at no point are you thinking ‘this lad is going to make it’. But it just goes to show that if you can get a decent loan and work hard it can only enhance your career.
“Elijah’s obviously used all his loan experiences and the rejection of being released at Fulham to his advantage, worked hard and pushed himself back up the leagues. Anybody who does that deserves massive credit.
“It’s great to have even a very small part in a player’s journey – to see him score a hat-trick in the Premier League, it’s fantastic.”