As you’ll have no doubt heard by now, Harry Kane had to go on loan down the leagues to get his start before he was given a chance at first team football by Spurs. Stints at Leyton Orient, Millwall, Norwich City and Leicester City prepared the striker for a top level career which would culminate him in leading England to the quarter finals of the World Cup as captain and the tournament top scorer.
Then there’s Jesse Lingard, another who had seek opportunities on loan at lower league clubs before being given a chance at Manchester United. Dele Alli came through the ranks at MK Dons before signing for Spurs in the summer of 2015, while Eric Dier was plucked from the Sporting Lisbon youth academy.
Kyle Walker started out at Sheffield United, went on loan to Northampton Town and was eventually signed by Spurs in 2009, where he was loaned back to Sheffield United before stints at QPR and Aston Villa. Harry Maguire is another who has his roots at Bramall Lane, taking in Hull City and Wigan Athletic before pitching up at Leicester City.
John Stones came through at Barnsley, Raheem Sterling rejected Arsenal to sign for QPR as a teenager, Jordan Pickford took in loan spells at Darlington, Alfreton Town, Burton Albion, Carlisle United, Bradford City and Preston North End, Kieran Trippier was chewed up and spat out by Manchester City’s youth academy before getting a chance at then Championship club Burnley, while Jamie Vardy’s route to the Premier League through non-league football is well-documented.
- 2010: Plays for Stocksbridge
- 2015: Plays for England
- 2016: Ballon d'Or nominated
- 2017: Scores 50th Premier League Goal
#LEIMUN
Gareth Southgate’s England team have taken all sorts of weird and wonderful roads to where they are now, the quarter finals of the World Cup. They’ve been forced to. This is the lay of the land for young players coming through the system in England. The Premier League might be the best league in world football, certainly the most lucrative, but it does nothing for the English game as a whole.
Should England go all the way in Russia this summer it might well be argued that this can be taken as proof that the Premier League can help cultivate a successful national team while simultaneously provided the best of footballing entertainment. This argument would be a disingenuous one, though.
England are succeeding at this World Cup in spite of the Premier League, not because of it. Young players in the country now recognise the need to go out on loan, to drop down the leagues, to get their start and Southgate’s side in Russia are a manifestation of this. England could lift the famous old trophy on July 15 and it still wouldn’t excuse the damage the Premier League has done.
