From a six-year-old goalkeeper at Sunday league trials to the best player in the world, Harry Kane’s rise to the Ballon d’Or is a story of rejection, resilience and an unshakeable thirst for goals.
Harry Kane (Credits: BBC Sport)
The Bayern Munich striker continued his remarkable career journey on Monday night by becoming the first Englishman to win the Ballon d’Or for 25 years. He is already England’s joint record appearance maker and his country’s record scorer, with 89 goals in 124 appearances — an international career he started by opening his account just 79 seconds into his debut.
Yet it has been far from a smooth journey. From being rejected by Arsenal to loan spells in the Football League, the 33-year-old has had to defy the doubters at almost every stage.
Harry Kane Started as a Goalkeeper at Ridgeway Rovers
When a six-year-old Harry Kane arrived for trials with Ridgeway Rovers in 1999, the youth side — which a generation earlier had produced David Beckham — thought they had found themselves a new goalkeeper.
Former coach Dave Bricknell recalled a shooting session in which he asked for a lad to go in goal. A little boy put his hand up, took the gloves, and produced heroics, tipping shots round the post and over the bar. Bricknell thought he had found his goalkeeper — until a woman told him the boy was even better out on the pitch.
Put up front, Kane smacked goals in left, right and centre, and ended up as the team’s centre-forward. His prolific form for Ridgeway Rovers and his Waltham Forest district side soon caught the attention of professional scouts.
Rejected by Arsenal, Kane Refused to Give Up
Arsenal initially snapped up the youngster but decided not to keep him, while Watford also passed up the chance to sign him. His Waltham Forest manager Trevor Bailey recalled that Kane could do nothing all game, but if a chance came, it was in the net — four times out of five, he would score or set someone up.
Former Arsenal academy coach Alex Welsh said Kane was a very competent goalkeeper, but his real desire was to score goals. Welsh is convinced that is why Kane is such a clinical striker today: he intuitively knows what a goalkeeper does not like, and shoots early when the goalkeeper is not set.
Bricknell believes Kane was second top-scorer at Arsenal behind Benik Afobe, yet at 11 years of age the club decided they did not want him any more.
At school, Kane was inevitably the star of the football team, but his teachers remember much more than goals. PE teacher Mark Leadon described him as technically gifted with a great first touch, a clever player who always knew where to go, and a real team player who would never keep the ball if a pass was on. He was also a very good cricketer, opening the bowling from year seven to ten and batting at four or five — but football was always his love.
Childhood friend Luke Robinson remembered a boy whose only thought was football, who lived and breathed the game 24 hours a day, and who turned up with a Beckham-style Mohican that made everyone laugh.
It was Tottenham Hotspur who eventually offered Kane hope after those early disappointments, but even there he was by no means the pick of his age group. Loan spells in the Football League followed, and still the doubters remained.
What never changed was the determination his teachers and coaches all spotted: the work ethic, the movement, and the thirst for goalscoring. From Ridgeway Rovers goalkeeper to England captain and Ballon d’Or winner, Kane’s journey is proof that rejection at 11 is not the end of the story — sometimes, it is only the beginning.
Also Read: Harry Kane Explains How His Game Evolved Into Ballon d’Or-Winning Form; Feyi-Waboso Boost for England Coach Borthwick Ahead of Nations Championship
Source: BBC Sport — read the full story there.
